Four score and seven years ago (actually four years ago approximately), Empire BMX and Austin, Texas, based BMX filmmaker Dave Parrick teamed up for the follow-up to Empire's 2007 video "Chill Bro."
Parrick, responsible for such seminal classics as the early Trend videos, the Homeless Bikes series, "Dirty Deeds," Nowhere Fast" and etnies' "Forward," has long been known as an absolute perfectionist, favoring pushed back release dates over rushed jobs in the 20-plus years he's been producing BMX videos. Longtime friends at Empire respected Parrick's approach to the new video, titled "Bad Idea," and despite plenty of healthy ribbing on Twitter from Empire BMX and the team riders, allowed Dave Parrick the artist to take his time.
A rough draft of the video was finished in November 2011, and debuted in Austin. But the video was not complete, said those who attended the premiere. And over the past five months, the anticipation for the release of the video has made for some lighthearted moments in the BMX world, including a mention in a recent S&M web video.
On Friday, for a period of 24 hours, the wait is sort of over. Empire BMX debuted a new website that features the introduction to "Bad Idea." It's not the full video, but it does give some insight into what Parrick and the team have been up to for such a long period of time. And it appears as if the wait was well worth it. At the expense of Emprie BMX's building, most of the team rides the interior, with much attention paid to lighting, framing and titling. But that's not all.
Also debuting is a new Empire BMX website, which will be more focused on team happenings, news and videos. But again, it could all be a joke that ends with Dave Parrick going back to the editing room for a few more months. Bonus info: when Parrick was in the post-production phase of etnies' "Forward," him and Taj Mihelich rented a hotel room to work undisturbed for an undisclosed period of time.
