Good morning from snowy Michigan. We just recently went from unseasonal highs to very cold lows. On the nice days we were able to put up a few Christmas lights and decorations and also I got yard things stored for the winter. The chickens we have (4) seem to be doing better with the cold but that is their breed and the new coop. They are still putting out several eggs a day and so that has continued to be enjoyable. We just passed the full moon and also had our first family get together. An abundance of food, laughter and watching the niece and nephew full of Christmas joy. My brother and I always had a very special Christmas’ time thanks to our parents. But it was also all the fun of snow forts, sledding and such. I loved having my little brother and our neighborhood full of friends for all the wintertime activities. This week I am sad that we have to attend the visitation for one of the neighbors I knew from age 5 on. It was not Covid but the other C and it was unexpected and happened fast. It sat heavy on me for a few days but made me realize again that time is precious. Make sure you are doing what you love or moving in that direction. Let’s talk about some of the things I love – movies.

BESTSELLER, our Christopher Knight thriller was turned into an intense film that will finally in early 2022 get a full home video release. Also BEST YEARS GONE has enjoyed several theatrical runs and is being prepped for our worldwide home video release. We still might do a theatrical run on the east and west side of the state but we will see. I do plan on releasing the distributor’s release poster this week with some info on home video release dates. Just maybe I should advance release here. By the way I want to welcome all the new readers from several countries. Below is just a few examples of where our readers from last week are from. I do love how technology allows the world to be a smaller place.

SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA (SNIA) – This amazing film is now in post-production and the buzz has been worldwide. Here is a piece of PR from just the other day.

https://www.messengernews.net/life/local-lifestyle/2021/12/algona-goes-hollywood/

The clean up after production is almost done. Always one more TO DO that wants to pop up. But with all this work settling it has allowed me to start to handle end-of-the-year business on other fronts. We also will start rolling still photos out as well. They are absolutely beautiful – Daniel G. Chipman did a great job capturing these moments. We will start dripping these out and in the new year I will look into the first teaser videos both “making of” and a teaser trailer. We will start dripping the stills onto the SNIA Facebook page so find us and follow along.

FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – the documentary film has been in post-production with Dennis Therrian cleaning up the narration, dialog and mixing the film. I know our director Curran Jacobs is very excited to reveal this historic piece that will be referenced to for many years ahead. This weekend a full trailer was being worked on although I really do LOVE the teaser trailer. It will release in 2022 – please stand by.

SMOKE & MIRRORS (Short) – One small spelling correction and this will be DONE. We are going to enter a few festivals with it for the Halloween 2022 season. I’ve done some great writing on the feature script that we’ll put into motion here in the future. Nathaniel Nose was brilliant in his directing and editing once again. David Gries is amazing as the lead and Melissa Anschutz throws down a ‘spooky’ and highly memorable performance. Again I love the artists I get to work with.

LOOKING AHEAD – I enjoyed a conversation I had with another production company owner recently. It is always trying to look and plan ahead with development and production. Many of the younger artists they have lots of enthusiasm for the fun parts of what we do and no patience for the most important parts of what we do. Development from concept can easily take 2+ years. If you have a script maybe 12-18 months but again it is all about financing and funding. So there is creative and business development and they happen often side by side – but a script is needed for funding.

I’m well into the first act of the new screenplay with is “A 1975 American Graffiti” with a few strong comedy influences. I will be done with the screenplay by the end of Jan. 2022 and we’ll start pulling on interested parties. I have not had a lot of time to write with the holidays and the work on the other films, but what has been written is really flowing. This is looking to shoot in the Spring here in Michigan.

Also we’ve been updating and revamping the WILD FAITH: Hastings TV show materials. For the first quarter of 2022 we will see if we can get everything to line up and if so we will shoot season 1 in the back half of 2022. If things don’t line up we will have to push it into 2023 and we’ll do another feature (or two) in the back half of 2022. I love the extended 8 shows that deepen the character development of many of the beloved characters.

I’ve got a few other scripts writing offers I’m still negotiating on and my thoughts often drift to advantages of representation, but I just too busy to fully address. So when I’m this busy it makes me question the need for representation at this point but in the right areas it just might help. Acting-wise I do entertain offers when they come in but the ones that crossed my desk this year I politely had to pass on. Some were because of schedule but others just didn’t excite me to action. I will say that if you want to approach/land true artists who can really bring something special to your world/story you need to weave a good pitch with good materials and the script needs to be really up to snuff.

I want to thank those who have responded to the full Encourage TV ad for THE QUEST TRILOGY. I think people are slowly starting to understand that the story extends over three feature films. People who watched part 2 Chasing the Star without any reference of part 1 Forty Nights – are not getting the full and proper experience. There are things that tie all three films together and so I do hope you all can watch the trilogy this holiday season. Also take some time to enjoy the other CDI films. After you can go to each film’s http://www.imdb.com page VOTE and let us know your thoughts on the films.

I hear that in early 2022 our distributor will be doing a push on their westerns. I think we’re going to do a promo for WILD FAITH and WICKED SPRING. It will be a great time to push the TV series also. We’re also running some of the other older CDI titles by the distributor. I think we’ll see a new release campaign for some of CDI’s oldies but goodies.

I’m going to wrap this up and try to get a few things done today. I enjoy my time with all of you and these blogs help me prep and prepare for the week ahead. I hope as you all start having your own holiday gatherings that you stay safe in your travels. Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas and onward towards the new year!

DJ