Lightning Strikes Again

Author and Historian Michael Klastorin discusses latest revised edition of his Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History Book series

by Tom Silknitter, for BacktotheFuture.com 

Author & Historian Michael Klastorin.

Hill Valley, Calif. — Bestselling pop culture publisher Insight Editions recently released a 40th Anniversary version of Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History Revised and Expanded Edition — a significant volume on the creation of the Back to the Future film series and its expanded universe by Author Michael Klastorin.

Michael Klastorin has been involved with the Back to the Future franchise ever since he first stepped onto Back to the Future Part II’s 1955 Hill Valley town set in February 1989 as the film’s Unit Publicist. Often when a film production wraps, the unit publicist normally moves onto other projects — which Michael certainly did. However, Klastorin has been an integral part over the years in keeping the Back to the Future series on the forefront of the movie-going public’s minds, even though the film series wrapped up perfectly in 1990 with no additional films planned to ever be produced. Since that time, Klastorin additionally served as the Unit Publicist on Back to the Future Part III, wrote two episodes of Back to the Future - The Animated Series, and briefly appeared in Back to the Future…The Ride. 

One of Michael’s promotional responsibilities for the Back to the Future sequels after filming was completed was working directly with the official Back to the Future Fan Club. Dan Madsen, publisher of the official Back to the Future Fan Club magazine in 1990, admits that the magazine could not have existed without Michael’s assistance. “Michael helped me coordinate all the interviews with the cast and crew. In all honesty, I couldn’t have done the fan club without his assistance”, Madsen tells BacktotheFuture.com. “He was always available and willing to get me whatever I needed - photos, artwork, timely interviews to meet my deadlines, etc. One of the distinct pleasures of running the fan club was working with Michael. I have stayed in touch with him to this day.”

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Michael Klastorin (“Townsman #1”) on the set of Back to the Future Part III (1990).

Coinciding with the theatrical release of Back to the Future Part III, the fan-favorite Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy was released in 1990. During the book’s production, Michael signed on as its co-author at the request of Producer Bob Gale, making it Klastorin’s first published Back to the Future-related book. He followed this up some 25 years later with the first edition of his wildly-successful Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History in 2015 to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the series.  Creating Back to the Future: The Musical came to market in 2023, largely directed at Back to the Future fans of musical theater.

“When I hired Michael Klastorin to serve as the Unit Publicist on our sequels, little did I know that it would be the start of a truly rewarding relationship that would continue beyond the production of those two movies, any more than I could have predicted the future of Back to the Future”, Gale exclaims to BacktotheFuture.com for this exclusive interview. “Happily, the two will be forever linked. I gained a fantastic friend with a sharp, sarcastic wit who loved movies as much as I do, and who turned out to be one helluva writer, and the franchise gained its official historian. I can say without any doubt, ‘the future’ wouldn't be as wonderful without Michael. Besides, who else could have delivered that immortal line, ‘Morning, Mister Eastwood,’ with such aplomb?”

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SILKNITTER: Hi, Michael - thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me about your involvement with Back to the Future and the numerous books you have written. For our readers who don't already know, you served as the Unit Publicist for both Back to the Future Part II & Back to the Future Part III.  How did you first become involved with the Back to the Future franchise?

KLASTORIN: I owe my entrance into the Back to the Future franchise to Christopher Lloyd.  We met on a film called The Dream Team, which starred Michael Keaton, Chris, Peter Boyle, Stephen Furst and Lorraine Bracco. Chris and I got to be friends during the filming, and towards the end of the shoot, we were talking about our next projects. His was going to reprise the role of ‘Doc Brown’ in Back to the Future Part II. He asked if I wanted him to call Robert Zemeckis and recommend me. Several months later, I found myself in Hill Valley 1955 with Doc Brown and Marty McFly filming the last scene of Back to the Future Part II — “Doc. I’m back. I’m back from the future!"

I will forever be grateful to Chris.

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Leeza Gibbons (Entertainment Tonight) talks with Unit Publicist Michael Klastorin, Director Robert Zemeckis, and Co-Producer Neil Canton on the set of Back to the Future Part III(1990)

As the unit publicist, part of your job duties is to handle all press relations, correct?

Dealing with the press is part of the job of the unit publicist during production, but there are two sides of it. On some films, you want all the media attention one can get. In the case of Back to the Future Part II, we wanted to keep everyone away so as not to spoil the secrets. For Back to the Future Part III, we had a limited amount of national press come up to northern California, including Entertainment Tonight and The Today Show. Both shows had to hold the footage until just before we premiered Back to the Future Part III.

Were you responsible for writing the promotional material for the press kits? 

Part of the unit publicist job is to write all the press kit materials, so that would be the first writing about the films I would do. I also had the pleasure of contributing a piece about Back to the Future Part III for the official Back to the Future Fan Club magazine, which was created by Dan Madsen. Some of the material would come in handy years later!

Did you handle managing all unit photography, such as editing and obtaining the necessary talent approvals 

Dealing with the photography is also part of the job. At the time (before digital), I would get contact sheets with the black and white stills and color slides. Michael and Chris were the only actors who had photo approval for the films, so I’d sort them, pick out what I felt were the best shots of every scene, and have them blown up into 8x10s to review with Mike and Chris. (I’ve still got a lot of those blowups in my files!)

What was it like working with still photographer Ralph Nelson?  Would you have certain assignments for him or specifics you needed coverage of?

Working with Ralph was a pleasure. I learned a lot from him. He knew what to get, how to get it, and how much of it to get. The cast already knew and loved him from the first film. On occasion, I might help him corral some talent, or point out a guest to the set we’d want to get a photo of.

Back to the Future Part II Topps Trading Cards by Michael Klastorin.

Did you also work with the marketing department in any sort of advertising role?

During the filming, I’d make sure to clear materials for marketing to use in potential campaigns, poster treatments and other items. After Back to the Future Part III wrapped, I was kept on the project until it premiered and was involved in a number of marketing and publicity meetings during that time.

While working on Back to the Future Part III, you also appeared in the film as one of the townspeople who said, "Good morning Mr. Eastwood."  How about did that cameo come about?  Did you ever get to cameo in any other film production you worked on?

When we got to our Hill Valley 1885 set in Sonora, it was literally like being back in time to the days of the old west. Most of the modern equipment was kept far away from the set to preserve the ambiance. There were lots of background actors in period costume, a good majority of them being cowboys.  After I while, I went to Bob Gale and asked if I could be one of those cowboys. He asked Bob Z, and ’Townsman #1’ was born! 

I’ve had a number of cameos over the years in films such as Lethal Weapon 2 and Lethal Weapon 3, Hudson Hawk, The People vs. Larry Flynt and in the first film on which I ever worked as a unit publicist, Swamp Thing.

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Production notes from the Back to the Future Part II press kit, written by Michael Klastorin.

You also wrote the Back to the Future Part II trading cards set from Topps. What was that experience like? Did you pick the photos that were used? I‘d assume it was a balancing act of getting story points, but condensing it enough to fit the size of each trading card? 

I picked the photos that were used and wrote the captions. As I recall, I did an outline of all the scenes I wanted to include, and went over them with Bob Gale. After he approved them, I went through the photos and picked the best ones to represent those scene. What I couldn’t get from Ralph Nelson’s photos were some that included special effects, which had the effects added by ILM. For those, I had to go to editors Artie Schmidt and Harry Keramidas, who helped me by snipping out actual spare 35mm frames from the film to use!

The official novels for Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III were both written by Craig Shaw Gardner. Did you work with him at all?

I never met Craig, as he wrote those novels from early drafts of the scripts.

In terms of the number of official books documenting the history of the Back to the Future franchise, I believe you've written the most to date.  You wrote the original Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy from 1990, Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History (three different editions) and Creating Back to the Future: The Musical.  As a body of work, this is quite an achievement. When you were working on the films did you ever imagine you'd be documenting the franchise over the last 35+ years since you last left the set?

Back to the Future: The Official Book of the Complete Movie Trilogy [1990] by Michael Klastorin & Sally Hibbin.

The short answer is, hell no! If Christopher Lloyd introduced me into the Back to the Future world, it has been Bob Gale who has allowed me to remain a part of it. The 1990 book was a last minute project I was asked to take on by Bob, who hadn’t been happy with the way it had been progressing. The challenge to that was the publisher had already laid out all the photos, and I was strictly limited to the number of words I was allowed to write, despite the fact there was so much more I wanted to say.

I did get to write more Back to the Future a couple of years later with my brother, as we did two episodes of the Back to the Future Animated Series for CBS (another gift made possible by Mr. Gale), season one’s “Roman Holiday,” and season two’s “Verne Hatches An Egg.”

What that 1990 book (of which I remain very proud) did do was to whet my appetite to write the full story of the entire franchise, including the detailed behind-the-scenes making of each film. Big, splashy coffee table books had been written about Star Wars and Indiana Jones” Why not Back to the Future? For many years, I floated the idea with a lot of publishers who either didn’t see the attraction, or found it too costly to do properly. In 2013, Insight Editions agreed to undertake the project and Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History made its debut in 2015 for the 30th anniversary of the film series.

In 2020, I was asked to revise that book to include everything that had happened in the Back to the Future Universe in the five years since the first book had been released. The most prevalent new development had been the opening of Back to the Future: The Musical, which had premiered in Manchester, UK in 2020, only to close after four official performances when COVID overtook the globe. 

During my research and preliminary interviews, I found the musical to be an enchanting, delightful and important addition to the Back to the Future world, which certainly merited more than the number of pages than the Ultimate Visual History revision allowed. I went back to…you guessed it…Bob Gale and told him I thought the musical deserved its own book. He agreed. 

The latest revision of Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History is out now, commemorating Back to the Future’s recent 40th anniversary. What are some of the highlights that fans can look forward to finding in this new edition?

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Michael J. Fox (“Marty McFly”) and Michael Klastorin (“Townsman #1”) in 1990’s Back to the Future Part III.

Without giving too much away, the 40th anniversary edition covers the last five years with new information and never-before-seen photos, with more about the musical as it expands around the globe! Since the first edition of the Ultimate Visual History through this revision, I’ve added a total of 52 additional pages. And it’s made the book a lot more….heavy! There are an additional 28 pages covering everything that’s happened in the Back to the Future world over the past five years, as the franchise shows no signs of slowing down.

This 40th anniversary version marks the third edition in MY ’trilogy.’ Will there be a part IV?

Only time will tell! 

To still have the privilege of writing about Back to the Future is an honor I do not take lightly, and it’s given me the opportunity to meet so many of the fans! Without them, I wouldn’t be here. I'd be somewhere hopefully, but not here.  

Do you have any upcoming personal appearances scheduled where fans can meet you and buy your books in person?

As of this writing, there are a number of events in which I’ll be appearing, and I’ll announce them on both BacktotheFuture.com and on my Instagram: mklastorin.

Please feel free to follow me there, and if you’re interested in a personally inscribed copy of the 40th Anniversary revised and expanded Ultimate Visual History, drop me a DM! I love to sign to the fans! 

Do you have any other fun projects in the works you can discuss?

A few things I can’t comment on as of yet…but as my friend Bob Gale is fond of saying…’To Be Continued!'

Thank you, Michael, for making time for this interview with the official Back to the Future site.

Add these Michael Klastorin titles to your Back to the Future™ collection today!