BEST YEARS GONE and Other Film Updates!

Coffee cheers my friends. My last week has been extremely productive and we’ll get into all of that. I also took advantage of the nice weather and did various tasks in the yard including trimming hedges and trees. Cleaning up a few of the beds and planting various edibles from beans to peas. I was a touch out of “garden shape” as I woke this morning a bit sore. I also had my first “abstract” dream during this pandemic. I’ve had them after long flights to other countries as my jet lag hit. Also a few times out at sea on ships. But  I’m awake and back at it now. I think we have storms again so today will be a good day to get inside stuff done and rest my garden-weary bones.

The world pendulum is swinging emotionally as people deal with the stir-crazy of being home bound and others managing stress from facing higher risk due to their jobs. I see tempers flaring and anger stemming from opposing view points. Blame and blatant disobedience. There is no game plan for this crisis and so many are doing the best they can. Several are being severely cautious while others are just ignoring as if it doesn’t pertain to them. I’ve found that until it effects/affects someone they don’t have the same serious attitude. But for those connected to the sickness or loss they take it much more serious. Isolation sickness and the mental challenges that come with isolation are real and many are reaching their perceived limits to cope. No judgement just observations.

I see people who don’t understand virus transmission and the gluttony of information has led to most being confused or questioning. With our over-population and the invasion on nature something like this was bound to happen. The fact that it has such a far reaching grip has made it a world issue. That is a change in thinking and perspective for many isolated from such challenges. The elderly already deal with many of these isolation issues. Many may fear the grim reaper walking about as much as some virus. This event has changed peoples thinking and overall that might turn out to be a good thing. Only time will tell.

I’ve used the time to organize and catch up on life as many of you have. I had one friend sorting through 10,000 emails which beat my 600 I had to sort through. I’ve been having great personal and business calls lining things up. Deep clean and organize on my office and the yard might be the most groomed ever this year. So many birds, squirrels and rabbits everywhere as spring fights to emerge in Michigan. We had an odd snow day in Michigan one day but I think we’re past that now. I’m planning on making batches of beer and wine so I’ll be ready for in-person meetings again once we open back up.

Today our cast and crew on BEST YEARS GONE will get communications from our director. The project is funded and we’re working on what we can which is character, shots and sponsorship partners. We’ve been planning on how we’re going to run things on set. The nice part is for our cast and crew to know that a paycheck and endeavor lies at the end of all this. We’re pushing our projected time line by a month to earliest August but that will all depend on the state of things. It looks like we’ll be up at the Double JJ Resort again and they’re excited to have us. We announced additional cast and crew this week and more will follow in the weeks ahead.

LOST HEART is thundering towards the finish line. I’ll be writing out more post checks this week as we finish up VFX, color correction and more. Not sure how we will premiere the film but we’ll see. I’m so excited for audiences to enjoy this next CDI release. If you want more updates FOLLOW our Facebook page and ‘Subscribe to the Tribe’ at http://www.cdiproductions.com

WILD FAITH – Fans of this film are growing and I’ve been having lots of discussions over the TV series ‘Hastings’ – momentum is growing! If you haven’t seen the film check it out. If you have – watch it again:) We’re in talks with distributors and networks and I feel confident we’ll find all our partners.

THE QUEST TRILOGY – foreign sales and wider domestic distribution is underway. I’ve been working to clean up the FB sites for FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. Also I will say that we will have a full line of merchandise for the films the trilogy included.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND – Armed Forces Day was yesterday and several times last week I awoke to fan mail. Such beautiful messages of gratitude but the appreciation is all from our end. Thank you so much for spreading the word on this film and sharing it with others. We’ll be marketing this film all year long and will also have some merchandise coming out for this film. If you haven’t seen the film take a watch.

MISC. 

Several of the CDI associated films are being reset with new streaming platforms. Next month we should have some exciting updates on many of the films.

I’m starting talks with national sponsors/product placement on the films that are getting millions of impressions/eyes upon them. If you’re interested in showcasing your product or services to our audiences do drop me a line.

We’ll be announcing some advanced casting notices on the http://www.cdiproductions.com site in the coming weeks for upcoming projects.

WRAP UP

I hope everyone uses this time to reevaluate and align their goals with a steady plan. I’m not in a place to tell folks what to do but emotional defiance of elected authority figure’s orders tasked with trying to keep people safe could have repercussions. Rep president, democratic governor – this is not a political crisis but many have made it political.  I would urge people not to but people will do what they will. You might remain unaffected by the illness and that is a blessing. The people who have know it is not some contrived hoax. I’m going to focus on what I can control. This is a unique time that we’ll look back upon many years from now. What will history say? We will see said the wise man:)

Be good to one another and stay safe.

DJ