OCTOBER UPDATES 2022

Welcome readers from around the globe. I see new readers from Ireland, Israel and India and many more that don’t start with an ‘I’. As I’ve stated before, this year is one of the busiest for releases at CDI. It started with BESTSELLER, our dark thriller and followed with BEST YEARS GONE, a dramedy. SMOKE & MIRRORS released at the Motorcity Nightmares Fest and was just released for free to fans of CDI on their Youtube site. WATCH HERE and leave your comments – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcobe1eng0) Last night we gathered at the NCG Owosso, MI theatre and watched the premiere of FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH to a full house before having a fall patio afterglow at Romas. Hard cider and pizza ended the night proper. The film will start streaming on several major platforms like Amazon Prime on 10/4/2022. That brings our number to four releases with one major one to go.

SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – This last one is going to be epic. It brings a nearly forgotten time period back to life telling the story of true events in 1944 Iowa during WW2. We’ve been in studio weekly working with Dennis Therrian on dialog cleanup, sound design and music. Great talk with our VFX team on progress and making plans to bring all the elements together and mix. We will be having an Iowa premiere followed by likely a special NCG Owosso, MI premiere screening for our cast and crew before it rolls out into several other screens. This week we start assembling the theatrical trailer which will lean a bit more into the military and Christmas elements. I would love to get this film out to our US troops via the USO we will see.

LAST NIGHT IN OWOSSO-

To return back to last nights activities- the entire project FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH started with talks around the table at the fort. From there, a plan of action followed by the execution of the battle plan. As we filmmakers know – having the footage is only the beginning. A strong outline needs to be established with documentary films since the lack of a script. Many lessons learned as we moved towards the finish line. I’m proud of our small team on this project and I think we’ll be working on another one in our series. We’ll be returning to the table to discuss possibilities but I think we have a few great ideas already.

MISC UPDATES-

1. Twice in two days I’ve had people bring up to me how much they enjoyed their first watch of MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND. Both admitted tears while watching. If you have not watched this powerful story being enjoyed by millions, please do.
2. It’s also a great season to enjoy WILD FAITH, our family western, okay, mid-western. We’ll be announcing a new milestone at Encourage TV soon. Encourage TV is our distributors streaming platform and is just one of many. In 2020 we were estimated at over 20 million viewers and that was two years ago and before MBF and WILD FAITH traveled to NBC/Peacock. We might try to gather this data as we continue to push and get the first 8 shows in the WILD FAITH: Hastings TV series funded.
3. We’ll be announcing officially our next funded CDI film HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE, that will shoot next year in Michigan. As a matter of fact we might be doing a location scout next weekend. We have another important creative meeting ahead of us this week. That might result in us having a very exciting announcement. This film will have CDI storytelling in the roaring 20’s.
4. I’m well into my next writing assignment (SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE) and I’m truly loving it. It is a harsh and brutal story set in the 1800’s Iowa. It is a real event and once again it will allow us to preserve history.
5. I talked about viewing benchmarks and we’re reaching those all over as fans find the CDI library. The Quest Trilogy, starting with FORTY NIGHTS will be highlighted along with the other two parts CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. I would like to do a Sunday that shows all three films- maybe the Sun Theatre in Grand Ledge, MI.
6. LOST HEART/BIGFOOT, UFO’S and JESUS is another great fall watch. On my list is to work on some new promo art. I just need to get a few other things off my list.
7. GHOST TOWN the Movie is being prepped for a new release. Digitally enhanced and with a few special extras. This is not the only film undergoing such treatment. KNIGHT CHILLS is also being enhanced and I have to send some materials out to our Blu Ray distributor this week.
8. Not yet being worked on but on deck is FIGURE IN THE FOREST and AN ORDINARY KILLER that will both be prepped next year for a new streaming release. For those not in the knowing FITF stars Dean Teaster and MaryJo Cuppone. AOK is a true story crime drama starring yours truly and the incredible Terence Knox. I look forward to bringing these projects to our fans.

This week had me bouncing between all my film work and some prepping for winter. I’ve been doing major trimming to the mulberry trees, actually removing one of them. I got after swinging the axe and using the saw to start filling the wood bins even more. I actually had several wood stove fires last week because it is getting cold here. The chickens egg laying has slowed but has not stopped. All the veggies have been harvested and we mostly had acorn squash. I love working in nature and with my hands. It calms the mind and allows me to ponder problems and challenges. If you are having issues calming the mind, exhaust the body out in nature. I want to thank everyone who attended the premiere showing last night. It was nice to see so many good folks. Until we meet again next week, be good to one another.

Coffee Cheers!

DJ