 As George Romero explains it on "The Directors: The Films of George  A. Romero", the day the final editing and voice over dubbing was  complete (4/4/1968), Romero and Russo literally "threw" the film  into the trunk of their car and drove to New York to see if anyone  wanted to show it. While driving through New York on the night of  April 4th, 1968, Romero and Russo heard news on the radio that  Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated.