For Which it Stands…

So overnight we got a wonderful snow. Here we got maybe 3-4 inches of snow and so we again did not get hit by the big east coast snowstorms. It was a long week and I achieved the goal of moving many projects by a step or two. I got a few calls from Sundance from friends and associates who had spoken to people concerning our films. I made a promise to myself not to attend Sundance until I was there actively promoting. We had a few projects in the running that might have had their premiere there but alas we did not. One day I may attend but it will be for work. Fun work yes, but work.

Speaking of festivals our “Outside the Wire, Forgotten Children of Afghanistan” got invited to the 35th Cleveland Film Festival this Spring. Many of our soldiers in the doc are from Ohio so we’re going to accept. I think that will be our main premiere although other showings will happen as well.

This was a busy week reading scripts and looking at attaching myself and/or CDI http://www.cdiproductions.com to certain projects. We did just launch an official CDI page on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Collective-Development-Incorporated/158168730898061

I think it has a nice mix of photos and information about our company. CDI is quickly becoming a destination for people and projects that want a professional non-drama place to seed their projects. Like I’ve addressed before in many groups of artists there is often jealousy. I like to preach individual uniqueness because you truly are not in direct competition with anyone. You are presenting uniquely you and seeing if that talent is a good ingredient to the overall mix.

We have a good group of Michigan and non-Michigan projects that are in development. I want to create a development page on the CDI site. Also I will be posting a DJ PERRY Facebook page since I failed to change that RICHARD PERRY site over. I can’t even do a proper nickname function because they say you can’t have two letters next to each other both be capitalized. FINE.

Also if people go to the CDI site they will see under work for CDI –

http://cdiproductions.com/work-for-cdi/

You can see the call for resumes for potential sales people. I got artists up to yin-yang and pulling on some of my past work with sales – I want to pull together an elite group of folks to sell the various packages at CDI. I mean we have so many services we can provide we just have to create the means for the clients to have access to us. So I’m really responding to the communications. So now it is not about just motion picture production but we’ll do select commercials, promos, making of’s, music videos and so on. I’ve got directors, crews, cast and post people who are of the highest quality. Some of that will now be applied to the commercial realm.

http://cdiproductions.com/commercial-division/

I’ve read a few very cool scripts last week and I may have some new announcements soon on upcoming roles. Just some great things happening here in 2011 and I’m excited to see this. It is because many people have jumped into 2011 with new vitality and energy. Talk about energy – this Egyptian thing is crazy with energy. What is happening there will start happening in many places. Mark my words. See besides bad trade agreements that were one-sided against the US because someone here stateside could still profit from the importing – meanwhile other countries have been allowed to outprice/undercut manufacturing costs. This outsourcing which we have supporting with our buying has taken a great toll on the workers in these countries. I’m guilty. I also buy foreign goods as well at these prices. Point being – these emerging countries have all the manufacturing work because they are using slave labor sweatshops. I saw it in India – the wide division between rich and poor. Once these foreign workers decide that they no longer want to be $2.00 a day employees things will rapidly change. That $2.00 is not always even in USD, so a meager amount. As these workers organize and demand safety concerns, anti-child labor laws and a national minimum wage more work will drift back to the US and while those countries may earn more modest profits – it won’t be done on the backs of these workers. That means import taxes from our side needs to go hand in hand with change on their side. Those people would rather be paid fairly and have benefits even if it meant the foreign owners losing some profit.  Some  jobs will again flow back to the US. High up officials in foreign countries have benefited and profited off the slave labor long enough and the people won’t stand for it.

These foreign workers and their actions remind me of the Coal Workers in the USA years ago. Paid slavery by controling the cost of living and the wages. By human rights standards it was just wrong and so are many of the working conditions overseas. So these people will rise up against their own governments who allow such actions. Enough preachy but the US will benefit from these overseas actions. What I like is the show of power that says, that if you are tyrants and the people don’t like your actions- you will fall.

I wonder if the social network/internet could have created the same situation for Saddam in Iraq from the inside without the costly war.  Those various radical groups seeking power could not hold these governments if the people do not will it so. So fear is not going to work much longer via bombs or government oppression. The qualities of freedom do not come from political brainwashing. It’s just the natural desire of human beings to have personal freedom and to try and build a better tomorrow. It’s interesting to watch history unfold. FREEDOM.

Freedom will open many closed societies to new art, ideas and sharing. It is interesting to watch the Egyptian uprisings on TV because the men in uniforms are the fathers, brothers, sons of same people in the street protesting. We as a nation fought this war many years ago. For all our imperfections I still think the USA is the best country in the world. I think we occasionally get off the path until tragedy reminds us of our unity. I will leave us on this note written by an insightful man.

Bellamy’s original Pledge read as follows:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.