“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ― Sun Tzu

Latest

Prepping for the ‘RCMD’ Premiere and Multiple CDI Updates!

What a beautiful Michigan morning. Woke to a local rooster calling everyone to wake up. This was followed by Luna Mae (furry daughter) wanting to go outside and eat. Chicken songs greeted us from the hens before Finn (furry son) did his racing with his neighborhood buddy Jake and ate. Now I’m here with all of you. My hazelnut coffee by my side and Man U playing soccer on the TV. We had our first outdoor soccer game winning 8-3 and it felt great to be outside playing again.

For the second weekend in a row we had a wedding to attend and it was great to be with family for such an occasion. It was an outdoor wedding and was just beautiful and the food was also very good. I had one pineapple drink of some sort and after that iced tea. It is a younger man’s game to drink like a Viking, no more hangovers for me. But I came home to some good news from the RED LETTER AWARDS and I watched some MMA fights before bed.

Let’s get into some of those updates!

  1. The Red Letter Awards announced their full list of nominees and yours truly was added to the Best Screenplay writing. Teyton Colbert our ‘Teddy’ in Wild Faith Christmas joined Dean Teaster in the Best Supporting Actor nomination and Shane Hagedorn got a nom for Best Director. I think we have eight nominations total. We are so grateful for the film’s recognition and we hope our partners at Dreamscape Productions can get in a few more theatre runs before the 11/3/2026 streaming release.
  2. MONDAY! MONDAY! MONDAY! For the first time ROM COMS MUST DIE is getting its first theatrical showing at the Sun Teaster in Williamston. EVERYONE is invited to this one night only showing! Box office opens at 6:30 and show starts immediately at 7:00 (pre-set) so get there and get your tickets available only at the box office for $10 cash only! Many of the cast and crew will be there!
  3. AI JESUS: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip is almost done. Our director Tony Hornus was fighting a cold last week and so his review got pushed to this week. We also need to focus on the end credits and once finished we’ll do a producer watch and show it to Dreamscape Productions to see if they want to take on the theatrical for the film. It is funny, thought provoking and hits hard in a few spots. We will start talking premiere for this film also.
  4. DEVIL’S PASS moved into pre-production and that means more discussions on the cast and crew. It has been a fun process working on the development on this story. We’ll be filming in September and we’re slowly putting pieces into place. I LOVE the slow process of character development be it a piece a clothing, a experimental facial hair trim or a unique tone of the voice. Find our Facebook and IMDB page and you can watch as we add cast and crew.
  5. This month I’m prepping investor dispersement so that has taken much of my desk time but I do plan to get back and finish a couple of the scripts I have in process. If you have a budget and want a strong script feel free to reach out. I might have a script to option/sell or I might consider a work-for-hire script pending. I finished a script just recently and that was RETURN TO ALGONA a follow up to SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. I encourage you to stream the powerful WW2 drama based on actual events. I’ve talked to a few of the returning actors about the script and they really love the story. Several parties are reviewing the script in Iowa and we hope to lock down the 2nd half of the financing soon. It would shoot in 2027.
  6. The business plan on the film slate CDI has with Katharsys Media is being worked on and we hope to present this year for funding. We have a slate of films being proposed for shooting in Iowa also and we hope to hear something on that endeavor which includes SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE. We are preparing to make a few pitches on a 3rd Wild faith film or the TV series. Development has to always be underway in order to keep the train a moving. Only so many years to tell so many stories.
  7. Speaking of WILD FAITH, I know that Shane Hagedorn and director Jesse Low were doing a director’s commentary for the original film. We’ve done that for BEST YEARS GONE and plan to do that for several of the films. It is something that many people use to enjoy as a DVD extra and so we’re bringing that back for social media.

WRAP UP: I kind of delved into development in my bullet points so I’m going to skip to the wrap up. I want to send our heartfelt condolences to Shelley Perry our Wardrober on many of the CDI films who recently lost her mother. Many of us are dealing with aging parents and others have lost those loved ones. That is part of the reason that these family events have been special. Same with our CDI events being special. None of us are promised tomorrow.

I’m looking forward to the premiere on Monday and soccer on Thursday. I have meetings with John Mashni next week over the disbursements and I’m enjoying doing things around the property. I have a few serving hops plants after the building of the new deck. I built a structure the vines could climb. I might need a mow this week and not just to mulch leaves. I am going to go eat a few eggs and roll on down to the flea market. I love looking for props and wardrobe at these sales. Next Sunday I’ll be able to report on the ROM COMS MUST DIE premiere. I hope to see some of you there. Until next week- be good to one another!

DJ

Posted by  |  May 17, 2026 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mother’s Day, Weddings, Scouting, Casting and More…

Good morning! I’m starting this sunny morning with a hot cup of hazelnut coffee. A Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s out there. I’m taking the momma’s in my life to the movies today as it was deemed a bit too chilly for the park picnic or a few out the outdoor ideas. I’ve been so enjoying seeing the green that is springing up everywhere. Plants sprouting, squirrels building and birds are singing. Our chickens have been loving it and happily kicking out the eggs on a regular basis. Already some of the herbs like chives are growing steady. I’ve been getting the grill ready for some grilling and chilling. I had to fix one fence that divides off the raspberries and I still have a bit of property work to do. Having the ability to go work on the property while pondering decisions is helpful. So let’s get into some of the updates from that world.

Film Updates-

  1. The first draft of a business proposal for three films between CDI and Katharsys Media is done and being refined. These are three genre films with Lynn Drzick (In the Woods) directing.
  2. The first polished draft of RETURN TO ALGONA is done and sent to the parties in Algona we are working with. If everything follows plan we just might be filming that in 2027. The story is a powerful look at how time had marched on from WW2 to 1968 and the Vietnam War. It also has many lessons and examples that are applicable to what is happening in our world today.
  3. Following that script I now plan to finish up on MBF2 and the Wild Faith 3 script underway. Both of these don’t have a plan to shoot but better to have them waiting in the wings. I’m really happy with how both of these follow up stories are coming along.
  4. Wild Faith Christmas – Shane Hagedorn and I traveled to ICFF in Florida and had a great trip representing our film. From our nominations we won for Melissa Anschutz’s role as Hester! Before we left Florida, we heard that she had also been nominated for the RED LETTER AWARDS for Best Actress taking place outside Nashville, TN in August. We are nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress Addy Paddy, Best Supporting Actor Dean Teaster and Best Actor Shane Hagedorn. This train is a rolling and we are so grateful to everyone loving this film. We will work with our theatrical partners at Dreamscape Productions and see if they can book any additional theatrical showings but the film releses to streaming on 11/03/2026!
  5. ROM COMS MUST DIE is having its first kick off showing May 18th at the Sun Theater in Williamston. The full public is invited and tickets are $10 cash at the box office that opens at 6:30 with sNyte
  6. Adam Topwnerhow at 7:00. Come out and enjoy this comedy with many of the cast and crew. June 11th Adam Towner and I will be appearing on The Baron & Sindee Nyte Show that livestreams 7pm EST. Other theatrical bookings will start with a proposed Q3 streaming release.
  7. AI Jesus: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip is having a full review on Monday with our composer/sound designer before a producer’s review. The end credits are being built and soon this film will be ready to start some theatrical bookings. We’ll be heating up the PR on this film very soon. I think audiences will find the film heartfelt and will stimulate many discussions.

DEVELOPMENT: Moving soon out of development and into pre-production is DEVIL’S PASS. This adventurous tale is an 1800’s piece brought to CDI by Dan Searles. We will be working with Dan’s company and again McGraw Multimedia. John and Eldon McGraw will be directing and heading up the camera, grip & electric departments. We’ve worked so well with them on the last two feature films and I’m excited to launch them with this motion picture. We’ve set our shoot dates in September and we’ll be again shooting in Michigan. We’ve been working on placing some of the keys and early casting. There will be many upcoming announcements as we bring more good folks onto the film. We had an amazing scout trip last Thursday and found all our locations and more. Some locations are so cool that we might re-stage a scene at a different location for cinematic reasons. If your company, business or brand want to align with us we’ll soon be approaching our sponsors and product partners that help all these films get done. It took several months for CDI to agree to supervise and produce this film. Things have to come together the correct way and I’m happy that it did. So many moving parts and you have to have excellent communications. The schedule is being worked upon and soon I’ll have a rough actors day of days that helps with the casting process. We have an IMDB and Facebook page that we’ll keep adding updates to. We will be doing some local casting once we get done the road just a little bit more.

WRAP UP:

I will say that one of my most interesting experiences I’ve had was last Thursday at the scout. I had driven to John McGraw’s house and we were going to drive from there. I go to get into this car and the handle bewildered me. It was a TESLA. I got in and the entire roof is transparent and that car DROVE us to pick up Adam Towner and out to the scouting location. I’ve always said, “I don’t know” about driverless cars/trucks. But as I moved to the backseat giving up the shotgun seat to mister Towner, I was amazed. It backed out into traffic and started us on our way. The power and pick up to this car with no oil or standard brakes again left me speechless. Now having experienced it, I have to rethink my feelings on that entire process. I truly felt for the first time in my life like a JETSONS moment. Look it up kids, it is an old cartoon. But I could see the day of owning one. It can take you right to its own refueling stations and…just incredible.

I also wanted to mention that on Friday we attended a beautiful wedding as CDI’s Melissa Anschutz’s eldest son tied the knot. It was a beautiful venue and after was an elegant cocktail hour and dinner. Being there with several of the CDI old guard to celebrate with Melissa and her family was just wonderful. Congratulations to Alex and his new bride Catrina. We work hard and it was so nice to just have a little time to relax, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. I even got to try out a few wardrobe pieces I might wear in the upcoming film. Yes. I will be acting in Devil’s Pass but we’ll leave those updates to another date. I’ve got a fresh coffee and I’m going to go eat a few eggs, shower up and get ready to go spend time with the moms. Until next week- be good to one another and don’t just DREAM but DO!

Coffee Cheers!

DJ

Posted by  |  May 10, 2026 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment