Joe Frantz

Since 2018, Frantz is the cohost of The Novak and Frantz Show on the Might Be News Network with fellow CKY Crew member Brandon Novak. On the show, they discuss sobriety, film-making, current events, and their Jackass careers. They have had Chris Raab, Rake Yohn, Phil Margera, and April Margera as guests.

In 2014, Joe Frantz reunited with the key talent from the CKY video series, and directed / produced the one-hour documentary CKY: The Greatest Hits, which highlights the most memorable moments and unreleased footage from the CKY videos, and features recent commentary by Bam Margera and the CKY Crew, with special appearances by Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine of Jackass.

Joe Frantz was a regular guest host on the SIRIUS Satellite Radio program Radio Bam until its end in 2013. The show featured Bam Margera and guests.

In 2010, under the direction of Caesar Augustus, Frantz produced reggae legend Barrington Levy's "NO WAR" (with Busta Rhymes) music video. The video was shot in Frantz's hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, features Kardinal Offishal, Ninjaman, Louie Rankin, and Wayne Wonder, and thematically encompasses unity of the underclass in urban culture.

Directed by and starring Bam Margera and the cast from MTV's Viva La Bam, Minghags: The Movie (2009) is an homage to one of Margera's and Frantz's favorite genres, born out of the 1980s, the "Screwball Comedy" (such films as John Landis' Kentucky Fried Movie and Amazon Women on the Moon). As co-director, executive producer, and director of photography, Frantz shot it in super-16 millimeter film, in the same colorful style as its predecessor, Haggard: The Movie.

Bam Margera Presents: Where the ♯$&% Is Santa? (2008) is a modern-day Christmas saga, a reality comedy feature reminiscent of the MTV predecessor Viva La Bam, in which Bam Margera along with Brandon Novak who are the only cast members from Viva La Bam trek across Finland to find Santa in order to make good on a bet with Jimmy Pop of the Bloodhound Gang. They are also joined by the Dudesons. The film features other cameos by Kat Von D, CKY, and Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks. Frantz served as the film's co-executive producer, writer, and director of photography (shooting the film's montage sequences in super-16 millimeter film), and appeared in a cameo role.

Frantz directed The Bloodhound Gang music video "Screwing You on the Beach at Night" (2008), which is a visual parody of the classic black-and-white Chris Isaak "Wicked Game" video. Frantz reconstructed the "Wicked Game" video shot-per-shot, using the same camera angles, lenses, and shot composition as the original. Bloodhound Gang frontman Jimmy Pop Ali's performance is a spoof of Chris Isaak's notably sexy performance in which Jimmy plays a drooling, cross-eyed, girl-chasing Simpleton.

Joe Frantz was producer and director of photography of the Jackass/Viva La Bam spinoff, Bam's Unholy Union (2007). The series chronicled the marriage of Bam Margera to his high school sweetheart Melissa "Missy" Rothstein, and featured Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Brandon Novak, Rake Yohn, and Frantz in a cameo role.

Viking Skull's signature lifestyle of "drinking and rocking" is depicted in the videos directed by Bam Margera with Joe Frantz as producer and director of photography: Blackened Sunrise (2007) and Hair of the Dog (2009).

Joe Frantz is a collaborative coauthor of the book Dreamseller, which he wrote with MTV / Jackass personality Brandon Novak. This "cautionary tale" chronicles Novak's career as a young professional skateboarder, descent into heroin addiction, and subsequent rise to MTV fame. Frantz documented the life of Novak in "Dreamseller: The Documentary Series. The film outlines Novak's career, and the effects of drug addiction on relationships, and features interviews with Novak's mother, Bam Margera, Tony Hawk, Bucky Lasek, and Ryan Dunn who comment on their relationships with Novak and his history of drug abuse. In December 2007, on an episode of Radio Bam on Sirius Radio, Frantz accuses Novak of being high, frisks him, and uncovers hidden drugs. Consequently, Bam, Frantz, and company kicked Novak out of Bam's studio and sent him home to Baltimore. In March 2009, in an attempt to dissuade young people from trying drugs, Frantz interviewed Novak who was then committed to a mental institution for recovery from prescription drug addiction. Frantz and Novak have started writing the second book in the Dreamseller series, which is centered around Novak's relationship with his father, now deceased.

Joe Frantz is noted for his camera work in Jackass Number Two (2006), Jackass 2.5 and (2007), Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover (2008) (in which Frantz made his first Jackass cameo appearance), Jackass 3-D (2010), and Jackass 3.5. Frantz is also noted for shooting the "lost" Jackass Number Two scene of Don Vito, the "Don Vito Tooth Pull" (2006), in which Don Vito had his tooth pulled out via string attached to the bumper of a Lamborghini driven by Bam Margera and Johnny Knoxville. The footage quickly became the "big stunt" in the official Jackass Number Two trailer, but due to legal allegations centered around Don Vito, the footage was omitted from the film, and it is rumored that Frantz still owns Don Vito's tooth. A few seconds of the "lost footage" can be seen in the original Jackass Number Two trailer.

Joe Frantz has served as both producer and director of photography with director Bam Margera on three music videos for the Finnish band, The 69 Eyes: "Lost Boys" (2005), "Dead Girls Are Easy" (2009), and "Dead And Gone" (2009). The videos received heavy rotation on music video channels such as Kerrang! TV, and The Box, throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom.

The CD/DVD sets, titled Viva La Bands (2005) and Viva La Bands, Volume 2 (2007), were released by skater/Jackass alumnus Bam Margera and had international distribution. The CDs are compilations of songs from Margera's favorite bands. The DVD features include popular music videos, "behind-the-scenes" documentaries, and the "lost episode" of Viva La Bam, titled "Iceland Waterfall", which were directed by Margera and produced and filmed by Joe Frantz.

Joe Frantz teamed up with director Bam Margera to produce and film the music video for the hard rock band Clutch "The Mob Goes Wild" (2004). The video features antics from Ryan Dunn and Brandon DiCamillo of MTV's Jackass.

Following the international success of the CKY videos, Bam Margera approached Joe Frantz with the script for his independent motion picture directorial debut, a comedy titled Haggard: The Movie (2003). Directed by, starring, and financed by Margera, Haggard co-stars Ryan Dunn and the CKY Crew, and features cameos by skateboard legends Tony Hawk and Bucky Lasek. For the production of Haggard, Frantz developed a production method through which he could serve dual roles as both producer and director of photography, and shot the movie in super-16 millimeter film.

The Jackass spin-off Viva La Bam (2003–2006), MTV's scripted-reality series starred Bam Margera and his friends from Jackass and the CKY videos, known as the "CKY Crew". The program was shot from 2003 to 2006 (from pilot to the "Viva La Spring Break" special). Each episode presented a theme or mission, and took the cast and crew on journeys across the United States, South America, Europe, and Scandinavia. The show also often featured appearances of Margera's favorite bands and celebrity friends such as HIM, CKY, Clutch, Slayer, Gwar, The Bloodhound Gang, Johnny Knoxville, and Tony Hawk.

In 1999, Joe Frantz served as producer and director of photography with director Bam Margera for the CKY video "96 Quite Bitter Beings" (1999). The video was a success on MTV's Total Request Live, and the Margera / Frantz team has since released a total of thirteen CKY music videos, the most popular of which were played on MTV: CKY "Flesh into Gear" (2001), CKY "Attached at the Hip" (2002), CKY "A#1 Roller Rager" (2009) and the MTV half-hour music documentary, The Making of "A#1 Roller Rager". In addition, the Margera / Frantz team created the DVD release Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild: The Video Album (2003), which features twelve music videos and "Behind-the-Scenes" documentary features.

As a lifelong friend of Jedi Mind Tricks founder Vinnie Paz, Frantz directed the first Jedi Mind Tricks video "I Who Have Nothing" (1996), which features experimental in-camera animation and effects shot on a 16-millimeter Bolex camera. When frontman Vinnie Paz pursued his solo career, Frantz served as director and cinematographer for Paz's debut video "Keep Movin' On" (2010). The video features cameos from several of Frantz's friends and associates: Philadelphia personality Tony Luke Jr., Scott Vogel of the hardcore band Terror, and Gina Lynn of the adult film world. Frantz followed the release with the Vinnie Paz documentary "Keep Movin' On: A Portrait of Vinnie Paz".

Joseph "Joe" Frantz (born July 17, 1977) is an American filmmaker, author, and podcast host. He is a director, producer, cinematographer, and member of Bam Margera's CKY Crew. His body of works includes the CKY video series, Haggard: The Movie, MTV reality television shows such as Viva La Bam and Bam's Unholy Union, the Jackass motion pictures, and music videos for bands such as HIM, CKY, Clutch, and The 69 Eyes.