(Katie West and Chad Michael Ward…in the wild. Photo courtesy of
Selket)
And so Week 3 of what I’ve dubbed “The 12 Weeks of Insanity” is about to come to a close.
Let’s recap, shall we?
-Week 1 saw the arrival of Mary Taylor and Katie West to the Ward fortress here at the Holy Wood. A little bit of ebony and ivory, if you will. Many adventures were had, including trips to the Mojave Desert, The Magic Castle (Big ups to my boy Mike Costa!), The Vasquez Rocks and a super awesome little bar near my house that I had never been to where the matronly bartender spent the evening cooking up free snacks for the patrons while we sat and watched the Japan disaster unfold on television. There also were, of course, requisite trips to House of Pies, In & Out Burger, Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffle and Swingers. The trip seemed to end just as quick as it started and both these lovely ladies were off about on their next adventure far too soon. I miss them both already! I’m still working on the images from the trip, but may have already created this year’s iconic Katie West image. Time will tell…
-Week 1 also saw production on the music video that I directed for Fairuza Balk’s beautiful single, “Stormwinds”. Shot over two days in downtown L.A. and up around Malibu, it was an exhausting but fruitful adventure. Fairuza is an absolute sweetheart and I look forward to working with her again many times in our future. Super big love to my small but awesome crew that made the vid possible—producer/crafty goddess Shannon Brown, producer/photography goddess Mary Taylor, lighting wizard Carols Oropeza, awesome AC Mark Parsons, hair and MUA Tanya Ramirez, my amazing intern Sammi and of course, Fariuza, Stephen and Solana who kicked serious ass in front of the camera. The video is currently in post-production, I can’t wait to show you all!
-Week 2 began with my March/April print sale that goes on until April 15th.
-Week 2 also saw pre-pre-production...
(Katie West and Chad Michael Ward…in the wild. Photo courtesy of
Selket)
And so Week 3 of what I’ve dubbed “The 12 Weeks of Insanity” is about to come to a close.
Let’s recap, shall we?
-Week 1 saw the arrival of Mary Taylor and Katie West to the Ward fortress here at the Holy Wood. A little bit of ebony and ivory, if you will. Many adventures were had, including trips to the Mojave Desert, The Magic Castle (Big ups to my boy Mike Costa!), The Vasquez Rocks and a super awesome little bar near my house that I had never been to where the matronly bartender spent the evening cooking up free snacks for the patrons while we sat and watched the Japan disaster unfold on television. There also were, of course, requisite trips to House of Pies, In & Out Burger, Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffle and Swingers. The trip seemed to end just as quick as it started and both these lovely ladies were off about on their next adventure far too soon. I miss them both already! I’m still working on the images from the trip, but may have already created this year’s iconic Katie West image. Time will tell…
-Week 1 also saw production on the music video that I directed for Fairuza Balk’s beautiful single, “Stormwinds”. Shot over two days in downtown L.A. and up around Malibu, it was an exhausting but fruitful adventure. Fairuza is an absolute sweetheart and I look forward to working with her again many times in our future. Super big love to my small but awesome crew that made the vid possible—producer/crafty goddess Shannon Brown, producer/photography goddess Mary Taylor, lighting wizard Carols Oropeza, awesome AC Mark Parsons, hair and MUA Tanya Ramirez, my amazing intern Sammi and of course, Fariuza, Stephen and Solana who kicked serious ass in front of the camera. The video is currently in post-production, I can’t wait to show you all!
-Week 2 began with my March/April print sale that goes on until April 15th.
-Week 2 also saw pre-pre-production on the upcoming horror film DEAD INSIDE, which I’ll be doing production design and 2nd Unit Directing on alongside director Pearry Teo and producer Jennifer Chang. I’m really excited to be a part of this production, as I know Pearry’s got some wonderfully devious plans in store for the film. We just locked in our locations and now the fun part—devising a visual aesthetic for the film—begins. Shooting begins May 2nd!
-Week 2 ended with the most awesome “Zombie Hooker Party” thrown in honor of my production designer and friend Geoff Flint’s birthday, in which I ran the “photo booth” area for the evening. Much fun was had, even if I acquired a wound that eerily resembles a bite from a certain celebrated monster.
-Week 3 saw the launching of my new eBay store, in which I attempt to get rid of many of the things I’ve somehow accumulated over the years. Currently there are quite a few books and book lots up, including work by Michael Manning, Brian Michael Bendis, Jhonen Vasquez, Christopher Shy, Pat Gleason, Steve Niles as well as Buffy, Dead@17, Smoke, Phonogram, Howard the Duck and more. More items will be going up over the coming weeks, including some rare and one-of-a-kind Marilyn Manson stuff.
-All work and no play makes Chad a dull boy so it was off to House of Blues last night to check out my boys, the Black Veil Brides, blow the roof off. Their new album from Universal drops in June, featuring cover art by yours truly.
-And, of course, my latest music video for This Can’t End Well’s “I’ll Let You Watch” made its long-awaited debut:
http://vimeo.com/20375370
COMING UP: My first ever tour, The 2011 Southwest Tour, kicks off in a week in Phoenix. I’ve got 4000 miles of road ahead of me on this trip, should be an interesting time. Due to scheduling conflicts, I’ve got one or two more slots open while I’m in Dallas. If you’re interested in booking me while I’m in town on April 9th and 10th, drop me a line and I’ll forward you my discounted Tour rates.
That’s it for now, kids. I’ll check back in over the next few weeks with pictures and stories of my exploits on the road. Wish me luck!
Mike