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

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You Have to Dream It First – Updates!

BMG Master

I want to welcome the 1st time readers from S. Korea and Jordan. The lead singer of a band (Shinedown) was talking about the unifying power of music. I think that is true for most art as a whole. I’m proud that this little coffee-powered blog is read by so many around the world. It has been an exciting Summer so far and I’m finally feeling ready for the next journey. By journey I mean a group of films. I’ve been doing this a while now and sometimes I need that break. More from the business versus the art creation but that too can be exhausting. I’m excited because beyond the small pockets of audiences – the nation and beyond will get to see “Chasing the Star” in September (5th) with our distributor releasing to Amazon, iTunes and a few Faith sites focusing first on DVD sales. They are allowing a premium window before moving to streaming services in 2018 after Christmas. This will be a cool Christmas because you will be able to watch Part 1 “Forty Nights” and Part 2 “Chasing the Star” of The Quest Trilogy. There are many small crossover moments in all three films which will be fun to connect for people. Part 3 “The Christ Slayer” is moving along. We were putting paperwork under our VFX team and a PR release will be forthcoming this week. I also have a meeting with the director Nathaniel Nose to discuss the 1st teaser trailer and poster. I’m really proud of all three of these films and I will look forward to the day all three are in a box set or playing TV together. You have to dream it first.

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A few of the team – (L top R) Hagedorn, Perry, Bradley, Mason, Therrian, Hornus)

“Wild Faith” – I LOVE this film. I think many of you – fans of “Wicked Spring,” “Ghost Town” and such will really be taken with this movie. A great cast united in telling a very timely story despite the 1800’s setting. Follow this film on FB or the website and get ready for a ride.

Wild Faith FB

https://www.facebook.com/WildFaithMovie/

Wild Faith website

http://www.wildfaiththemovie.com

We’ve been going back and forth over movie posters the last few weeks. We’ve had something really good first drafts but not that one great poster that brings all the elements together. Now this is only the theatrical poster not the distributors poster but it is the one we will run with for a while. A new trailer is also in the works that will be our theatrical trailer. We saw a first cut of the Behind the Scenes video and that will be refined before release. You can just see how much fun everyone had making this film.

Okay, I think some of you are good with updates on films in post and want to discuss new endeavors. Well, I’ve had a story in my head for a few years now that involves a few very important themes. Those themes are military vets and dogs. It took some time to  ponder what role to tackle after my last go playing Jesus. My conclusion was what fires up your passion? Does it have a strong business backing? The conclusion was to focus and finish this script lingering in me. The script is the most important thing I have found over the years. It is the blue print that all the departments work off of. It is what encapsulates the world and unites all these performances into a story. That first official draft was completed and I had my two CDI co-producers take a read and give feedback. I also sent the first draft to a few outside people to get another viewpoint. The response was strong and so we’re taking the next steps. This week will include a polish thus creating version 2. I’ve reached out to distribution on the subject matter and I’m doing some breakdowns. It will be filmed in Michigan and at the year’s end late Oct and early Nov is the goal. Early informal casting talks have begun – I’ve said this before, if you’ve worked with us before and fit a breakdown and you weren’t an issue, you’re being looked at. We might request a few reads at some point from some of you out there. We do have a handful of teen roles which we don’t have as many options. Those damn kids keep growing up:) So if you’re 12-19 years old male and female we will want to see your game footage. By that we mean you demo reel. We may go to cold reads if we haven’t found what we want but we like to use reels. So get those ready to go because in a week or two official calls will go out. I look forward to storytelling with you.

I’m going to leave all this right here as I’ve got a string of things to get done today ending in a soccer match. We got the upper siding done on the office/fort and the shake front and back (very top) are next on the list. The garden is giving us our first harvests. The berries have been in full boom and my brother, an artist himself – created this as a birthday present for me. It is a wrought-iron arch with our former elm tree adding the beauty.

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Have a great Sunday!

DJ

 

Yard ZEN – Reflect, Relax and Recharge

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Lots of coffee flowing – actually this morning I was so tired I ground the beans and forgot to add the grounds. I was watching the pot and thinking that the coffee looked light, watery – because it IS water. Take 2. Coffee is now flowing and about to go at the second pot. The last few days we’ve been putting upper siding on the office/fort bringing it closer to being down on the outside. Going tight up to the rafters will help even more with keeping warmth and cold inside. After this step it will be a bit of overlapping shake in the front and back with cedar planks enclosing the rafters. We had a little bat visitor when working on the siding yesterday. He just came to say hello. Also had a belated bday gathering at the father’s that also doubled for his bday gathering. His bday is next week and so is my mothers, so a few days to celebrate this coming week. It was a nice get together with family and we also had a good work weekend. Big thank you to G-Money for his assistance.

A few random film updates from last week

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I spent a good amount of time with director Jesse Low brainstorming on the poster art for “Wild Faith” – just cannot seem to get that right. We’re getting closer to having found our final images and now just working background and blending everything together. The film has lots of cool elements to hint at and it’s nearly impossible to highlight all of them. New trailer, BTS and poster all in the works – COMING SOON!

The Quest Trilogy

Review and PRE-order sites are appearing for “Chasing the Star” that releases Sept 5th.

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Here is a nice RECENT REVIEW of “Chasing the Star” – enjoy…

http://www.imom.com/movie/chasing-the-star/#.WVo70zOZNsM

PRE-ORDER site

https://www.christianbook.com/chasing-the-star/9781945788239/pd/889043

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DJ Perry at waters edge while shooting “40 Nights”

The first film in THE QUEST TRILOGY “Forty Nights” continues to sell as post production work is full steam ahead on “The Christ Slayer” film. A trailer, poster and more is being worked on for “TCS” as we speak. We’ll be releasing some PR this coming week on our VFX team with that film.

Forty Nights – Watch TODAY!

https://www.christianbook.com/forty-nights/pd/8167VS

As for “The Christ Slayer” look at some of the cool stills, BTS and even a VFX video at our social media FB site.

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https://www.facebook.com/thechristslayer/

In other random develop news

The new CDI website is being built. The “Knight Chills” book will release later this month. (PR Coming) Also my first official version of a new script looking to possible film later this year is done. It’s a subject I feel passionate about and I’m extremely happy with the final draft. My first round of producer reads is currently underway. The first script feedback has been strong with good excitement about the story. We’ll start looking at locations (MI) and casting (Mostly MI) and if all the business lines up…so get your reels up to date.

But enough business for now. I’m going to go set up one of my bday gifts which was a new grill. We have the deck all cleaned up and decked out. We’ve got  hops growing up around the deck. The yard/garden/office truly is the site of great personal zen. I encourage you all to create your own space and use that space to reflect, relax and recharge.

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

DJ