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

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Friendships Without Fine Print

I’m back in the beautiful Michigan after almost a week in CA dealing with our little arbitration matter. I will say WOW! What a great learning experience and while I would not call any of it fun it was a great moment. I was the first person up and I presented the facts and survived the cross examinations just fine. It is easy when you have truth on your side. It is slightly irritating when a lawyer is trying to twist words into other meaning or discredit your character. I’m glad to report that this did not and could not happen. I’ve said before that I’ve stood by my actions, given best efforts always and I sleep like a baby every night. We were in force four strong and our attorney and on the third day we got the satisfaction of watching the guilty party OBJECTION! (We know he is guilty) OVERRULED! We watched the alleged guilty party just took a brutal, BRUTAL cross examination whereas he was going against earlier testimony within the 1st 60 seconds and it got worse from there. It was text book guilt from shaking hands, sweating and changing colors from bright red to ghostly white. Follow this with stuttering, wrong names and facts, his proclaiming of innocence and a string of “I can’t remember(s)” …(Follow this with a piece of hard evidence).

At the end of three hours I almost felt bad for the crook. I watched him dead on for the whole cross examination. He looked at me a few times and I saw suffering. I felt bad in a sense that we could have been business partners. The truth is that this man had been exploiting filmmakers for a long time. He just may have exposed himself and his company to the open fact that his entire library is most likely built on fraud and misrepresentation. I also don’t think that anyone has every called him to judgement on his actions.  On that day, regardless of how the final ruling comes out, we achieved satisfaction of knowing that he had to account for his wrong-doings on record and under oath. In a few weeks we will know the final outcome but already we are in a better place because I promise you they will be more prompt with accounting and payout and I sincerely hope they change their business ethics.

What I also loved is the fact that we represented the mass of filmmakers out there who pour passion, heart and soul into a film. Some are duped by ONE WORD in a contract that can slide by even experienced attorneys. It is sad because some great filmmakers may never emerge into the industry because they were cut short having used every finance option open to them and being left with nothing to fight a battle against a major corporation. We fought that battle on that day for every filmmaker ever mistreated by a distributor. I was so proud of Collective Development http://www.cdiproductions.com and now the upper crust of Hollywood knows this company can and will FIGHT when RIGHT! I want to thank all the prayers and well wishes I got from folks and especially the filmmakers. This battle was for all of us and I’ve never been prouder. We have a few more battles to fight on smaller fronts. I really wish we could go back to our 1st film that did well and we never saw a penny from our initial distributor. The company paid itself out and dissolved into the night never to be seen again. What is even sadder in a few of these cases is that the dishonest people are also parents. The main antagonist is our little deal in CA has a 5 year old child. My father was and still is a ROCK on how to live like a good man. He instilled those values in us. I worry about these dishonest people’s children being raised by fathers who see lying, cheating and stealing as just a way of life. This man is a millionaire but he is no different then a street thug.  Both are passing on the shortcomings in their character by condoning a behavior to a small child who sees their father as the end all. That is what was running through my head during part of this ordeal. I hope that man changes his ways for his child. Odd to feel bad for someone but I’m not a hateful person. I don’t carry poison around like that. My friendships mean a lot to me and they come without any fine print. Be a good friend and the rewards will be greater than any money or material things.

TO MOVIE NEWS!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/14542396


http://www.walmart.com/ip/14542409

PRE-ORDER now at Walmart and enjoy these two Jeff Kennedy directed titles. 
These films showcase some of the heart and soul of our company. The films 
release next month and you can add these to your collection. I hope everyone
has a safe and relaxing weekend as we remember those who fight so that we may 
have freedom. Be good to one another.


DJ

Posted by  |  May 30, 2010 | Categories: Blogroll | Leave a comment

Recte Agens Confido

In a few short hours I will leave the beautiful Michigan day behind and travel to California to go stand up for what is right. I can’t help but think about the OK Corral and the Earp brothers along with Doc Holiday going to off to stand up to the powerful Cowboy faction. The thing in independent film is that often if you are not in LA you are at a greater risk for others to try and do wrong by you and your property. Some will fly directly in the face of truth because it is costly in time and resources to go fight for truth. Whereas many filmmakers fought for those final thousand dollars in post costs or have a film that only costs a few thousand dollars, fighting for right can be a hard thing.
The truth is that starting with my 1st trip to LA to read for Wes Craven on SCREAM 2 I’ve been making contacts and networking with great folks. They are always impressed by the guy from Michigan who comes not with just talk but with proven action. I’m proud to represent a tribe of artists and I’ve always worked hard to leave people with a good impression. We are not greedy. We are not arrogant. We are simply people who hope we can make a living with our art and enjoy some of the reward in this lifetime versus the artists of days gone by who saw their biggest boost in sales after their death. I’m not great at asking for help but I’m getting better. I thank the friends who have helped in this matter.
BIG THANKS
Jeff Kennedy, my director/biz partner at CDI gave me a beautiful coat of arms for PERRY that now hangs in my basement bar. The bar is part trapper saloon and part pirate cove. The coat of arms reads, Recte Agens Confido or roughly, he who stands with right, stands confidently. This biz situation in California is to stand up for what is right. This is not a “he said and she said” but almost four inches of evidence that supports our claim. Because we are from places other than Hollywood some individuals believed that they could just ignore agreements. To our credit we did EVERYTHING to avoid this situation. Because I would not recommend legal action for anyone. It is very long, tedious and takes away from time that could be spent moving forward. That said, it is a duty that I’ve accepted, so we go to confront the situation. I’m a very peaceful person who lives by harmonious attributes day in and day out. That said, I’m a warrior as well. Literally I’ve had years of training in the fighting arts and I don’t wear that on my sleeve but I train to this day. Life can be a series of battles and I do believe that from adversity comes new opportunity. We have been wronged for many years as a company on some level. We’ve fought several battles and won our share. We’ve lost some because the cost to recover would be too costly in time and resources. But this is a landmark battle. This is going to show Hollywood how the tribe of CDI will be seen. Already one dishonest person in Hollywood associated with the “Wild Michigan” situation KNOWS what can happen. And his troubles are only beginning and there is a short list of other dishonest folks that should be worried.
By now many have heard of my upcoming role in the movie “In Our Time” this Summer. It reminds me of JUDGEMENT and how it is handed out.  “The humbled will be exalted and the exalted will be humbled.” OR in the TOMBSTONE style of judgement the justice came fast and harsh. I’m not sure of how justice will be recognized in our case be it soft or harsh. I just hope that justice is served up. The most important fact is that CDI is standing up for EVERY small filmmaker that was ever wronged and didn’t have what it takes to get their justice. It has been costly to get to this point.  More costly than what we spent on our first movie. If justice does come about perhaps these costs will be recouped. Perhaps we will get what we are due. Perhaps judgement will fall upon a dishonest man to entice him to do good business in the future.
So if you are one of those “small people” who have been taken advantage by some dishonest person/corporation I ask you to send your thoughts our way. We are small but together we are great. So today the Earps are coming to Hollywood. With our attorney “Doc Holiday” we are going to go present our case this week and see what happens when the smoke clears.
We’ve had great movement on many fronts with development projects and this studio project of mine isn’t going to hurt any of them. We have a summer of releases coming out and I look forward to days ahead with friends on set. We  have new facebook sites for “Figure in the Forest,” “Heaven’s Neighbors,” “The Patchwork Girl of Oz,” “Sherwood Horror,” “Holly, Jingles and Clyde” and “In Our Time”…seek them out and throw them your support. “Renovation” is closing in on a rough cut and deals are starting to move around it. “Locked in a Room” is just returning from Cannes Film Market on Monday so we will see what is happening there. I’ll be back to more film updates soon. Many new updates on www.cdiproductions.com Right now I have to go saddle up because we hit the trail today. We’re gonna ride hard and go confront the cowboy faction on their wrong doings. All this is possible because one powerful attorney I met a few years ago said, “I’ll be your huckleberry.”

Posted by  |  May 23, 2010 | Categories: Blogroll | Leave a comment