"We Are The World" 2010

I can't say I was too keen on this remake on "We Are The World."

I mean, I certainly support the cause, and have made donations to support organizations who are doing good work in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

But "We Are The World"? It was kind of a cheesy song to begin with. And the remake did not do anything to improve my opinion.


I was a huge fan of the movie "Swingers" as well as a fan of "Go," so I was familiar with the name Doug Liman. When I heard he was coming in to host a Hot Seat on mvy, I did some additional research, to find that he directed the first Jason Bourne movie and produced the sequels, was an executive producer of the TV show "The O.C." and has a movie coming out about the Valerie Plame story, starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.

But I didn't know, until he arrived at the studios, that he had directed portions of the "We Are The World" music video.

Liman brought his college friend, Dr. Burke Richmond, and they put together an hour long show about their trip to Haiti, in the aftermath of the earthquake there this year.

Liman had been asked by Quincy Jones, to shoot some footage in Haiti, to be intercut with footage of an all-star singing cast performing in a recording studio. Dr. Richmond and others travel with him, to provide medical support to aid workers already on the scene.

I can't say that I find the song any less overblown, but I must say that after hearing a first person account from Liman about his experience shooting the footage, when I watch the video, I feel more connected. That these weren't random images passing by on a TV screen.

Doug and Burke's show airs tonight at 9pm ET on mvyradio, and can be streamed free from the archives after that.

They talk a lot about their experience . . . a little about the video, but mainly about the people they met, the medical situations Dr. Richmond found himself in, and ultimately, the effect the work had on them. And they play some music too---tracks from Haitian artists, and quite a bit of field recording that Burke played back through our soundboard from his iPhone.

Good stuff.