2023! Goals, Gifts and Growth!
Good morning 2023! I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee and happy to report no hangovers or such this morning. I had a few drinks yesterday afternoon in a meeting with a few of our artists, picking materials up. We toasted the victories and those lost, no longer traveling. The beverage sipped was some of the Frankenberry Wine, made from all the berries on the property. But in the eve it was just ginger ale and a peaceful welcome into 2023. I can recall many days of my youth of celebrating too much and paying for it the next morning/day. I get up early and have my productive routines that I follow. I don’t regret most of those party days but I don’t miss the aftermath.
I carved out a day this past week and did film disbursements to our backers. I’m so thankful for all the supportive people who love the Tribe CDI stories. I had a sit down with one of them this week and really enjoyed all the positive feedback. We also talked about future endeavors, of which we have many. I’ve been working to get organized and prepped for a highly productive new year. Being organized is one of the secrets to success. I’ve got a series of end of year tax prep stuff for the films but I have a great team and this year should be quite smooth.
It was a year of hard fought victories and some sad losses. My furbaby Daphne, my second mother- baby sitter Marie DeFord, my friend/family and building mentor Dan Chapin, all powerful losses. Also a slew of artists passed on, which leaves us artists to pick up the torch. SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, was the most complex film we’ve produced to date. Two languages, 1940’s clothes, props and vehicles. Windy, cold days and nights. Extensive VFX and just a few bumps bringing all the elements together on an advanced release schedule. But, we did it. The Algona, Iowa premiere was so full of good energy and the ongoing energy has had the film hold over four times now and expanded into multiple cities with more emailing about booking every week.
We will be having a producers pow wow this week over the ongoing roll out. A special screening in Owosso, MI is in planning. We will be exploring a few choice film festivals and we really want a few German screenings. We have a few VIP’s awaiting to view the film which could really assist the home video release. We’ve had many people talk about merchandise and swag and we will be addressing that and hope to have that available with the home video release later this year. We’ve already received so many nice emails about the emotions stirred by watching this story based on true events. Some reflected the deep pain and hate that some carried from their own war (Vietnam) experiences and that this film gave them a new perspective that allowed them to let go of that hate. That is powerful. A story made them let go of poison and replace it with understanding. We’ve had many of these notes sent to us. The community is alive with history. They are all talking the stories once told and almost forgotten. The museums in town being part of family trips into Algona, to watch the film. We had a beautiful letter from the museum boards about the quality job CDI did. And the interest has brought a new awareness that will help these places not just survive but thrive. I’m beyond proud.
We will have an amazing 2023 journey with this film and I cannot wait for each and every one of you to experience this story.
ON DECK-
Once I get past the state filings, K-1 send outs and any 1099’s for the films- we’ll be forming the new company to produce Harsens Island Revenge. If you liked CDI tackling WW2 and the 1940’s, wait until CDI gets after the roaring 20’s! I plan to get with our director and finish our writer/director draft. We’ll be putting the casting breakdowns together soon and that will be an enjoyable process. We were lucky to do some location scouting and found many great places to use in the telling of our story. Stay tuned to many new updates on this film.
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE – In 2023 we’ll be doing some passive development which might include the building of a few period cabins. This is a spring 2024, Iowa shoot if everything stays in the right direction.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH (Battlefield) – Working title- Following the success of the documentary film FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH, directed by Curran Jacobs, edited by Adam Towner, produced by CDI and The Red, White, and Blue Project Inc.. The film will now have the first sequel documentary going into production this Spring/Summer. While the original was a much needed summary timeline of the history of professional grappling, these follow up films will go more in depth with various aspects of the history. It’s very exciting to continue this journey.
Furthermore, CDI is considering the first “in association” in a while, with an exciting supernatural thriller. An animated feature is heating up and more…
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but I too, feel that rush of the fresh energy. Every year I write out my goals. Personal goals, business goals, home improvement- It is good to get those out in front of you. You won’t always make all your goals but you’ll be surprised at what you did achieve.
I JUST took a pause for my first 2023 eats. Eggs from our girls, 4H bacon and protein waffles with MI made syrup. If I had the right trees I would be boiling sap. Okay. Goals….bacon…back to goals.
A few of my goals as an example-
- Design and have new deck built – it is getting close to that point of need vs want
- Produce two feature length film endeavors
- Act in one outside CDI project- that said, I MUST connect with the material and role
- Better plant and garden bed growth and harvest
- Looking to increase strength and flexibility training for a good soccer season ahead
- Finish two feature scripts
- …you get the picture.
Even this blog is very helpful in me deeply thinking through my TO DO’s for the week. Communication continues to be a key to success and I find it can always be improved upon. I see or read about several people being overwhelmed by the waves of life’s hardships. Here is to the hope that 2023 becomes an island to get your footage, regain your balance and readjust your sights. I will keep trying to communicate better to serve as an example of respectful collaboration. Preserving history and stories, lessons to be remembered and to grow from.
Cheers to growth in 2023!
DJ
SURPRISE Early Post- End of Year Wrap Up (Thank you!)
I’m sipping my hazelnut coffee on a VERY snowy Michigan day. Negative degrees outside and blowing winds. But we will most definitely have a white Christmas. When we all left off, I had the premiere of SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, in Iowa. It has performed beyond expectations with several extensions (Algona until the 29th) and expansions into other theaters. (Follow our FB page) I did not attend the Michigan kick off at Celebration Cinema, as I was attending a funeral and memorial up North. My week stayed very busy with trying to deal with family things. Working with our team on prepping materials for the upcoming releases. It looks like we were able to get the film to a downloadable link for theatre owners. I was reporting and prepping for end-of-year check dispersement on the movies, which will happen next week. Lastly, was trying to get the Christmas stuff around. So, this Christmas is a bit chaotic with the death in our family, the blizzard and our film’s window of release.
Once we have this delivery of the film process set up, we’ll turn to looking at film festivals and a German screening. There is even talk of showing at one of the US military bases in Germany. This film will have an exciting journey ahead of it. The film has definitely gotten the positive response from the people I care about most with this story. I had an opportunity to speak with several elderly people and they gave high marks on the re-creation of the time. The regional people were so proud of this story and it is resonating with people everywhere. The film has already generated some heartfelt fan mail that is just humbling to read. That is the power of storytelling. Thousands have seen the film and many have seen it multiple times, taking friends and family. In Michigan, we’ll be looking at doing a special Owosso, MI screening and also a run around Detroit, MI in the new year.
Our battle plan with SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA (SNIA), will continue through 2023. I’ve been re-reading a supernatural thriller for a possible CDI associated film. Also in 2023, we’ll get the foundation put in on our next CDI feature film, Harsens Island Revenge. We have already started scouting and we’ll be announcing our director early in 2023, as we enter the casting phase. So again, update those reels. I was able to take a few good meetings while attending the SNIA premiere. I’ve finished the first draft on the SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE, and some development actions will be underway in 2023. If all goes as planned we could be rolling cameras in 2024.
REFLECTIONS AND GOALS –
Every year, I do deep reflection on the past year. Success, failures, trials and tribulations, all equaling growth. This year has had great harvest being the biggest release year I’ve had since 2005. We saw BESTSELLER, BEST YEARS GONE, SMOKE & MIRRORS, FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH and SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA release. Has anyone reading here, seen all five releases?
I set business and personal goals. I set goals on home fixes or improvements. I set goals as an actor, writer and producer. I set goals for/with Collective Development Inc. (www.cdiproductions.com) – new projects. New divisions. New endeavors. New collaborations.
This year saw a few music videos release under CDI’s production. As someone who was there when MTV started, I loved working in that medium.
OFF TO THE RACES from the movie ‘Best Years Gone‘ by Vertical Bridge
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=393380005705951
LOVE these guys. From our state of Michigan! And these gents are also from MI and really, really kick ASS.
REVOLUTION by the band DeepFall
This year full of releases and we did produce and prep several projects. HOT ROD LOVE, the CDI racing comedy set in the 1970’s went back on the shelf this fall. We had some funding. We had some sponsors. We had some participation from track owners. SOME, doesn’t cut it in filmmaking. It is truly one of the funniest ensemble comedy scripts sitting at CDI, with Caddyshack being the tone inspiration. Everything in its own time. I had to finally let go of a look I was developing for my character in that film. I am setting my “acting/producing” sights firmly on 1926 with WW1 veterans going head to head with the Purple Gang mafia.
This past year, I did turn down two different acting roles. I usually do so for one of three reasons. One. Not connecting with the role. Two. Not connecting with the story/script as a whole. Three. I cannot give the project the due attention I put into all my roles. I don’t phone anything in. I take each and every role very serious. That is why once business is out of the way, you get 100% effort, no less. $200 or $200,000 will get you the same performance. With acting performances, audiences got to meet Mark Franklin, Gil Gilles, Mr. Hosworth and Col Lodell. Vastly, different gents. have you met any of them?
The last gent was an honor and a very complex character to play. Let’s talk, Col Lodell. First the name of several characters based on actual camp assigned people, were altered. The events are true cut the characterizations are just that, not meant to be a biopic. That said, the camp commander that I portrayed, took his internal motivation from his faith in ‘The Golden Rule’. To treat others (Captured Germans) as you would want your PW boys treated. The filming was cold and rugged and that plays on everyones face in the film. A grit that cannot be manufactured on a stage or with a LED wall. We’ve been experimenting and will use LED walls in future VFX but there is something about a wild wind in your face, eyes near watering, and experience something closer to what these actual men did. We get to hear CUT and go back home. Every perspective has a story and they all dance closer and closer to a true event that helps to restore a touch of the humanity we all seem to have lost. Unity. Love. Even with a world at war. The fallout. The anguish, shame and soul crushing heartache.
My backstory was after serving in combat in WW1, Lodell, is pulled from academia, back into action as a camp commander. Seeking out Nazi-rot that grows inside the camps threatening lives and a PR nightmare should an escape happen. A majority of the PWs are farmers taken in desperation and forced to fight. Surrender came fast, not willing to fight to the death for Hitler’s war. Real threats. But like a needle in a haystack. The heaviness of supervisions production in many ways mirrored Lodell’s challenges. I channeled much of my real heaviness of responsibly to my performance and it works.
EVERY soldier just like the prisoners of war, missed their own bed, toilet, lazyboy, pet, family. I love a scene in SNIA where Col Lodell is just watching a Christmas scene of Santa and his nurse ‘elves’ giving children presents. He is the man with the most medals and he is as sad and homesick as the lowest prisoner. WAR hurts us all. I think that is why many SPORTS came about so that things could be handled more easily for both parties.
I’m happy that people are enjoying the film. Lodell, had to be the Col Potter of MASH. Leadership on screen or in real life takes many qualities to do it even semi successful. Lodell, has the secret to leadership but you’ll have to watch the film. I got to get more clean cut and play in the world of my dearly departed grandfathers. Burt Swope, in the Navy and Robert Emerson flying cargo in the Pacific, I believe in the Army. Air force was started in 1947. Anyway. This film captures everything that is nostalgic but also makes you feel as if you are living in it. Not some black and white flicker, cold and distant but in living color. If you can see SNIA on the big screen do. Otherwise, after running our theatricals into March or so, we plan to screen in Germany and a few film festivals. It will start DVD and home video around Nov 1st is my best guess. Meeting next year will tell. TRIVIA: On that scene above, my face got so cold I blew a take unable to fully pronounce my words. I asked for a moment, gave the face a rub down and a few good smacks before ACTION nailing it.
I think the performance will open a few new doors. I always tell actors, don’t get frustrated by people because they don’t see what you don’t show them. This is usually followed by, I don’t get a chance. The 14 year old filmmaker in my rolls his eyes. Almost everyones phone is a studio, where you can work a monologue a thousand times. Comedians and magicians work their craft over and over. If you get the slightest bit off when a camera comes close, you need to work on that. That camera should be that old friend, never glanced at- yet always embraced. Being natural leads to comfortable which leads to the environment to make interesting. In 2023, don’t get in your own way with doubts and ‘cannots’ and all that negativity. See dead ends, as paths of the maze mapped and now known. The true path becomes closer.
WRAP UP –
I truly do LOVE winter. I always have. It teaches you a healthy respect for nature. You admire the beauty of pines that thrives under the blankets of snow. Crackling fire, destroys the old leaving nurturing ashes to sprinkle for the spring plantings. Writings and new ideas like to seep into the pondering mind. A season of hardship and helping where you can. When everyone does a little the world is a better place. We here at TribeCDI are resting and rejuvenating with our loved ones. But rest assured the call of the storyteller rides these cold Michigan winds. Tomahawks and Tommy guns. Hot Rods and Painted Horses. I want to thank all our cast, crew, sponsors, supporters, families, friends and FANS. Tom T. Hall use to have a song, I wish I had a million friends – and I’ve complained about Facebook ‘Friends’ vs acquaintances – but with so many of the films being seem by tens of millions and I’ve been blessed to read your notes of encouragement and connection. I do feel like I have millions of friends, because you accepted our stories, our characters, into your homes. You’ve hunted Bigfoot with Niles Cass in Lost Heart. You felt for Paul Landings and his terrible loss in Man’s Best Friend. You’ve laughed with Ben Lily in Wild Faith. You’ve taken comfort during the holidays watching a relatable Jesus, in The Quest Trilogy (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) And I could go on- my point is thank you. Sincerely, from a childhood dreamer who started with my friends and a VHS camcorder, thank you.
Next up New Years Day! So Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
DJ
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, Premiere and Theatrical Updates – End of a Journey
Good morning. It is early on the 4th of December, and I’ve gotten up a touch earlier to get this blog written since today will be a full day. Yesterday, we had our post team assemble to marry the audio and visual halves of the film. That is completed, and today they will add the final subtitles and credits. I saw a message this am that one extras name was not added to the end credits. Sadly, not sure it was caught in time for the final rendering. I’m sure even after dozens of watches on the credits, we’ve also misspelled someones name. Know it is never on purpose. It happens with so much data moving about, one of the many challenges. I also know that we have a few ‘Easter Eggs’ in the film. By Easter Egg, I mean small things, that were not quite the correct period, oversights by the art team. But those are few, you can find those oversights in nearly any period film, as films are truly an illusion. In any film there are always a few things you wish would have been slightly different but that is the filmmakers picking. Even George Lucas was unhappy with a few aspects of his original Star Wars. Audiences only know what they are given and they’ll never know what was never presented to them. Most minor flaws never seen.
This film has been a wonderful beast and is one of our most advanced films. Today, we’ll watch the fully assembled film before the DCP is made for the theatre. The file will be tested tomorrow at the theatre before it travels to Algona, with us on Weds. I need to recognize our post team, Dennis Therrian, Nathaniel Nose, Adam Towner, Eric Bilodeau and Dany Boivin. Of course led by Anthony Hornus, our director. Another post person to recognize is Irene Krautner Bookman, who served as our German to English sub-titler. She was born in Austria, moved to the US at age three. Fully fluent in German, she is also an inspiring writer. She hails from our director’s home town of Owosso, MI and that made things easier.
ALGONA ‘SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA’ IOWA PREMIERE – If you were an extra or directly involved with filming, you should be on a list for a ticket at the premiere showing Friday the 9th at 6pm at the Fridley Algona theater. Donna Kitzinger and/or Julie Murphy will be at the Fridley theatre at 5:00 pm with our invite list and tickets to hand out. Those wondering if they have a ticket can email Donna Kitzinger at bdkitzinger@netamumail.com – The public can buy tickets for a 9 pm show on Dec 9th and it plays all week. I hear they might expand into more theaters. We have new theaters approaching daily wanting to show the film.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, Michigan Premiere will be a yet to be announced afterglow in Lansing, following the Celebration Cinema Dec 16th showing. It will play for a week both in Lansing and Grand Rapids.
In Jan 2023 we are planning an Owosso, Special Directors Screening with an afterglow and Q&A with our director at the NCG Theatre but that deal is still finalizing.
There will be more theaters joining in the release. Others will be expanding and that is because of you all reaching out to the theaters and requesting the film. Thank you!
HOLIDAY WATCHING–
Tis the season! As it gets cold and people gather with their families and loved ones, we have many films at CDI you can enjoy. The Quest Trilogy, has become a classic watch for folks during the holiday. Also WILD FAITH, MBF, LOST HEART, ASHES OF EDEN, WICKED SPRING and more…
WRAP UP REFLECTIONS
Our job as producers is to try and see problems before they happen. Being aware, is good but obsessing on what might go wrong or could go wrong, can become STRESS. Being prepared, is the best defense. Being organized, allows you to trouble shoot. You can never totally eliminate worrying at big events, but you can control and contain it. Concern over technical aspects is only one part, the artists also sincerely hope that the people enjoy the story. I’m confident that the masses will enjoy our next film. It’s a film about love, joy, healing and unity and it is based on true events.
Being that this is also the Christmas season, our job is a touch more complicated. I have our first Christmas gathering a week after returning from Iowa and our MI premiere the night before one of our gatherings. Luckily, I’ve done a bulk of my holiday shopping online. I will get a few Christmas shopping days in here and there. But one giant gift to the world will be this next film.
I’m going to wrap this up so that I can eat something and get around for our in studio wrap up. I enjoyed all the time spent in studio tweaking scenes. I’m excited to see it all put together in just a few short hours. I might have to take some of the Frankenberry wine out for everyone to toast.
I’m also going to go make the hazelnut coffee. I also like to add EggNog sometimes to my coffee. Try it sometime. I got up early to write and didn’t want to use the noisy coffee bean grinder. But the house is now up and awake, so time to grind the beans. Next Sunday, we’ll be on the other side of the Algona, premiere. I’ll have a lot more to say. These films are hard work and that is why I carry a certain respect for anyone who can make and distribute a feature film.
I will talk with all of you on the other side of this final push!
Soon-to-be Coffee Cheers,
DJ
Refuel, Relax, Rest – Much to Be Thankful For – FILM UPDATES!
The hazelnut coffee, is tasting great on this snowy Sunday. I see where many folks elsewhere got 5+ feet of snow! Parts of Michigan, saw a large snowfall and even here in Lansing (Center of the State) we got a good amount. It is pretty to watch fall and it makes everything bright, which has been nice. But, it has been bitter cold for sure. The several days of arctic freeze gave me the time I needed to start catching up on all my biz paperwork.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – We have been working on getting the end credits around and from the list we’ll be double checking against our Algona, premiere list. This week, we’ll get a chance to review the film, with most all the elements inserted. The film will release first in Algona, Iowa on Dec 9th and the Fridley Theaters. Our hope is that they will open the film in all the cities they’re in. We are looking to see when the show times will go live, so folks can start getting public tickets. The trailer will soon be playing in front of other films. We plan to show the film into 1st quarter of 2023 in the theatre chains. We hope to have it expend across Iowa, and the midwest. An LA/Hollywood and German showing via theaters or festival is also being planned.
We also have some exciting things coming together for the 2023 home video release. I really do think that this film could create a “Field of Dreams” effect – whereas once a year the film returns to Algona, theaters and people travel to the town of Algona, to see the museums. We will also be working on the Michigan premiere, that might happen first of the year, due to all the crazy Christmas hustle and bustle. Many will have to have patience, if you miss the select theatrical showings. But come, the run up to Christmas 2023, the film will be getting a major push. Between the theatrical and the home video, we hope to show it in Germany/Austria. Thank you to everyone for your support.
We’re also going to be working with our sponsors and product partners, moving forward. Note, the period wraps on the Spam, Hershey’s bars and more. We are honored to have such wonderful partners in storytelling. We have had many great companies join us over the years. I look forward to many more, as we move ahead in our storytelling adventures.
DEVELOPMENT WORK!
Silent Night in Algona, will be the 5th release this year. Who has seen all five films? Who can name all five films? OK. It’s early and the coffee is still kicking in for folks. 1) BESTSELLER 2) BEST YEARS GONE 3) SMOKE & MIRRORS 4) FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH 5) SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – if you end up watching all 5, you are truly a CDI fan. I’ve had someone talking to me about a CDI fan club. You can SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRIBE at http://www.cdiproductions.com and we’ll be doing some updates there soon. I use to have a wonderful fan club ran by a fine lady named, Pepper. I think she is still with us, loving her dogs and spreading joy. She and several friends, use to travel to different CDI premieres. She did interviews and highlighted co-stars and leading ladies. She reviewed films and really did many great and wonderful things. Her health, hasn’t allowed her to keep up with the webpage and it went down several years ago. I will check in on Pepper, over the holidays. I hope she has been doing well.
Once SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, is finished, we will be all caught up on production. We have been slowly prepping 4 films in the CDI library, for re-release with BMG. In 2023, we hope to bring KNIGHT CHILLS, FIGURE IN THE FOREST, AN ORDINARY KILLER and GHOST TOWN to the marketplace. Two are in the wrong aspect ratio and were shot in standard def so they’re all being digitally enhanced to HD. I will readdress all this once I get this current film locked.
But, I will say- I’ve seen the first draft of the new uprezed trailer for Ghost Town, and it looks beautiful. I need to watch and provide some notes. We are also working to get distributor back ups of all the films. KNIGHT CHILLS, we are trying to get the best source version. But this will get done. We are also working on a few cool extras, maybe even an interview from our director Katie Hicks. I might do a sit down, with Jeff Kennedy, to talk about those days. The sequel and video game became even more exciting, when I got to check out some of the new software and LED walls. Not only, will CDI keep working to enhance of VFX sequences in our films, we will be doing some films that are completely animated films. I have a few people in Michigan, I’ve been watching, about some possible collaborations. Ideas-forming.
Harsens Island Revenge – Get those acting reels together. Yes. CDI is an acting troupe of actor/producers, but we have several friends of the tribe, that we often collaborate with. Like, many projects, we have many more friends of the tribe, vs roles open in a film. But, we have some time, so we’re going to really use the time to cast, and look at talent for future endeavors. I use to travel to more film gatherings, events, networking. Oh, I feel a ramble coming on…
The truth is, with how busy my film work is, my daily hours are pretty full. I unwind, mediate, visualize, the week ahead. Refuel, relax and get good rest (Three R’s) to attack it all again the next day. Staying out late partying, isn’t really on my planner. Now, let me say for the record, I’ve certainly been there, done that and got that tee-shirt, but I’m at a different place on the path. I have a domestic life, that brings me peace and balance. It allows me to better focus my energies, achieving dreams. But, just like at one time, I knew every bar in my town, now, I do not. I was a work-a-holic, binge drinker, in my youth. The binge drinking (Viking drinking) was taught to me, from those glorious nights out, after games in Hornbaek, Denmark, playing soccer as a teen. What a great time that was for three summers. I love those good folks to this day.
Okay, back at it. So, I had unrealistic dreams (Acting) but, once I set my sights, there was no plan B. I worked, and lived in studios, we made our hours, working for days on end. Sometimes forced to using TV stations in the middle of the night to finish films. Often jumping on a jet planes, with my amigos, to go pitch ideas and finished films, around Hollywood for a couple weeks. Days full of 405 driving to meetings, parties in the hills. Hard partying, after, hard work, to try and turn our obsession off. But, the tequila would often just spur even more exciting dreams and ideas. I LOVE those days. The CDI crew was like pirates, we rolled hard, building. But, the journey will burn some out. I’ve seen so very many break, and fall. If I could have made myself fall into regular steady employment, I would have long ago. But, my simple mantra of putting everything into the film I’m working on, so it results in one more opportunity to tell a story, remains. So far, that has worked. I think because, there are so many stories, in every town, in danger of fading away, gone. But, a group of artists like CDI, can bring a story to life, for generations. That is what we do. That is what we are doing.
And back to development- this week saw a few really great steps. The script for Harsens Island Revenge (HIR) is going through that writer/director phase. Each character, action and line, discussed. I can say, every scene improved through long conversations. Motivations. Moments. I love this process with directors. All directors who have directed a script I wrote, have been through this process. It is fun, playful and enjoyable. We got through another 25 pages in a session and have likely 1-2 more sessions to get all the way through. Once the script is locked, the writer part of me steps back. All work from there will be between actors and director. But once you leave the director at the end of the process, they should have a deep understanding. It is an exploring, something even more important with period pieces.
HIR, will start looking at cast and crew, with our director, over the winter. We have a good idea of the look, tone, work flow and our scout trip has us all very excited. So, wrap up your year by getting your highlight reels together. CDI is mostly all actors, so pick and lead with your strongest material. If something is subpar consider leaving it off. Less can be more. At the same time, if someone is interested, they will watch a lot of your work. Especially if they are thinking of working with you.
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE – After nearly two full days of polishing, I ended my week, with my first draft of the new Spirit Lake Massacre. I’m very proud of the final piece. I’m going to do even more research to add a sprinkling more of the historical gems, to this already powerful piece. In December, I’ll be able to have some more discussions on the locations for this 2024 project. Next year, might consist of some construction, and some prep work.
CDI HOLIDAY WATCHING – With snow and cold, forcing many inside- it’s a good time to watch some of the CDI classics with your family and loved ones. WILD FAITH, MANS BEST FRIEND, LOST HEART, THE QUEST TRILOGY! Encourage TV, Tubi, Amazon Prime, Google Play– check your platforms. I’m going to go do some holiday shopping both online and at the store. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week. I’m always happy when I get to see family and friends. We are all thankful at CDI, to all of you fans.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, Updates and More-
Hazelnut coffee cheers. Welcome new readers from Spain, Portugal, Philippines and more. We are into November and we had a run of warm above average days. But now, the cold winds have started to blow. We are due to see snow today so I’ll be getting the wood stove in the fort going. I spent some time chopping some wood this past week getting ready for these cold days ahead. We’re also entering the Christmas season, so I’ve been looking at a few love gifts here and there. Thanksgiving is not far away, but with our family stretched, it can be a task aligning schedules. Also with the Algona, Silent Night in Algona, premiere, lots of time being taken the planning. I want to again say, thank you, to all our veterans. CDI has a good reputation for tackling stories with soldiers at the heart of it. Take a watch on them, and let us know your thoughts.
TOP SEVEN UPDATES:
- This week started off with a ZOOM meeting with our partners in Iowa, helping to set up the premiere and theatrical showing in Algona and beyond for SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. We are working hard on credits but some of those will be spelled wrong if your handwriting is poor. There is no changes once it is all locked up. But between us all, we should get our premiere night list pretty close. If we do miss anyone or you don’t qualify, they will have public showings starting that night Dec 9th at Fridley. I thought we were running two weeks and I also heard someone was told one week. The truth is that as long as a demand is there the supply will keep flowing. So don’t wait, really hit that first week playing at the theatre. I heard companies planning to buy blocks of tickets for employees. We had schools do that for WILD FAITH, taking middle school history classes. That would be a good idea here also. The film is not yet rated but would be PG. 2 hour and 20 min runtime. While not one of these Marvel four hour marathons, it is a full story that moves right along with the pacing. The new trailer was released and my home video meetings for next year went very well. The release plan is to play in several cities on the big screen after Algona, Iowa. If you want it to play in your neck of the woods, contact your theatre and request it. After that we’re working to set up the Michigan and midwest showings that will run into 2023. Discussions for a German showing is also underway. The final run will be the home video build towards Christmas 2023 for DVD and streaming. This week we’ll be watching a mostly complete film with several VFX scenes dropped in. EXCITING!
- Harsens Island Revenge, is in pre-production with our first step being the polishing of the script by the writer (me) and the director. Our director has asked to not PR anything yet as he is working to finish up a previous pair of features and we’re trying to stay focused on locking the script. We are 1/4 of the way through and should be close to finishing this week after another fun day of working the script. A few super sleuths have been digging, but we will not do things out of order, so early inquiry’s become just a distraction. Every move, is discussed in our development meetings. Once we have a locked script, and announce our director, many more people will get to see the script. Casting will be over the winter and crew talks will begin first of the year. We will film in Oct/Nov 2023, but this is another period piece that requires much advance planning. Our scouting trip was extremely helpful and this will be another great story featuring a piece of Michigan history.
- Speaking on development, I was engaged to research and write another epic historical that takes place in the 1800’s, SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE. At the end of the week, I finished my first draft. I now need to get in there and smooth and expand certain scenes. I plan to have a few meetings at the end of the year on this powerful story again taken from true events.
- The previous releases this year BESTSELLER, BEST YEARS GONE, SMOKE & MIRRORS and FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH, have been finding their audiences. We have a few more reviews coming on these films. I love all the good folks who have reached out about enjoying the films. If you’ve watched any of them, please go to their IMDB or Amazon pages and leave your thoughts.
- I’ve been slowly, pulling elements together for some of the films in the CDI library, being prepped to release back into the marketplace. GHOST TOWN, KNIGHT CHILLS, AN ORDINARY KILLER and FIGURE IN THE FOREST, we’ll see how many we can get out next year. Also, THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ, CDI’s first feature length animated effort, is being rendered to HD for an upcoming release. I would love to do more animated projects and we have several things in development.
- We’re prepping to do an end-of-the-year dispersement on the films before I start 2022 business taxes with our team. Associate Producer, John Mashni, who helps oversee this process, also will play a large part in areas of CDI moving forward. One area is soundtracks. I would love to have a few LP’s manufactured and of course streaming. What soundtracks would you want? I’m thinking an LP with the best of The Quest Trilogy. Have you seen the trilogy of biblical adventures? FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR, THE CHRIST SLAYER, are all available to watch on various platforms but Encourage TV is free with ads. The 1st film just passed 2 million views on Encourage TV, so thank you!
- LOST HEART, also released as BIGFOOT, UFOS and JESUS, is gaining strength. The film is approaching its first million views on Encourage TV. I think after the holiday season, we’ll exceed that milestone. On a personal level, I will look to cut an actors reel from my ‘Niles Cass’ footage. I loved working with everyone on that film, but especially loved Ponceman, Josh Perry. He is pure magic in the film.
The end of the year will be full as you can see. I sill look forward to some celebratory family time. The next couple years is being planned. Discussions on a few projects to add to the slate are underway. We will only consider funded projects at this time, but the tribe gets it done. If my polish on the scripts goes well, I’ll focus on a few other screenplays I’ve been working in my down time.
Acting has been part of conversations as of late. I had such a busy year, business-wise, I turned down two roles this year. I do enjoy the no stress of going and acting on someone else’s story. I don’t take a role just to take it, it must ring true. I will say the one role I have lined up for 2023, in Harsens Island Revenge is a good role. It is not the starring role but it is solid, a good role for me to play while producing. I’ve thought of looking at representation again, but getting someone up to speed is always a task. We’ll see, things are moving forward and I’m just gonna roll with it.
I guess I’ll wrap it up here. The LIONS play again soon and let’s hope they have a good game. My alumni MSU has been playing better so maybe a bowl game awaits. I’m looking forward to the World Cup starting this month. I’ve been healing up well from my soccer season and soon might start some indoor training. I hope all of you have a great Sunday! I’ll talk at you next week and we’ll share some new updates.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Premieres, Casting, Birthdays and More…
Good afternoon! I’m sitting here about to watch our Lions play football while filling all of you fine people in on the new develops. Last night we watched my alumni school Michigan State University fall short against Washington. Man, they had a hot quarterback who had his career best game. I hope todays outcome with the Lions is better.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH is having its premiere at the NCG Theaters in Owosso, MI on October 1st at 6pm ands 8:15pm with an afterglow that will likely be at Romas next door. This awesome project started with discussions around the table about the fighting arts and our director Curran Jacobs competitive runs both in MMA and twice capturing Catch-Can World Championships. What is Catch Can you say? That is why you need to watch and find out the common ancestry of many of the arts. You’ll learn about legends by legends of the grappling arts themselves. I’ll be attending with several of the CDI tribe to support the launch. If you want top see this on the big screen and meet the filmmakers, please do join us. Tickets will go on sale soon at the NCG Owosso. If you are unable to attend, the film will stream on Amazon Prime and likely Google Play, iTunes and more. CHECK IT OUT! Let us know your thoughts on our http://www.imdb.com page – See you there.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – Following the 4th release this year (For the Love of Catch) our WW2 Christmas film will premiere. The film is coming along great. We watched the second half of the film with the cleaned up dialog and the start of sound design. Music is going to start this week and that is one of my favorite parts of the process. The new theatrical trailer will start this week also. The premiere set up in Algona is coming together. They are limited in the area for places to show several hundred people at once. The one place that does seat a sizable number is lacking the right projection and audio equipment. The theatrical run will happen very soon after the Iowa premiere. We’ll be having a Michigan premiere also – we’ll focus on that once we get the Algona one finalized. It is all very exciting!
TOP TEN UPDATES
- A PR release will be going out about the slate of historic films CDI is involved with. Silent Night in Algona isn’t our first period film by any means but it will start a string of productions taking place at different times in our history. HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE is up next for CDI in 2023 taking audiences to the roaring 20’s smack dab in the middle of the prohibition. We’ve already started breaking in down and we’re starting select talks in advance of meeting with our keys. We’ll be posting casting notices later this year. It is a very cool time period to bring to the screen. I enjoyed adapting this script from the book of the same name.
- I’ve started writing on SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE, which tells of the true events surrounding on-going conflict between the Iowa pioneers and the local Native Americans. I love writing in the 1800’s and I’m approaching this project with great reverence like all my stories. Between now and Christmas I’ll be writing this powerful drama. I LOVE this time period and couldn’t think of a better fall/winter project.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS, is our short concept film derived from the feature script. I think our plan is to put this up on CDI’s Youtube site for free as a thank you to all our fans. We’re looking at the autumn equinox Sept 22nd as a possible release date. It is so much fun and it shows how fun the feature can/will be. SPOOKY FUN
- BESTSELLER and BEST YEARS GONE going to Roku and Tubi has already increased the fan response. DOUBLE FEATURE! Enjoy! And thank you for all the great comments.
- I did a great interview with Bay Ragni last week talking all the films – please do take a watch/listen – https://youtu.be/GS7kg9Nf6fo
- The season of THE QUEST TRILOGY (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer) lie just ahead. We’re soon to be celebrating one of the platforms Encourage TV racking up 2 million views.
- We are starting to put things in order for a special release of Ghost Town next year with Desktop Entertainment. The film is being digitally enhanced and we’ve got some fun things planned for the new release. Filmed at the world famous Ghost Town in the Sky.
- I need to circle back and see how progress is coming on the digital enhancement of KNIGHT CHILLS which will have a special Blu Ray and first streaming release in 2023. The video game is moving slowly but it’s moving. With all the 3D printers I need to see if I can do a 3D print of Sir Kallio from the video game.
- I’m happy to report that on the home front I was able to harvest all the hops. We also just brought in all the squash although a few got taken by the squirrels. I trimmed up the apple trees and have started in on the mulberry trees. I also got after some logs with the axe and my hammer/blade set up. What’s that, you say? It’s a large iron ring that surrounds a wide blade. You but a log down inside the ring on the blade and hammer it down like THOR! Let’s just say, I got one hell of a workout. My hammer and axe skills are better because of it.
- Last week we had a pair of birthdays we celebrated, Dennis Therrian and Melissa Anschutz who share a birthday. Fun note: Shane Hagedorn and Anthony Hornus share a birthday also. I had a few close childhood friends (Q, Big J) get a bit older. We are busy and that’s how we persist to push forward but we do take the time to enjoy the journey. Laughter is healing and health is wealth!
I’m going to work in the yard some more once the Lions finish their game, which so far they’re ahead 15-0. Go LIONS! I’m going to re-organize, re-charge and re-focus so we can have another great week ahead. We have some great meetings this week and I’m looking forward to a few scouting trips. I also know a few folks out there going through some hard times. We all take turns dealing with the hardships of life. So try to have more patience in dealing with people in your day to day. If you’re not dealing with anything heavy at this time be grateful. Pay attention to driving NOT your phone. I’ve seen way too many people way distracted. It totaled a neighbors vehicle but luckily did not badly injure or kill him. Leave earlier or arrive late but no need to push it. It can have bad repercussions. Okay. Enough warnings and sounding old- get off my lawn! Talk with you all next week.
DJ
LOSS, WINS and UPDATES – End of Summer!
A beautiful Sunday morning to sip coffee and reflect back on the past week. I want to start with a tribute to a wonderful woman who was like a second mom to me when I was a wee lad. Marie DeFord was my daycare while my mom worked and my dad was in the National Guard. She was my Monday-Friday from when I was a little baby until about five. She had two older boys Jon and Dane, whom I interacted and learned from. From them my interest in model cars, Universal Monsters, music and cartoons grew. Marie gave me my love of books and animals. While many young children fight nap time, it was always exciting for me. I would sleep surrounded by cats and dogs. At 88 years of age Marie passed peacefully. I’m beyond happy that I have reconnected with both Jon and Dane, and the latter has joined us on a few filmmaking adventures now. I attended a wonderful service and lunch where many shared the same kind of special stories of Marie’s love of people. One person said it best, she spoke to children as if they had something to say. She had that special ‘something’ that Mister Fred Rogers had. She loved everyone and was always there to listen, help and nurture the people in her life. So many special memories that I will cherish and again so happy to have had her be part of my early upbringing. I also discovered only at the memorial that she too was a Sexton Big Red graduate! RIP Marie.
Since maybe about the age of 5 or 6, I’ve been playing the game of futbol/soccer. The ‘teamwork’ aspects is one of the things that this great sport has taught. I’ve played overseas and club soccer most of my life. My detour to the community college before attending Michigan State University hindered my soccer journey. I likely did not possess the skills to make it to the highest level of the game but I’ve always loved it. It is one of the special things I get to share with my brother. He convinced me to play this year in the Over 40 league versus the Over 30 which I’ve played since I was 29. This was my second year in this age bracket and had us joining the ‘Williams’ brothers over to their team. We ended up placing 2nd in the season and we WON the championship beating the one team that had defeated us twice. Old man soccer is no joke. There is nothing more aggressive than a bunch of older gents trying to prove they still got it. On the rainy Thursday we came together and became the new reigning champs. I wanna thank all the warriors in that league who help one another stay active, in-shape and competitive.
FILM UPDATES–
- The final FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH artwork is being approved for the 10/4/22 DVD and streaming release. We’re all really excited to have this roll out to all of you. I think we’re doing a 10/1/22 premiere in Owosso, MI just waiting on final approval.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is moving down the post-production line. Music and sound design are being done while color grading and VFX work also gets worked upon. A NEW theatrical trailer is being worked on and we’re starting to line up participating theaters. We plan to premiere in December in Algona, Iowa followed by a theatrical roll out. We’ll also be setting up a premiere in Michigan, likely in Owosso. We’ve already got the interest for the film to come to Lansing and Grand Rapids. We will work on getting it to Detroit as well.
- BESTSELLER and BEST YEARS GONE will be going to Broadcast and ad-based video on demand 9/1/2022 but both can be seen now on Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes and more! We would love to hear your thoughts so please do post to imdb.com and/or any review platforms. We have a few upcoming reviews coming on both films.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS might get a FREE release to our CDI Youtube that has many great videos. Trailers, behind the scenes, promos and more…I think this just might be the spooky treat for October from your friends at Collective Development Inc.
- Following the Halloween season we’ll be heading for the holidays. The Quest Trilogy always enjoys a nice increase in family watching over the holidays. Have you seen FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER? The films take a great look at some of the stories from the Bible from a unique perspective. It is not heavy handed and many non-religious folks have really expressed how much they enjoyed the thought provoking stories.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE – This story will film in 2023 and we’re already starting advance development work. Location scouting has started and will get more serious in the coming weeks. We’re looking to put in place a few major creative pieces before we start casting and crewing. It is another awesome period piece and CDI will again rise to the challenge. A teaser poster will be worked upon in the coming weeks also.
- I’ve got ‘Screenwriter’ paperwork in process on another ‘period piece’ that will just be epic to film in 2024. I’ve been researching the history for weeks now and I’m excited to write this story in the weeks to come. I want to do a teaser poster for this film also and we’ll do some PR once the ink is dry.
- 2023 is also going to see some of the past CDI library coming once again to market. Right now we’re doing some prep on GHOST TOWN, our smoky mountain western that will be coming next year. We’re about to have the film uprezed to 4k and a new trailer cut. That will go out this week and we’ll start to get our delivery elements together.
- I need to circle back and see how the Uprez of KNIGHT CHILLS, is coming. We have an arrangement for a BluRay release likely in 2023. We will also be releasing to streaming with DeskPop Entertainment. Audio book, video game, sequel? Lotta cool things in development with CDI’s first feature film.
- Rounding out the 2023 Uprez and releases will be FIGURE IN THE FOREST and AN ORDINARY KILLER. Each one takes a lot of work to prep for re-release so we’re tackling a little bit at a time but we’ll get there.
I’m going to get after a few things in the yard. I’ve been harvesting the hops which have grown in great abundance. Our squash, pumpkins and such are growing nicely as well. I’ve been splitting wood in anticipating of winter. I want to have a professional tree trimmer come in and trim the trees around the fort/office. I need to put a trim on the mulberry tree that has taken off like gangbusters. The squirrels have started their gathering for the coming months. I love to watch them work especially a few of the young ones new to the area. I’m going to refill my coffee cup and get after some of these outdoor tasks. Until we meet again next week I wish you all the best. Remember to keep working hard and following your dreams!
DJ
Sails UP, FULL Ahead- Picture Locks, Post Updates and NEW Releases
The hazelnut coffee is flowing and we’re getting the morning rolling. Welcome to the new readers from Colombia, Ireland, France and more. It’s a small world after all over here at our ‘clawing our way to the middle’ blog. This past week was nice weather mostly and the little rain we had was well received by the plants. Our soccer game was a good one adding another win but its really about the awesome workout. The berries are still kicking in full fashion. I eat handfuls each day and the animals have also been enjoying them. The hops are starting to form and the garden plants are starting to have blooms and a few even fruit.
TEN TOP UPDATES:
- BEST YEARS GONE had a great first week trending and giving us a great kick off. You can watch it at any of the places above and more each week. Leave us a review also and let us know if you had any favorite parts. We’re going to keep releasing a few actor videos every few days talking about their characters and the experience of filming with CDI. Here is the most recent a pair of talented young ladies – https://www.facebook.com/Bestyearsgonemovie/videos/1516086865477412
- BESTSELLER – the lake and the haunting sounds of loons. A crackling fire and…this great adult fiction by Christopher Knight aka to the children as Jonathan Rand, is available to rent or own. Shot in beautiful Michigan it is R rated for language and intensity. A great watch, not alone. Many of the same platforms as listed for BEST YEARS GONE above.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – A wonderful community who opened their hearts and trusted us in telling the story of their town. We will be showcasing some beautiful new poster art here soon. And next week the first edit of the film will be watched for any final suggestions. Once any last changes are done it will be a locked picture. Music and sound design have been prepping for weeks. Playing with compositions and building the sound library. VFX continues and we will have more videos showing this amazing process. A new theatrical trailer will start to be cut after our showing next week. They have been outlining ideas for a while and so we have lots of exciting things ahead for this movie. We are targeting a first theatrical premiere Dec 10th, in Algona, Iowa. We hope to expand the theatrical across the midwest where most of these camps were for several weeks. We’ll look at a few festivals maybe even one in Germany, Italy and a few other countries. Too early to announce anything but it looks like CDI will be making more travels to Iowa to bring more stories to the screen.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – We are still waiting to see if we get into Toronto Film Festival. There is a great wrestling tradition throughout Canada and so it would be awesome to premiere there. But it will be coming to living rooms and phones this fall. I don’t want to announce yet until these dates are locked. But let’s just say that the ‘Great Pumpkin’ might also be making an appearance in this same month. The awesome releases for CDI keep coming and this one is still forthcoming. The wait will be worth it and I’m proud to have been a part in filling in this history.
- July 30th, be in your seat at 5:00 pm to be ready for the festival/convention premiere of SMOKE & MIRRORS at the Motor City Nightmares in Novi, MI. I’ve been to Comic Cons (Thank you Nathan Quinn) but never a horror festival. I have gotten a kick out of the collector’s talk of looking for ‘Dead Alive’ VHS titles like IN THE WOODS and KNIGHT CHILLS.
- Speaking of KNIGHT CHILLS. I just got the full rights from author David Hayes (Thank you David) and we might look into a small form reprint and an audio book. You all know a video game is in development. The BluRay deal is signed and will be coming. We are doing some cool things for the packaging. The sequel (funny I’ve written three) is still in development. I’ve had multiple creative groups (fans usually) of the movie present various ideas to incorporate. I’m keeping myself open- Knight Chills itself was us trying to make a movie (our 1st) and was a loving nod to all the cool stuff that Jeff & Juanita Kennedy and I were inspired by. I think for the sequel you could go too polished and perhaps miss what made the first one so special. It needs to be a nod, but stand on its own two feet. It is all fun. That is the secret to Knight Chills, fun. And could a Knight Chills TV series be as cool as Stranger Things? More storytelling potential versus a feature film.
- HOT ROD LOVE working hard to get the last of the funding in place so this can film in our favorite fall/end of the year spot. It works for the story and I like the temps versus humid. Had some great communication with some of the targeted talent. Mister Terence Knox, will have a great role in this film that really showcases his humor. He is playing my father, the track owner. Oh, hell. The clothes, the music and the groove, CDI is gonna go to the 70’s. Seek out our FB site and post some of your favorite 70’s photos. We have some classic images there.
- WILD FAITH: HASTINGS – We just might have our first backer interested. Still a bit to work out concerning details, but we’ve done previous business, so that helps. That just might allow us to start the engines and start planning the first few shows of the eight part season one.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE – The first draft of the script is done. I will collect some feedback and do a second draft. After that we’ll start with active development. Broad location scouting as already begun. This will be a fun film to make fall of next year.
- Thank you to all the CDI FANS. I really want to thank everyone, especially those who have taken the time to express via a post, emails…(a million other ways) how our films spoke to you. Often beyond a few sit-in theatrical showings, we don’t get to hear the giggles or see the tears. With several CDI films with views in the 10’s of millions, I often tell our people, we’re not making these films to appease the 3-5k social circle associations, but for the millions globally that we will never meet. They don’t all know us but they sure know our characters, our stories. We are storytellers. We tell the stories to be seen, heard, and experienced. We do them for YOU. So thank you. Two of my favorites.
I just thought I would take that moment to really thank you all fans. I get caught up in my own little world of trying to hatch the next story. Maybe because I know you are out there waiting? Some of you have been with me since the early days when I was still trying to get my footing. Because of you, I get to do what I love. To do what I feel that I’m good at. My performance is subjective but I’ve always had an undeniable ability to pull people together and direct their effort all while getting the best out of them. Often a best that they did not see until challenged to bring it forth. The effort becomes a gift to us. A gift to themselves. A gift to you all, the story watchers.
I’m going to go “beat a few eggs” like my buddy Dean would say. A flea market down the road might reveal a treasure or two or just an hour of people watching. I might put a mow on the lawn and get a few outdoor things done. A recharge before I jump into the new week ahead. I hope all of you take the time to get a recharge, even if that is only in mindset. Be positive and go at your dreams knowing each step, small or large is taking you closer, giving you valuable experience.
COFFEE CHEERS! Until next week.
DJ
Happy Father’s Day! Losses and Wins for the Week!
I’m awake early on this chilly Michigan Sunday sipping the hazelnut coffee and giving the dogs outside time. Poor Finn, my furry boy is adjusting to the loss of our 18 year old kitty Lulu Belle. Face kisses and snuggles was part of his daily nightly rituals with her. We were all there with her when she passed including Finn. I think it is important that they get to say goodbye versus they just disappear. But he has been visiting all their spots and I can tell he is missing her. We will all miss the queen.
Onto happier news, Happy Father’s Day! I’m so grateful to still have my father with us and that he is healthy. He did provide and gave us everything we needed to survive and thrive as adults. I will see him laster today with a few little love gifts. We’ll also be hitting the flea market down the road in a while. And tomorrow we celebrate my nephew’s Bday with family that will be fun.
I’ve been bouncing between film work and yard work all week. I’ve been working with a pair of 40V electric chainsaws and they work really well. My mower is also now battery powered and it is like vacuuming my lawn with no cords, easy. If I had a huge lawn I would need to get one of those trick 360 turn mowers but mine works fine. The trimming is also prepping the wood boxes for winter.
Let’s move forward onto the film updates-
- I completed the first draft of ‘Harsens Island Revenge‘ and now I’m polishing it up and reexamining dialog. The film will shoot in the second half of 2023 in Michigan.
- BESTSELLER which released May 31st has been selling out on DVD and streaming is expanding. It is a great look at the haunting beauty of Michigan. If you had a chance to watch it please take the time to go to our page on http://www.imdb.com and vote plus leave us any comments you might have. I hope it gives/gave you some edge of your chair thrills and chills.
- We met over promo on the upcoming July 5th release of BEST YEARS GONE. This occasionally heartfelt and often humorous film might play a few more festivals but soon audiences can stream or add the DVD to their collection.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS – We have a few regional festivals we’ve submitted to and even had a few reach out to us. So we’ll be showing/premiering this really cool and stylish short in the coming weeks.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – We’ll know in early August if this documentary will be playing Toronto Film Festival or not. We’re also awaiting release dates for home video which should be soon.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is closing in on our picture lock. It has been coming to our director in large chucks so that tweaks and evaluations can be made at the same time. Dennis Therrian has started building our sound FX library for this project and started playing with musical themes. Theaters in Iowa are being contacted to speak with them about runs after the premiere which as of now we are targeting for Dec 10th. Next week we’ll start talking the theatrical trailer and also we have a VFX behind the scenes and some new poster art underway.
- Waiting to hear on the Peacock releases dates for MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND and WILD FAITH. As soon as we know we’ll pass that info along.
- Development on HOT ROD LOVE continues with us targeting a Sept/Oct film shoot. We’re soon to start a script breakdown for scheduling. We approached several new possible partners last week and we’ll follow up on those. I’m excited to story tell in the 70’s, soon!
- HASTINGS (Wild Faith TV series) development continues to move forward. Patience is required and I will do my best to line all the pieces up properly.
- A new “highlight” video for Collective Development Inc. is underway. It is primarily for the website for when folks visit they can see all the wonderful stories that have been told at CDI.
Many updates to celebrate and I’m sure I overlooking a few. I have a Bday coming up this week as well as the first soccer match of the second part of the season. We lost only our first match which was our first as a team. We also were missing some forwards and were a tad out of shape compared to now. Touching back at the forthcoming Bday on the 23rd, it makes me think of our friend and CDI amigo David “Pappy” Pappenfuss, who passed when we were in pre-production in Algona, Iowa from Covid. My Bday get-together on a patio over drinks was my last time I saw him. He always brought me a musical card and sometimes a bottle of booze. I’ve missed his humor and I will surely be toasting this friend loss.
I saw many people commenting on the Texas holiday of Juneteenth that has grown into a more Nationally recognized day. I was disheartened to see so much negativity from some about this day that Hallmark and marketers fully embraced. If it isn’t for you, keep moving. But I saw some straight up hateful remarks and that’s sad to see. I had a thought as I pondered some of that hate I saw posted. Much of that hate comes from lonely, frustrated, and unhappy people. The cruel joke to these individuals might be that the perfect soulmate -the perfect partner to bring that warmth, love and peace to one of these individuals just might be wearing a skin coat of a different color. How sad to live a life and hate, blame and unbalance all because of hate blindness. Try love, compassion and understanding and you too will reap the rewards.
Be good to one another!
DJ
NEW YEAR 2022 In Focus
I’m sipping my hazelnut coffee and also working with a Santa gift which happen to be reading glasses with blue-blocker to reduce eye strain. I think my eyes get a little worse on me every few years but these glasses seem to really help. I can’t attest to long-term. Since the Christmas week of activities we’ve gotten a nice white snowstorm. Our New Year’s Eve included an Uber-cozy eve with a sip at Midnight but bed shortly after that. I did not enter 2022 with any hangover or dehydration. I’m not into the dance party thing unless you count my listening/air MC at home to Beastie Boys or Public Enemy. I recently was in Iowa with a circus full of people and so I’ve enjoyed the slower, quieter pace of getting things done. 2021 had myself and CDI being very productive and we’re looking to do more of the same in 2022. I have to note turning on the TV and seeing Darby Hinton in a Christmas Hallmark film something with mistletoe in the title. Back to our updates:)
In retrospect and in no order some of the good, bad and ugly of 2021. The first is the sad loss of many good friends and family during the past year. That is something that I hope we don’t heavily repeat. And 2021 went out with the passing of Betty White at 99. I love all the fan flair especially the one claiming she sacrificed herself taking 2021 with her. She reminds me a bit of Rance Howard (RIP friend/costar) who worked right up until he died. Same with Bill McKinney and many more artists I’m sure. Age will continue to give you a unique perspective through your entire journey. But growing old can be a privilege.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – Filming this safely in 2021 was a major highlight. This highly ambitious home front drama was many years in the making. It is in the wonderfully creative hands of our editor and I’m excited to see the scenes come together. I’ve almost got the business all caught up and we’ll be putting some advance promo together. From there we’ll enter into some additional marketing/product talks with some of our sponsors and those coming on board. In Canada we have model building underway. I’m just so happy that we have all these puzzle pieces and can start to assemble. It is going to be amazing since all the artists gave everything they had. We’ve been releasing stills on our Facebook page so follow along.
BEST YEARS GONE (BYG) – This breath of fresh air which we filmed between the 1st and 2nd Covid lockdown of 2020. Shane Hagedorn and I shared a motto to have fun while filming. Everyone had been kept uncertain and in self-isolation and smiles and laughter were much needed. This film might be just what many people need. The humorous abilities of the CDI Tribe can be seen in several CDI films including strong moments in WILD FAITH and LOST HEART but BYG really takes it to another level. Adapted by yours truly from the book HOPE FROM HEAVEN by Karl Manke. http://www.karlmanke.com if you want to explore his works. I think another collaboration is on the horizon but right now we are discussing which book to bring to the screen. Any favorites? Lastly, I’m hearing that the film has been chosen as a participant in a London-based festival. That PR will be forthcoming once I get more info from our director Mr. Hagedorn.
Speaking of films that sprang from books – BESTSELLER is finally getting a home video release this year. The book written by Christopher Knight is a twisted tale of a tormented literary agent played by Melissa Anschutz. CDI was the producing entity and I’m happy that our existing relationship could give this film the deserved send off. In May the film will be ready for home video audiences and will widen the release in September likely to hit the prime October window for thrillers. This film is beautifully shot and showcases Michigan’s beauty. I’m excited to see new poster art and trailer for the home video release. I would love to turn another Chris Knight story into a film. We shall see…rumor is he also writes under another name also…
BEST YEARS GONE and BESTSELLER are not the only films rolling out in 2022. SMOKE & MIRRORS short just had a final tweak and is being prepped for a few fun festivals. The CDI/Red, White and Blue Project documentary film FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH just finished last week. Directed by Curran Jacobs, edited by Adam Towner, mostly shot by DP Dan Chipman – this feature length doc is being hailed as the best of its kind by wrestling historians. I’m proud to have been involved producing on this wonderful piece of history that was in danger of fading, lost to the past. That will not be the case after this film. Thank you to all the interview participates who made this work so special. We cannot wait to show the world this entertaining and informative film. We are looking at doing another documentary film in 2022 stay tune.
BIGFOOT, UFO’S & JESUS – Our inspirational film has found a great main stream audience under the alternate title by which LOST HEART appears on some platforms. Here is the amazing Josh Perry inviting you to watch. If you did not you should. Click below to watch on FB – I hope my linking here works.
WRAP UP
2021 had us filming music videos, releasing into theaters, traveling to Algona, Iowa and more. As noted earlier some friends and family like CDI’s Pappy won’t be traveling with us anymore. They are RIP and not dealing with the waves of life. These deaths, like the childhood neighbor remind us of the precious value of time. Spend time in good company and working towards goals that mean something to you. Life is short so commit to making steps towards whatever your creative endeavor is.
If you want to hear about our new year development we discuss that quite a bit in the previous few blogs. I want to film WILD FAITH: HASTINGS and while this endeavor is mighty we’ve been chopping away at it. Giddy up. A new CDI animated feature, a new dramedy, sequels and more in development as we enter this new year. I need to look over the CDI website and see where that needs to be updated. I want to once over the FB pages and see where I can enhance. End-of-year taxes for the projects is at hand but I have the best team ever for all that. I will spend the month also finishing the script I’m working on now. I’m in talks with a few projects to script write in Feb which is when we’ll also pull the business together on the first spring CDI film. I’m here in the 2022 and ready to march so put down the Christmas cookies and party hats it’s time to get after it.
Have a great first week of 2022!
DJ
Deceleration Into Life From Set Life –
I’m sitting in MY chair with a hot cup of hazelnut coffee. Outside is my first Michigan snow. For me if it’s going to be cloudy and overcast, give me snow. It’s pretty and brightens everything a tad. Now I know I have friends here from VERY warm places that don’t get snow. Now snow is quite magical and that first one always brings thoughts of those days as a kid and will various pets that made that so special. Catching snowflakes, snowball fights, snow angel and sledding. I have a few stories of drunken skiing with my cousin Jerry including one epic fence-destroying trip to one of the small ski mountains. The key to snow is being prepared. This means layers and layers and mind the gaps. -By that I mean where pant legs and boots meet. Where coat sleeves and gloves meet. Where neck might be exposed and of course a solid winter hat. We learn that as a young child from bus stop stays. This continued to elementary school recess that was always an outdoor adventure of ‘king of the mountain,’ snowball wars and snowy football games. In our secluded ‘Lord of the Flies’ neighborhood even more snow games were abound. Sledding was legendary that included a few ramps/jumps that would make Evel Knievel smiles with pride. The afterglow of our cold adventure was a round of hot chocolate, marshmallows optional. At night the even more fun and dangerous snow mobile pull of the sled around the plowed fields nearby. Kind of like being pulled on a tube behind a boat but the bumps and trees made for quite the challenge. I recall at least one time staying too long in the frigid and having to run my hands under warm water, the ache returning with feeling. I hope for my friends living in the no-snow zones I painted a little picture of living with frozen water.
In Algona while filming “Silent Night in Algona” #SNIAthemovie we saw our actual first snowfall. Iowa and Michigan are alike in many ways but have their differences. We seem to have more variation in our landscapes where Iowa has lots of corn. To their credit I did see some hilly places and the sky there was just amazing. Maybe it is the less pollution or any number of factors but our location photos and our film itself captured these many awesome skies.
This project was ambitious as most of the #tribecdi projects are. I believe you have to reach to grow and so we often pick projects with various elements not easily obtained in independent films. Or with independent budgets might be a better term. Any project that takes us from our home state is more expensive. We found basic logistics to be a challenge and in hindsight a better battle plan can always be seen. The script could have been a touch shorter and we did tighten in a few places. The script was the final version that I had consulted heavily with my friend/co-star and mentor Rance Howard. He was a stickler on the farming techniques and perspective of 1940’s citizens. We went in with a battle plan and a tribe of artists. We spent months casting the “right” actors from around the country. This is a big part of directing and our producers work hard with our director and it showed in this production. But we had a large cast and with flying and lodging this is a major cost also. But the actors that signed on were there for the story. As a screenwriter I’ve never been more proud of all the feedback on the script. It was from 14 years earlier and is not perfect (is any?) and even in my own scene study I found a few ‘subtextual’ issues that I corrected. But we had the pleasure of knowing what was coming from the auditions. Now put those same amazing actors in proper wardrobe, locations and – MAGIC! MOVIE MAGIC!~
The actors were all on point and we captured some incredible cinematic magic. By capturing I mean our amazing crew. At CDI we work hard. Movies are hard. Bad movies are hard to make which is why I always give points for even bad films. Finishing deserves credit. Finishing with quality that passes worldwide QC (quality control) is worthy of kudos. But creating something handcrafted that has the story power to last decades is – a reward that you receive only after audiences have celebrated a story for many years. I think this film will be one of those. We at CDI are shooting for nothing short of a holiday classic. We made our go at that with THE QUEST TRILOGY (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) three biblical stories told together from a unique perspective. These films have been growing an audience for many years and are on their way to becoming a classic. You can watch the three films streaming on many platforms and in many countries.
One of our films that we produced with our former sister company Lionheart was WICKED SPRING. That film now managed by CDI is 20+ years old and is still entertaining audiences. It’s also getting a new release on HD/streaming and is a good example of a film that is a true classic. Unique in its perspective with roses and rocks thrown at it but a story that has kept audiences coming back from the earliest days on VHS and network TV. (I still have a VHS copy from TV with commercials)
WILD FAITH is another film on the way to classic status. We can cement that with the production of the WILD FAITH: Hastings tv series. We are adding the film to the title to help assure our tens of millions in fans can find the upcoming series. I’m looking at back half of the year to produce the 8 shows that make up season one. I will be getting on that business asap once I can get caught up on my SNIA (Silent Night in Algona) business. A few discussions were had but again the #1 thing is that the story is told proper. This project has suffered from bad studio/network notes in the past and has moved past those to become a film loved by many. So we will stay true to our story and find the right partners. If it isn’t broke don’t let others try and fix it. We will get this made and audiences will see some of their favorite 1800’s characters back in action. Giddy up!
LOST HEART versus BIGFOOT, UFO’S & JESUS – this film under both titles is doing really well with audiences. The film is such a charm that it has so many levels and layers of story that really should appeal to most audiences. It was kind of an experiment but so far I think it has been good one. It is another great holiday season watch. It also has some great music in the film from Roanoke and The Cash Collective (John Carter, Ann and their family). Worthy of a watch if you are trying to catch up with some of the CDI films. Melissa Anschutz shines as the lead and Josh Perry shows his dramatic and comedic mastery.
RETURN TO ALGONA-
Melissa Anschutz and Josh Perry are both back in SNIA. They both bring such fascinating characters that will once again inspire. Josh Perry left people in tears with his performance which isn’t a surprise at all. Josh doesn’t wave a “Down syndrome” flag ever but I’m just so damn proud of him. On two occasions I’ve observed individuals with Down syndrome observe Josh and you could see boundaries in their minds fall. Josh ‘The Ponceman’ Perry is a movie star make no mistake about that and these young people saw what they could achieve. Josh is an inspiration by his actions not his activism. Maybe there is a lesson in that.
I had a chance to meet more fans of MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND and I’m so pleased that the film sits so well with veterans. I hope that all of you will take a chance to watch this CDI story told by ‘SNIA‘ director Anthony Hornus. One of the hard drives is being sent to our editor Nathaniel Nose who is also supervising the VFX. Our director is upgrading his computer to allow better footage review. Our DP Dan Chipman is doing some rough assembly to seek out and identify some of the pieces of the story caught on the fly. Also the first batch of photo stills is being drawn out and color corrected to help become a color template for the films final look. We have been rolling out BTS stills captured by many of our cast and crew but the real GOLD is coming.
Also this week I’ll be taking a hard look at the feature projects in development. We plan to shoot a CDI feature this Spring before we roll into pre-production on the WILD FAITH TV series. I started to have some first talks about the next CDI feature which could become plural, features pending a few discussions. I have a few development meetings that will nudge things one way or another. But with both SNIA moving into post as BEST YEARS GONE continues its theatrical (last day today in Lansing at Celebration Cinema) before prepping for home video. Also FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH is in final post mixing before we start a release schedule on this documentary. We will have a meeting over this property this coming week. We should be doing a final watch through in a few weeks. From there a premiere will also be discussed. But…not until it is done. And we just might be doing another documentary in 2022. As this year closes a new one lies right over the horizon. This week will be tying up more loose ends on SNIA, planning 2022 schedule, end of year dispersement and tax prep and writing. I love to write when it is cold and snowy and I know I have some days ahead of me. I have several properties/scripts I’ve been working on and a few possible work-for-hires so we’ll see with all of that. We have the Christmas tree up after I donned winter warrior Michigan gear and saw. Today we might add lights and another night the bells and whistles. I might go light a fire in the stove at the fort to finish settling back in. I have totes everywhere as I prepare to stow the gear until our next film adventure. Stay warm and be good to one another!
DJ
Saturday Will Be Blogs Until Thanksgiving – Hello ALGONA!
We are at the end of our pre-product week here in Algona, Iowa. We have the MSU vs U of M game on the TV which we work away. Saturday is our day off during the shoot but as you know us producers don’t really get a “true” day off. So from now until Thanksgiving I’m going to be doing my blog post on Saturdays. We started doing Saturdays off several shoots back since it allows crews to have more options open to take care of day to day things like mail, laundry and such.
Our pre-production caravan hit a small snag about 4 hours from Algona when the main RV filled with wardrobe and props had a belt break. The ‘Rambler’ was brought to rest in a parking lot of a grocery store. We had a friendly ex-Marine mechanic who agreed to meet us there in the morning. We sent our director and UPM ahead and I stayed in the RV with our Transportation Captain and Armorer. The Rambler lost power and so after an improve guitar jam fest we slept in the freezer, I mean RV. I got cold but after putting a few WW2 wool blankets over me, I was not going to freeze. Our Marine came to our rescue on a day that started pouring and continued all day. He really saved the day and we got to Algona the next day a bit sleep deprived but safe and sound.
BEST YEARS GONE which was just delivered to our distributor is prepping for their home video release campaign in early 2022. Meanwhile we have more opportunities to play the film theatrically and are working on those dates now. We also might have a special screening one night here on a day off for the cast and crew. Some really great news coming on that front.
WRAP UP – This morning was the last day of pre-production and the morning started with a haunting fog over the lake and now we have some beautiful sun. We had three days of rain but now for filming we’re suppose to have a week stretch of nice weather. Jeeps, trucks, extras and more all coming together to help create our world. We had first airport pick ups with actors flying in from all over the country last night. The remaining crew will also be rolling in today and prepping for an exciting day 1. We are filming our first 4 days in a historic park with a period farm. I’m so proud of all the departments which are all now humming along. This is going to be another great story. Fans of Anthony Hornus’s MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND will love this new film. He has been working hard to pull the vision together. I will update you all for the next couple Saturday’s versus Sundays on the filming. I know this journey in storytelling will bring new friendships together that will last forever. Speaking on friendships – cherish them just like family because sometimes you don’t know when some will leave us. This week we found out our good friend Pappy, David Papenfuss passed away. Mere hours later I found out that one of our childhood neighbor’s husband, also passed. He use to work for an airlines and if I’m not mistaken he might have given me a flight voucher back in the day for one of my early Hollywood trips. Either way, both passed away from Covid and so while things are getting better please do be careful. I saw Pappy at an afternoon get-together on my birthday. He once again brought me a musical card as that was his thing. I have Star Wars, Superman and Indiana Jones cards from him. Little did I know that the last one was the last one.
Cherish your loved ones.
DJ
Hometown ‘Best Years Gone’ Premiere and CDI Updates
Hazelnut cheers on a nippy Michigan morning. I’ve got the fire going by my chair as I sit and reflect on a very busy week of life and work. Last night we gathered at the NCG theaters in Lansing to debut our new CDI film BEST YEARS GONE, directed by Shane Hagedorn. We had a strong crowd for the 1st show which they moved into the bigger screen to handle our sales. Also they extended the theatrical run until Oct 21st, so have day out going to see a movie. It really did play great there and I was happy to see so many family, friends and fans of the films. I love that every day more folks will get to see the story we told. The feedback has been strong ands I know the ‘haters’ always find their way but so do those who appreciate the stories. And at a kick off event I get to shake hands, take pictures and meet some of these fine people.
(Shane Hagedorn and DJ Perry greeted and chatted with many folks at the Lansing premiere)
My dad still wonders how I’m able to weave the story and all the dialogue into a script. I told him all those times of being assured of not paying attention or having my head in the clouds – THAT – whatever it is – IMAGINATION – it allows me to get lost in the story and manifest it. I’m awaiting word on another deal that would have me writing a script this winter and produce it next year with CDI. Add in the TV series of HASTINGS that is gaining momentum and 2022 could be a fun year of storytelling. Here are the Lansing showtimes- https://www.showtimes.com/movie-times/best-years-gone-156830/lansing-mi/
But before we get to 2022 we have a very exciting and important story to be told – SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA! I cannot believe that the pre-production caravan will depart next Saturday. Producers, director, art, AD, office and transportation will be doing final prep for the shoot that kicks off on Halloween. I had a wardrobe fitting last week and between the scene study which is feeling on point and the dapper WW2 uniform – game on.
We have some additional sponsor support from the Iowa State Bank so we want to thank them. This past week we filled several of the few cast and crew spots remaining. Just one or two cast/crew to go and that will work itself out. We had a few changes from illness or unexpected commits but our team will go and end the year with one great story. This week I need to pull together final props and production stuff traveling with me. I have to finish packing my clothes which needs to include cold weather gear. The nice part is this film I have like one uniform and a few hats unlike the multiple wardrobe pieces worn as Gil in BEST YEARS GONE. I am going to enjoy this final week of prepping things. There are several friends I only get to see while filming so again I’m excited to tell this story with our artists.
I know that this is the perfect season to release BESTSELLER, our thriller getting a campaign reboot but I do not have dates yet. My favorite film of the season is the animated ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and Hitchcock’s PSYCHO, which I’ll be watching to this week. WICKED SPRING HD is heading out to streaming and might be playing on certain platforms. I need to circle up with our distributor on a few projects but I’ve been quite busy with one film releasing and one going into production in under two weeks. FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH feature-length doc is in the post-mixing phase and I was thinking of premiering SMOKE & MIRRORS with it at the same time. Like the cartoons you use to get before a show.
I’m putting the coffee away this morning because of the chill. I just poured the last cup and I’m going to finish this up. My next update will be from Algona, Iowa! Today we might hit the flea market seeking prop items and a stop at Tractor Supply to get some food for the chickens. They are putting on winter weight and still giving the eggs out. It is nice to always have that abundance of eggs and you do taste a difference. My alumni MSU had another good game yesterday but our Lions still struggle. I want to again thank each and everyone of you who attended our showings. If you want to leave a review you can go to our BEST YEARS GONE page on http://www.imdb.com and vote and leave your thoughts. I hope you all have a productive week ahead. Be good to one another.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
10 Awesome #TRIBECDI Updates to Kick Off Autumn!
Good morning to all of you and I hope your foray into Fall has been great thus far. I want to welcome the new readers from Russia, Ireland, UK, China and the Philippines. Coffee (or tea) cheers to you all and thank you for stopping by. I LOVE this time of year and I’ve been beyond thrilled to work on the films as the leaves turn and fall. I’m feeling like just shotgunning out some of the updates.
- The NCG Owosso premiere showing of ‘BEST YEARS GONE‘ is over and word has it that it is coming next for a Lansing NCG premiere on Oct 16th with two shows – a 6pm and 8:15pm I believe. You heard it here first. This week an event page and some PR will begin so some of the home town folks can enjoy the film. It has been remixed from the first premiere for delivery to our distributor and for our future premieres. I got a peek at some of the DVD/release artwork our distributor is working on. I think they are planning on a Feb 2022 home video release. Until that release we’ll keep at the theatrical premieres. If you’ve seen the film feel free to visit our IMDB.com page (also has a premiere video there) and leave a few words about your favorite scenes.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – pre-production is on the final run up. With a home office I get that great privilege of a short daily commute – about 30 or so stone steps. We’ve been doing more in-depth meetings with departments making sure they have questions answered. I was happy that one of my estate sale finds – a $5 military trench coat was the correct period and matched the photo I had. The office has been reaching out and getting crew agreements in line and this week cast will follow our set “day-of-days” coming from the AD department. We’ve had a few changes in cast and crew that happens when life happens. But I’m excited to see many of the Tribe and tell one last great story before we call it a year.
- WICKED SPRINGS HD release should start rolling out this month. That was an epic shoot back when we were rather young. I’m excited to see this rolling out to streaming platforms so folks can enjoy the story in HD.
- LOST HEART/BIGFOOT, UFO’s & JESUS – is starting to really pick up steam as the alternate title works into the marketplace. I had the chance to talk with many who have really enjoyed this film. The laughter and heartfelt messages play well with audiences and that is why we do it. This is true for MAN’S BEST FRIEND which again brought questions of a sequel which I’m not ruling out but it’s not on deck at this time. I was made aware of it playing on various TV stations like Charge TV. WILD FAITH just broke the 5-million views mark on Encourage TV and I’ll be taking more meetings on season 1 of the TV spin off. THE QUEST TRILOGY (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) is about ready to start its run once the ghosts and ghouls have their Halloween.
- As we follow the tradition of setting up new campaign runs for older films in the CDI library like BESTSELLER and THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ will be getting 2022 release dates soon. We just got everything submitted for one and the other is in the works. We are working to get several more prepped to release. Our distributor now has a general market label which is opening many doors of opportunity.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS our concept short is done. I was exploring how to help the location house with our film. We will look at some festivals also just for fun. The feature script is being retooled and will be great as an extended story.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – the first in a series of CDI in association with The Red, White & Blue Project Inc. documentary films. The locked cut is about done and so we’re going to master record the narration and do a once over mix/check at the studio with Dennis Therrian to prep the film for delivery. This brand we’ve created has a lot of growth possibilities. We also might look at a December premiere release likely at the NCG Owosso. Why? Curran Jacobs our director/host is from Owosso, MI. A lot of creative individuals from that area.
- I’ve had my second business opportunity in the past two months approach me over screenwriting. When I write to assign to one of our productions I work discounted knowing that the film employs many of our artists. I also produce and often act so there is much more involvement. On these “work-for-hire” projects I’m raising rates and even doing something like a writer/option whereas the script is written for X amount w/ a 50% copyright hold until the script is financed and the balance paid in return for the remaining 50% copyright. So they end up with complete ownership and have to go less deep financially to be able to shop. I still try to work under the minimums suggested by the WGA which I’m not part of by choice, and my cost of living can handle this. That again is what I love about Michigan. You could have a small crap box in LA or a country kingdom in Michigan for the same price. Part of the secret of productivity is being somewhere you like and that gives you peace between your often hectic dealings. I will pick up where we left off on negotiations this week and what is meant to be will be. But I do enjoy all the new writing opportunities. I am still looking at possible representation for the writing and still might try something out for the foreign market.
- As we discuss writing, one of my loves, I must mention a new book coming out. A few years back when WILD FAITH was moving and grooving in the theaters across several states, an author/book running that writes under Callie Smith Grant saw our film. She enjoyed the story/script and that led to an offer to submit stories. That has led to my participation in several of these books. This is the most recent one. Pre-order/order here – https://www.amazon.com/Dog-Who-Came-Christmas-Stories/dp/0800741250 a great Christmas gift!
- Producing, writing and preparing daily to play a new character on screen. I’m playing Lt. Col Lodell a fictional character based loosely on the actual camp commander in one major way. The ‘Golden Rule’ is the basis/foundation used during the operation of the PW camp. This character fit so perfect when I cracked the script back open to look at it. It feels close to where I’m at in my life with setting an example is the easiest way to inspire. Words can be wasted be the speaker or the listener if no action follows it. I just like to keep plugging away each and every day. I don’t feel in competition with anyone or anything. I feel like I’m just flowing like water (Thanks Bruce) doing my best each day. I’m doing the projects I’m suppose to do. So many stories to tell – I’m just very grateful to be able to. I don’t take that for granted. I try not to take any of it for granted. I’m just happy that I evolved to where I am. A place of good balance of mind, body and spirit. Learn to laugh at yourself. Forgive yourself. And wisdom that comes with ‘know thyself’…
(Above ‘Tricky T’ has been working with CDI since film #1 ‘Knight Chills’)
I’m going to wrap this up and maybe go make another cup of coffee. I’m looking forward to the week ahead. Also the old suitcase is going to have to come out. I like to slow pack over a couple weeks. I also have CDI stuff to gather also. This week we touch base with our Algona team. I’m going to go enjoy another soccer game with my niece and nephew playing. An art department meeting that I’m looking forward to. So many good developments on that front. As you study the time period some things seem very old although I’m convinced the black and white photos and footage makes it seem older. Other pictures could have been shot today. How we captured history has a lot to do with how we see it now. Just like old Civil War pictures. Once colorized – man! They really come to life. I love history and the stories that have carried down collectively to all of us. I will continue to try and put some of these wonderful stories to the medium of motion picture. Have a great week and be good to one another!
DJ
‘Best Years Gone’ Thanks you Owosso! Where Next? Other Updates on TribeCDI Projects!
The first sips of the hazelnut coffee taste so good on this chilly Michigan morning. Yesterday the sinus were a bit stuffed due to the weather changes but this morning I’m feeling good. We watched my alumni school Michigan State University put another win up for the season. If only our Lions could start doing the same. Either way, football, hot cider and the harvest has been a great welcome to Fall that is now officially here.
This past week was great for tying up loose ends on BEST YEARS GONE that played Owosso, MI NCG all week. I was able to sneak into a day show on the last day with my dad. It was nice to have no pressure or expectations to meet and greet. It was nice to just relax into the story and just enjoy. The story is well put together with such great comments on the camerawork (DP Travis Hayward) the creative editing (Nathaniel Nose) – the music (Dennis Therrian and all our great guest artists). We know all of this includes the entire crew and cast. I heard lots of compliments on how the film walks the line with strong drama and outrageous comedy. And big kudos to Shane Hagedorn our director who kept the vision and created the fine blend story. NOTE: A BTS of the premiere event is on our IMDB.com page and we’ll go up on our FB page soon. Great job Dan Chipman.
We started with a two show screening premiere and that went great! We’ve been dripping out pics from that night on the BYG Facebook site. What a wonderful night and it was great to see the story on the big screen. The film was granted an extension playing all last week in Owosso, Michigan. Now we are looking at other cities both with NCG and other theatrical chains. We hope to bring it to our home town of Lansing, Michigan. Possibly Grand Rapids and the Detroit area and even Nashville, TN is being considered. This week after the theatrical we made a few adjustments to our mix and we’ll do a final review Weds before uploading the master to our distributor. I’m excited for people around the world to enjoy this story.
Today we are having a meeting for SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA to review our schedule and lock that so that cast agreements and flights can be booked. We’re working hard to get all our ducks in a row so that many things are done before our pre-production week on set. Algona is not a big city so we’re working with all the resources we have. The best resource is the people of Algona who are excited to have this story of theirs told, keeping it from being forgotten. This week I’ll do some PR about our product partners and we’ll announce a few more cast. I had a few great conversations with folks this week and that is what is nice about these adventures. I get to see some dear friends that I usually only see when filming. But today is a big day as we lock up the schedule and collectively look for problem/issues in advance. We have some of the best problem solvers working to tell this story so I feel very confident.
WILD FAITH is about to hit 5 million views on Encourage TV taking us even deeper into the tens of millions who have watched the film. I had a few more conversations with parties that could assist in getting the TV series launched. Creative Control has been the main goal for me as I’ve had a few projects derailed by “experts” on what a story needs or doesn’t need. We have several paths we could take to production and as I’ve always said it is not IF it is WHEN. Have you seen WILD FAITH? If not, please do.
MANS BEST FRIEND is playing new TV channels such as Charge TV which seems to be targeted at action and macho films by Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and DJ Perry, what? I have continued to encounter many more folks who love that film. I’m very proud of the film and the action sequences which are modest. I’ve had several people ask about ‘Paul Landings’ outcome and could there ever be a sequel. You never know and yes, I’ve thought about it. I have a good story in my head but we’ll see about that some other time. I’ve got a full plate.
LOST HEART/BIGFOOT, UFOs and JESUS – I had the pleasure of hearing from many who saw CDI’s last release under two different titles. I love this film and it always leaves me feeling good. Feeling down or just needing a boost of ‘feel good’ take a watch. Melissa Anschutz commands the screen and folks like Josh Perry turn in performances that will have people talking for years. This is the perfect time of year to watch this film.
THE QUEST TRILOGY – Once we get past the beloved Halloween-fare it will be the holidays. I’m excited to continue the tradition of our trilogy. I again at the recent premiere got to hear from the fans of these films. Many are still learning about them and learning that there are three films in the series. FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. See them in order. See them all.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – the final polished cut is getting close. This weekend the audio narration was being done. A pre-mix and a final mix and we’ll be ready for a premiere. Maybe just before Christmas but after Thanksgiving for sure.
SMOKE AND MIRRORS – Our short concept film that sprung from a commercial endeavor is completed. We’re in discussions about the various possible premieres for this film using it to also help the historic Dodge Turner House. We are exploring a virtual premiere also but getting together and seeing this on a big screen would be fun. It is roughly 14 minutes so not a long film. A few festivals could be in the future for this short film story. I have been working on the feature script which I’m calling ‘OF SMOKE & MIRRORS’ to add a slight difference between the two.
ODDS & ENDS
This week I got to throw some of my dialog off Curran Jacobs who is playing the lead in our next WW2 film. I’ve been having such a great time emerging myself in the 1940’s and preparing to tell this great story. We also had a great meeting with our director and the VFX supervisor and we identified all the VFX shots or shots that would utilize CGI additions or subtractions.
I had an offer for a lead in a short which I don’t typically consider but offered to look at the script and the details which I asked for. I got a script with no details and had to pry any info out. But to be honest when I saw the email with just the script (poorly formatted) and no information – it was a polite pass. I had another call about engaging as a work-for-hire writer. On the other end of the spectrum from the no detail communication mentioned previously- this email came with a great pitch/breakdown. Success will follow the hard work. One person did the bare minimum and the other had spent some real time in organizing and preparing for their endeavor. I will likely enter negotiations this week for a wonderful writing endeavor that I’ll do over the holidays. I’ve had a handful of these opportunities approach me which is what led me to consider representation. In time I may explore the representation aspect but for now I’m happy to handle the details.
I’m going to bring this to a close. I have a few yard tasks to accomplish and I need to get ready for two groups of folks today. The ‘schedule’ meeting this afternoon and later my brother and few amigos will visit. I think the first fire might have to be lit today. I hope each of you have a wonderful day and good week ahead. I’m excited for all the developments happening and also happy to be enjoying the Fall with the family. This shoot will be the only extended leave I took this year. But it will put us into post-production on another beautiful story. This story is built on the real history of Algona and we’re proud to be telling it.
Be good to one another and coffee cheers!
DJ
Exciting Developments – ‘Off to the Races’ Music Video – ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ & ‘Best Years Gone’ premieres, ‘Silent Night in Algona’…
I’m sitting here sipping the hazelnut coffee on this peaceful Michigan morning. I want to welcome the new readers from Italy, India, Pakistan and more. It is so nice to have an international circle of artists here. The last few weeks have been extremely productive and busy. This could not be more true of the film endeavors we’re working so hard on. Past, present and future all moving forward together. Outside of the film world we’ve been working in the yard with the chickens and the veggies and herbs. This past week I harvested the hops and we’ve been enjoying eggplant and other veggies. Today I plan on grilling up a few venison steaks after a late morning run to the flea market. I think the best way to try and organize the updates are with a bullet point list.
- Oct 12th Nationally this book above will release. I have a story in it about our boy ‘Luke’ who passed a few years ago. I love contributing to these books and if you need a good Christmas gift these books make a fine one to give. Pre-Order here http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-dog-who-came-to-christmas/401231
- The short film SMOKE & MIRRORS that will condensed from my feature script is now complete. Our producers were reviewing yesterday and it is really good. That ‘steampunk’ era 1900’s setting is so fun to play in. I’ll be looking at at screening to benefit the Dodge Turner house where we filmed. It will premiere and we plan to let you all enjoy it during the Halloween season. We are even cutting a short promo teaser but I’m very happy with our end result. It was directed and edited by Nathaniel Nose who directed ‘The Christ Slayer’ with us.
- The music video ‘Off to the Races’ by Vertical Bridge the winner of the BEST YEARS GONE battle of the bands is done. We’re deciding between two logos but the video is badass and we’re talking about releasing it this week to fuel the hype of our upcoming MICHIGAN PREMIERE! I think we’ll release the music video tomorrow and also if you attend the premiere you can see it play on the theatrical screen.
- The feature BEST YEARS GONE is complete but the last few days have been working to tweak color correction and remove digital hiccups:) The film will be rendered to a theatrical file (DCP) used by the theaters. It will also get deliver to our distributor so their marketing team can review and they can start playing their home video campaign that will have DVD/streaming release in Feb 2022. The premiere Sept 18th at the NCG theaters in Owosso, MI is next Sat with both a 6pm show that is almost full and the 8:15 show that is filling up. Both will be great to attend with photos and meet and greets plus the afterglow at Romas. We have a lot of details to attend to this week in preparation but next Sat the first audiences will meet the Gilles Boys and the madcap adventure that follows. This was adapted for the screen (by yours truly) from Karl Manke’s book ‘Hope from Heaven’ and so you might want to read the book after you take a watch.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has started assembling crew paperwork which we’ll start dispersing this week. Once our schedule lands in our lap we’ll start doing our cast agreements, travel and such. We’ll be releasing PR on a few more of the German actors plus we’ll be announcing our product partnership with two more major worldwide brands. Those brands being Hormel/Spam and Hersheys, both play into our story. Other sponsors include Smithfield Foods, Lerma Transportation, The Candleberry Company and more in process. It really is great to have these amazing brands working with us. We’re working on a teaser poster along with a hundred other small details. If you want to align your brand with our WW2 Christmas film please do reach out.
- This week I also received a script in the mail (I love that vs electronic) for a future film project to see if I want to act in it. I had a few conversations about upcoming scripts/films to write/produce and we had a good chat at week’s end over the WILD FAITH TV series “Hastings” and we’ll see where that goes.
- In active development is the new VFX division that we’re working to build so that we can enhance VFX shots in our stories and also use this entity to develop our own animated programming.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH our documentary film is now in fine tuning and I think will be the first of a series of films. I had productive talks this past week about another documentary film to shoot next year that will build upon this current one. But ‘For the Love of Catch’ is more than just a documentary film it will be a brand that we can do many things with including hosting, promoting and live streaming a possible event. The possibilities are really exciting. As I said before, if you love college, professional, or any type of wrestling – you will find this doc entertaining and informative. It filled in so many gaps in my casual knowledge of the grappling arts as a martial artist myself. I think this film will become one of the pillars of the grappling and it really pulls the history together so that its not forgotten. It bypasses the typical competitive nature of the different schools and illustrates the common history they all share. And the love expressed by these instructors for their art is apparent in the heartfelt words that are spoken in each and every powerful interview.
- I need to circle around and look at the CDI Classic Double Feature with Knight Chills and From Venus. New artwork and maybe an entire new campaign that could include Knight Chills HD streaming. I see it:) Do you own the 1st DVD in the CDI Classic Collection? Heaven’s Neighbors and Figure in the Forest– which one or both might also get the HD treatment with a new campaign. We will see – I need to get a few things off my plate first.
- I’ve been having a great time immersing myself in WW2 footage and films. IN HARMS WAY with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas is one I just watched. They had access to so many military vehicles like battleships, but it is John Wayne. My short hair helped me start to see my character in the mirror. The line work has been just awesome. I love the things that are said between the lines. Yesterday was Sept 11th and the tributes brought back many feelings and visions of patriotic unity in grief. I think this script speaks in these ways by looking at the examples of the past and we can apply that to our present. I’m really looking forward to telling this story.
If you are in the Michigan area and want to attend our premiere please do attend one of the two shows and the afterglow at Romas. My schedule keeps me working and recharging more than socializing at film mixers so if you and I haven’t met – feel free to introduce yourself. Leave me with a card or whatnot so I can explore your art. I recall leaving a few past film events with a pile of scripts, headshots and VHS tapes of films and reels. Now a card with a link can do much the same thing. We are exploring additional theatrical play as the distributor preps for home video and foreign sales. So if you are unable to attend the film could play closer to your home or streaming will follow early in 2022. But, if you want to meet some of the cast, crew, band members from “Vertical Bridge” the battle of the band winners – this is the event for you!
(Above is from our Algona scout/prep trip- NOTE the cool car we will be using. One of many classic pre-1944 rides)
Okay. Flea market, lawn mow, venison grill N chill and prepare for a busy Monday! MSU had another great game and I hope our LIONS can do the same! I hope you all had a great weekend and stay safe, be kind and chase down those dreams.
Coffee cheers!
DJ
Screenings, Schedules and Staying Focused!
Welcome to all our new readers from Germany, Uganda, China and several others from around the globe – coffee cheers! Watching the storm approach New Orleans and hoping for the best for whomever stayed behind. We all know of the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan and Covid is continuing to be an issue in some areas of the country. This humidity has been brutal yet I got the lawn mowed up one day and even had our last soccer match for the season in this heat. I’m ready for wood stove, chili, Lions/MSU football and everything that comes with that. It has been a very active time here at CDI and with me personally but that means good things are happening. Lets look at a few of the top updates-
- BEST YEARS GONE – the film is being polished up with some color correction tweaks and a few music beds to be worked in. The tickets are open for anyone to buy for Sept 18th at the NCG Owosso theatre with shows at 6:00 pm and 8:15pm with an afterglow at ROMAS patio starting after the first show and will continue after the second showing. Get your tickets now as they are going fast! No charge for the afterglow/cash bar and we’ll be doing pictures and such so come on down and meet many of the cast and crew.
- Also a just finished shooting the music video for ‘Off to the Races‘ the song by Vertical Bridge that will appear in the film as winners of the ‘Battle of the Band’ – we plan to show the music video either before or after the film. It depends on what film footage is used/shown in the video but we’re excited to see this premiere also.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS our short concept film is almost done. We had a slight delay in the VFX but I hope to get the finished film so we can look at maybe a small premiere as a fund raiser for the Dodge Turner House we shot at. I’m excited to finish the retooled feature script that we plan to shoot in the near future with Nathaniel Nose directing.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH our documentary film about the history of wrestling has a first full cut which we’ll review this week. Once BEST YEARS GONE has moved out of post we’ll move this film in once picture is locked to have an audio mix done on the project.
- WILD FAITH/HASTINGS – as the feature film keeps climbing in views via the numerous streaming sites that means good things for the TV spin off series. This coming week I have more meetings over this project. I’m excited about what this could mean for so many cast and crew in the Michigan area. CDI has been building a strong team for a while now and this project could mean some consistent work. Giddy up!
- New release campaigns will be underway for a newly up-rez’d THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ, which was CDI’s first animated feature collaboration but I will say it won’t be our last. Also Christopher Knight’s BEST SELLER based on the book of the same name has been delivered and will be rolling out in the near future. This R-rated (language and intense situations) feature is the closest to a Hitchcock like thriller that we’ve produced. I’ll be in talks this week on a few other projects from the CDI library.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has most of the cast and crew in place minus a few still being discussed. We will be getting ready to go to paperwork this Sept for cast, crew and vendors. Most of our crew is driving in so we can take more equipment and gear. Some flights for west coast folks will be needed so those will be arranged. Wardrobe is starting to gather sizes (don’t lie actors:) * A famous story with my dear departed actor costar Dan “Grizzly Adams” Haggerty who might have fibbed on his waist size. This led to a frantic last minute adjustment on set. We’ll be having some round table discussions with art including guns with our armorer Mr. Robert Bradley. The town of Algona is so appreciative they don’t want CDI to be just coming to work in Algona they want the crew to be their guests. Once you meet the kind people of Iowa you realize why a story like ours actually happened. I’m excited and ready to tell what we hope will become a holiday staple along with your other favorite classics.
- We are having some great success with our product partners on our upcoming WW2 Christmas film mentioned above. We have another great brand joining us in our endeavor and their history/story plays into the script in a few places. Stay tune for some announcements and if you have a brand and want to align it with our story please do reach out. Smithfield Foods is our newest joining Lerma Transportation and The Candleberry Co. We are appreciative of all our product partners.
- I had a call last week about a film I was approached about a few years back and it seems they have momentum and wanted to resend the script and see if I was still interested in the role. I LOVE that they offered to send a paper script to me. Things always get read faster by me when they come to me in paper form.
- KNIGHT CHILLS – I’m just going to set this right here. This was CDI’s first film. It was both a test of ‘could we’ tell a story. We were too ambitious, under experienced, under funded but had a boatload of passion and enthusiasm. This story has stayed with audiences for many of the nostalgic reasons we love it. There is a world at play here and with the surge in fantasy role playing including new D&D movies, it might be the time for SIR KALLIO to arise. If you go and watch Part 3 of THE QUEST TRILOGY, The Christ Slayer…well watch all 3, imagine that world building applied to Knight Chills. The story exists in two places – the fictional here and now and the fictional inside fictional world of the imagination. This 2nd film is a transitional piece to get us into the world we always wanted to do but were unable to. This second film will be an EVIL DEAD 2 to Evil Dead 1 with the 3rd being the Knight Chills (Army of Darkness) – No. I’m not saying Knight Chills is on par with Evil Dead, I’m just pointing out the story arc. The second brings back some nods to the past and sets up for its future. We’ve had so many people interested in the story and this RESTART not REBOOT will draw some artists into our story on subject matter alone. Just something developing in the dark of the night as the cold wind starts to blow…
I’ve given a good run down of some of the happenings over here at CDI. I’ve been watching my hops which are close to harvest. The rhubarb needs another cut. The chickens are kicking the eggs out. Veggies are ripening weekly and we’ve been storing some tomatoes. The plants are doing well with water but the humid just has it feeling like Jurassic Park around here. And the mosquitos are the true beasts around here. Although the bats are trying to keep them in check there are just so many. I think the mosquito should become the new Michigan bird:) Okay. I hope everyone has a great week ahead. Keep focused on what you can control and don’t let static and noise steal your attention and time. In many endeavors you must believe first. Click on Owosso links BELOW to go to BEST YEARS GONE premiere ticket site or just google it up. See you there.
Coffee Cheers.
DJ
UPDATES from Algona, Premiere Tickets and More…
Good morning from Algona, Iowa! I’m sitting looking over a small private lake with an abundance of wildlife. This state on the other side of the big lake is not so different from Michigan save being more flatland and corn. Our director and main producer team from our upcoming SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA film has been here on a scout. Our trip in was hampered by delays and a few mishaps that are almost worthy of a comedy film. But once we arrived our stay has been incredible with so much support from the community. Tonight we are having a special BBQ by an award winning chef with the mayor and area dignitaries. We have been also getting incredible support from the area businesses all excited to have us here. Smithfield Foods is one of our international sponsors and our host on this trip. I’ve learned a few new pork grilling techniques that I’m excited to try when I get back home.
We were curious as to the availability of props in the area and we were happily surprised that almost all the props required- right down to WW2 wheelchairs and more will be available to us.
Even the period vehicles are all falling into place. I’m going to keep this short as we are about to go scout more locations today.
BEST YEARS GONE is racing around the track and heading for the checkered flag and finish line. Here is your advanced notice that if you go to NCG Owosso website and your buy a ticket for one of the two shows. Tickets are just standard pricing. The afterglow party will be free for every ticket holder. We’ll be doing PR on all this when we return this coming week but I wanted to give you all the first announcement. We’ll be doing a producer watch soon and after will be the final mix.
As noted we’ve been all over this area of Iowa and meeting so many people that either have seen our films or after meeting us are excited to watch our films.
WICKED SPRING – the HD campaign is about to roll out. I saw an early draft of the thumbnail poster art and had some comments on it including incorrect rifles and clothes that appeared a touch modern. Some alternations were made but they rolled with the wrong rifles and such and I told them the re-enactor/living historian crowd would hammer that poster and they are. To the casual Civil War enthusiasts it might fly but to my friends that live and breath the era – not. So my apologies for the inaccurate guns but that distributor marketing is not all under my control. But I do hope that you watch and enjoy the HD enhanced film. It is still a favorite of mine to this day.
Next week I should also be seeing a first cut of our documentary ‘FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH‘ and our short concept film ‘SMOKE & MIRRORS‘ and I’m excited to see these both drive towards a finished film.
I might be missing a few updates but I’m going to wrap it up. I need to eat something quickly before hitting the road. But this is an exciting time and we’re very happy with the progress we’ve made every day preparing to give our artists the support needed to tell this amazing WW2 story.
Have a great week and we’ll chat next week.
DJ
National Nominations, New Updates and ‘trying to be a Calm in the Storm’
(Chilling at the new post studio – in the pines)
I’m sipping the coffee on this beautiful Sunday. The last couple days have been partially used to start the yard clean up. Some more wood logs got chopped up ready for the next cold day. The garden is going to become the new ‘chicken land’ along with some raised bed veggies and new blueberry plants to join the others we have. Every year different new yard endeavors are put into play. The zip line has not yet been installed.
In the office I started moving pictures and paintings around after I acquired a new painting of an ancient soldier. Once I started moving things around it became an afternoon of trying to get it just right. The nice part is all this can happen while taking business calls. I had one day where I was on the phone 10:30 to 2:30 straight – but lots of good business was done. This is also festival and awards season for us. We’re very selective about our festival selections. You can spend a lot of time and money pushing out to all these tests. Let’s start with the fest updates-
International Christian Film & Music Festival – Lost Heart is up for overall BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR (Jesse Low), BEST SCREENPLAY (DJ Perry), BEST LEAD ACTRESS (Melissa Anschutz), BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Don Most), BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Victoria Jackson) and the PEOPLE’s CHOICE nomination for ACTRESS OF THE YEAR (Melissa Anschutz) and ACTOR OF THE YEAR (DJ Perry)
I’m so happy for the film and the growing response to the film’s story as it makes it way out into the world. A big kudos to Melissa Anschutz who took lead on this film with a career defining performance.
ICVM Crown Awards this year happening at NRB in Dallas Texas in June both “MBF: Man’s Best Friend” and “Lost Heart” have been nominated as one of the 5 finalist in BEST FILM UNDER 250k plus they might result in some personal nominations in the 18 categories.
Again we’re appreciative of the recognition. Many of these festival submissions are done by our distributor but we sometimes do a few select submissions. All the monthly and small online festivals are just revenue gathering models. I’m not against these just not something we chase. If more people become aware and watch the film I guess that is the goal.
FILM UPDATES
BEST YEARS GONE the last set of notes is being sent over this week and those will be implemented and the film will travel to our post studio. The last inserts of footage and such will happen there before music and sound begins. I’m going to try and make the studio hang once a week to review and enjoy this process. The BATTLE OF THE BANDS has been getting some great submissions on the FB page contest. We are announcing another celebrity judge in Mr. Joe Pullin who has worked on all levels of the music industry. His full bio will be posted this week! Merchandise is starting to creep out with a cool auto sticker set and soon iron on Tee shirt logos! Go to http://www.cdiproductions.com and go to the merchandise section. We plan to also start an artist showcase and sell other artists goods for a commission. That is in thew works also!
(Mr. Joe Pullin – our next celebrity JUDGE)
THE QUEST TRILOGY – Tis the Easter season and so we’ll ask that you put your sandals on and travel with us to the desert. Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer can all be watched on various platforms Amazon Prime, Encourage TV, Tubi, Pureflix just to name a few.
WILD FAITH/HASTINGS is doing great and now that funding on another project is complete we can pour more effort in the direction of the TV series. We have planned to put the series in the Spring 2022 slot as we’re still getting past Covid and I’m needing more time to put this TV deal together. With eight 44 min shows this is a larger endeavor but one that I think will be coming soon. I have several follow up communications.
IN OTHER NEWS:
A CDI co-production “Locked in a Room” has gotten a new re-issue as AMERICAN LIAR now available on Amazon Prime. It is an R rated thriller with greed being at the heart of it. Shot in Detroit by writer/direction Larry Simmons – congrats to all the artists involved! Take a watch but watch out for “Mr. Creepy” 🙂
Discussions are underway for BESTSELLER to finally get out to a wider market. Knight Chills has multiple opportunities for a new release. WICKED SPRING is being worked on to release in HD.
WRAP UP: Many people are trying to navigate the storms of isolation, financial insecurity, stress, parenting and more. My goal is to work hard to create something stable. People feel “behind” as if a year has been stolen from them and in many ways it was. Now I’ve focused and worked very hard to keep my balance and in turn provide balance to the other artists struggling. I stated this week that I push forward with my “best efforts” daily, always. I try and not put any expectations beyond as it just adds stress because it is out of my control. Everyone is feeling the urge to RUN after the world Covid lockdown and that is creating a ME and NOW vibe rippling through society. Again I feel we make the greatest gains working together but everyone needs to pay attention to their own fire from time to time. You are no good to a circle of people if your own personal fire isn’t burning bright. I’ve tried to change as little as possible save what we had to for safety to give people an experience. In 2020 BEST YEARS GONE was that. This year is getting better Covid-wise but it still shadows over endeavors and people’s moods. But we will again do what we do and that is all we can do. Please be kind to yourself. Don’t hold your progress up to the same non-Covid standards. Don’t lean into what you do not do but what you were able to do. And be good to one another. This has been hard on everyone with some having it better and some worse. Help someone out this week in some way, shape or form and you will feel the joy of it. I’m going to carry on and we have lots of exciting announcements coming in the weeks ahead. Starting with more cast and crew will be announced for SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. Also business sponsorships will start this April and that is no joke!
Have a great week ahead.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
The ‘Sacred Set’ of Unity and Non-Judgment – ART for the Save!
Another Michigan Sunday and another day of beautiful blowing snow. I think we’ll only get the fringes of this new storm. I had planned to jump right into the movie updates but I’ll discuss a few things here that I see as important. Not only to our endeavor but to all endeavors. I’ve noted that on our productions we have cast and crew from all parts of the spectrum. But this spectrum can be in ethnicity, religion, political or even the disabled. In the off time these artists go off to their own circles of living. Some feel the need to shout their stance about everything, lobbying their point to the masses on their social media walls. These opinions are often in opposition to one another which leads to child-like spats.
My sight of this banter is brief as I scroll to post our PR on various film projects. PR is really the only use I have for social media along with keeping up on a few cousin’s day-to-day lives. I’m disheartened by what I see which is a slew of people communicating beyond poorly. WHEN CONDEMNING HATE MAKE SURE YOU DON’T GO TO THE SAME PLACE. Social Media often misused becomes a poison. By reading lots of angry statements I see the poisoned people. People all sipping from the same cup of poison. As I work hard daily to develop, launch and fund projects, stories and parables whose goal is to cast positive light upon all people, others are busy ripping each other down.
I had some great meditations this week on politics since our country is still working to find its balance. I’m a moderate when it comes to governing. I don’t want total supremacy of any extreme stance. I don’t want to have everything my way. I will try to explain a bit better but it’s more about sharing my curiosity on the subject. If I have a group of priorities that is important to me, I’m happy to have some of my ‘wants’ met and to concede some priorities to others. If you have school children your priorities could be very different than a childless couple. But you know even while some of the priorities while not yours, helps others – and so you should be happy to give. Extreme people seem eager to win everything and after a while, at any cost.
In business, we call it same side of the table negotiation. So everyone walks away feeling like they got something they wanted or needed it is a WIN-WIN. If one party has everything and the other party has nothing, it’s not good for the balanced whole. But many people still so want it all. For you to have all others have nothing. Who does conflict serve? I cannot control the world or how individuals treat one another. A world where people are forever pointing out the perceived wrongs by the other party. People trying to remake the world into a place where two wrongs make a right. The one place I can control balance and unity is on a film set. I can say that the stories we tell are built onto the ancient chassis of tragedy and comedy.
I believe, again I say ‘believe’ in the restrictive age of dangerous opinions – that communication via storytelling is one of the few remaining ways of collectively, effectively communicating amongst people. And so by us leading by example – by putting stories of laughter and tears forth and pushing lessons to try and make everyone a little more kind and understanding. Our stories show us where we’re alike and illustrates the often toxic results of leaning too heavily into our differences. So we will continue to tell our stories with a vast array of artists without boxes. I did recently have someone say they might not want to participate in something if the people involved don’t align with their views. No such nonsense will prevail here. I’m accountable for good size chucks of money. I hire the best artists available to us. I work to unify and bring out the best in each artist and it manifests on the screen.
While shooting on ‘Best Years Gone‘ (Now we’re talking movies!) we had talented artists that come at things differently in their personal lives. That was all moved to the background as we told our story of imperfect love, loyalty and dream chasing. All this happened during heavy political and Covid times and yet our artists remained focused. In 10 to 20 years these stories will still be influencing while the politics of today become a notational blip in history. Be skilled. Give the Tribe your best efforts. Be respectful on set at all times to everyone. These are the things I care about. So our storytelling will never have strings attached or walls restricting people save maybe laziness, dishonesty and negativity. A CDI film is a manifested place of creativity, imagination and ingenuity. The outside world with all its A or B is not something I participate in. I choose to try and understand and develop people versus cancelling them and not listening. Participate in that game and nobody wins and eventually it will turn on you.
All the crazy seems to be over one person’s right to check a voting box. Their box checked is based on their own opinions but unsure people often feel the need to over-explain or justify why they check this box or that. You don’t need to explain your view or tear down the opposing view. Just check your box and move on. Why the need to justify with insults to people not listening? PEOPLE don’t listen if they don’t RESPECT. Start with that- I can’t heal people of their insecurity, or need to gather support for their opinions and viewpoints. But I will not get into the judge game as so many do. As I stated before, I don’t want nor need to have everything my way. I’m willing to concede some to create a better balance for the whole. When you walk up the plank boarding a TribeCDI ship you’ve willing come on board for a greater adventure. To tell a meaningful story that will enlighten for decades to come or maybe more. Black, white, brown or green – Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Pagan or Spaghetti Monster- Gay, Disabled, Conservative, Liberal, Moderate will all become ONE TRIBE of STORYTELLERS. This is the way:)
Forty Nights (The Quest Trilogy Part 1)
CHASING THE STAR (The Quest Trilogy Part 2)
The Christ Slayer (The Quest Trilogy Part 3)
THE QUEST TRILOGY above is getting ready to play as a series on PUREFLIX (SONY) on the run up to Easter. I think these films are 100% unique in that they were made with no agenda except exploring, distilling and speculating with a certain teaching at the heart of it. In these films we also chose to tell the story in a style akin to the Original ‘Star Wars‘ films. Please do take a watch on the three films in their proper order. Even if religion is not your thing or even Christianity, take a watch. The films are for everyone and again explore many of the questions that people have pondered for thousands of years.
MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND is getting a new 2021 campaign with BMG. WILD FAITH and LOST HEART are continuing their trek out to worldwide audiences. With home video up 40% we’re getting tens of thousands of new fans per week. If you keep an eye on the parent http://www.cdiproductions.com site you will see many updates coming including streaming and merchandise.
DEVELOPMENT
The Hastings TV series is being packaged to sponsors and potential financiers. The show scripts are being reviewed by possible directors and returning talent. SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has been incorporated and we’re working to put the last financial pieces in place but it is so very close. We’re started the hard -casting in earnest and we’re starting to lock in some of the talent. Once we move from development into pre-production we’ll start rolling talent PR announcements out. We’ve been doing a national casting on our young lead 8-11 that plays young. Blond hair preferred. I’m always amazed at the young talent making it happen. I can say I’ll be playing a supporting role on this one. It will allow me to go clean cut for a role.
BEST YEARS GONE is now being worked on by the editor and director to get us a locked picture. This coming week we’ll be helping to set up the new post studio. It’s in a beautiful pine forest and I’m looking forward to our upcoming film work there for years to come. I’m going to start to wrap this up. I’ve been getting a new story synopsis out of my head and onto paper. I have a few business proposals I might try to get a jump on for the week ahead. Be kind to one another. Erase those hateful thoughts. Spit out that poison and do something constructive, productive and meaningful. I see so much wasted time. If you’re in the arts and failing look at your allocation of time. If you waste thousands of words and hours throwing stuff back and forth arguing with no real goal or possibility of change, don’t complain as others pass you by in productivity.
I have said it before, I don’t consider myself special. I’m not anymore special than anyone else. I just focus and hone my craft and basically outwork others. End of the week I had a nice development talk with a younger filmmaker that I had not spoken with in a few years. He has traveled the country in the various film communities and encountered the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY of our biz. You can’t move away from it. It exists. You can learn to recognize and avoid these pitfalls and quagmires. He was pitching me on an idea I had pitched 15 years ago but I think the environment is now better suited. This filmmaker was on the right track with a mindset adjusted by the world situation. To dream with realistic short goals that can lead to greater rewards. Wait! Was this individual a conservative? Liberal? What religion? Was he gay? Straight? Does he like McDonalds or Burger King? I have no idea. We didn’t talk about such things and they were not important to our discussion. We were two artists with experiences talking about how to move ahead and keep telling stories. Different groups of people doing vastly different things with their time. Which team do you want to be on?
With that, I’m doing to bid you ‘good day’ and get to some other domestic Sunday business. I do have some wine that could be bottled. Maybe a bit more office work. I got a lot of caulking done this week. Thankfully the wood piles are full from a few ‘Viking Days’ at the fort. Keep that fire burning!
Have a great week!
DJ
Seven Updates and Some Past Week Pondering
(Last day on ‘Lost Heart,’ I was wrapped and spent the night working with craft service)
Ahhhhhhhh….chilly Michigan morning coffee sip. I’m enjoying the hazelnut coffee as I prepare to make some sort of attempt to describe this past week. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Last week I wrote on UNITY and that was a big hit. I’m a storyteller who loves to enrich audience’s life by entertainment and sometimes enlightenment. I have found that the story is one of the most effective ways to communicate. When people have conversation following a good piece of art it invokes meaningful dialog. People from all walks of life can come together and discuss the final show of The Mandalorian and debate themes, topics and differences. But they’re all united in their common love of Star Wars. In politics they should all be united in their love of our American system.
My belief is that both parties for decades now have drifted further from highlighting, promoting and pushing their party platforms and closer to no-holds barred character assassination. This includes trying to control how things are framed, presented and digested by the public. The reporters of days gone became known because they did not try nor want to be the stars, the story. But some due to their humble-approach, did become stars. Now we live in a time when people want to be “influencers” – what? We influence daily with our actions, words and deeds. I’ve seen the thirst for fame in these people and so the stories drift towards their opinions hammering the narrative to meet their goals. And where is the faith in the respected platforms? Faith that the masses will see the good in the endeavors and chose to back this person, party, platform. But some don’t have confidence in their platform and so they try to pitch, readjust, reframe a platform attempting to catch as much support as possible.
Example: Why is John Deere tractor better than Brand B
Just highlight the positives of what you are selling. No need to hammer brand B’s product customers will see this difference if it truly exists in terms of quality and performance.
Why should politics operate any differently? If you create the better product, better price point, better performance – you will never need to engage in cutting someone else’s rope short.
When I set out to make a movie, I don’t waste energy trashing anyone’s film – I just work towards making a successful story of quality. If I was running for an office I would not waste time tearing down an political opponent, I would just draw people to my platform.
Brand B tractor is a fine tractor but we at John Deere feel that we offer the better product and here is our list of why… but the cheap shots I’ve seen from both parties firing back and forth over the years, shows weakness in their stance. This weakening is what allowed a businessman with no real political experience to land in office. Running a corporation is very different because the power aligns with accountability. Our government is a system of checks and balances. It requires respectful communication and cooperation between the parties. This lack of – created a vacuum for someone from the outside to step in. Things happen much different in the two worlds and we saw many attempts at actions over four years that were deemed not legal in their process. Courts knocked it down and PR blame games took over. I joked we needed a good UFO attack to unify the world. We got a virus instead. This put the old HEALTH VS PROFIT question front and center. They need to flow together as one and not be positioned in confrontation. Healthy, long-living people can spend longer creating more on-going profit. But the medical system in the west has been reactionary vs preventative for a good long time. It is slowly changing and the unified collaboration of data and research is what allowed a quick ramp up on a vaccine. It was done quickly because PROFIT was set aside although the companies will profit. But best was the shared data to help deal with a health crisis facing us all. Can the world please tackle cancer next and be done with that horrible disease? If the cancer numbers had been highlighted and the spirit of collaboration embraced maybe it too would be a thing of the past.
Let’s focus on collaboration. What I see with social media and wall-debates is everyone feels a need to win vs lose and to gloat on that win. Lobbying to try and gather unanimous support vs same side of the table negotiations, talks, understandings.. Harsh ridicule used to drown out or squash any outside opinions but with no discussions. Unwilling to listen is the greatest form of disrespect. This also sounds like many organizations in their unwillingness. In science they have a process to drive towards truth but many outsiders have also been silenced by academic arrogance. Religion? Too many times to count. When I speak on religion I don’t cast any stones at divinity but at man-made institutions. Man-Made – If women want to jump on that bandwagon of also corrupting their institutions, please have at it. BALANCE should be the goal. We all have shared needs and concerns and we have different needs and concerns. I always think that the concerns of a person living on the Southern boarder of Mexico in Yuma, AZ will be very different from someone in Michigan. To find those common things that provide a mutual foundation and to take turns addressing concerns. I have seen HATE, not just dislike but HATE from people. Every time I see hate even pointing out something meaningful, I feel sorrow because that person is sick. Hate is a sickness. It starts with self-hate and preys on all the fears within us. If you hatefully denounce hate, you are still poisoning yourself. I see sickness all around which is why the positive fan mail from our stories have been rays of light. Our stories combat hate with love and leave some temporarily healthy, free of poison. This is only until the next projection of hate from that person and it builds. Unless habits are changed…HOPE.
For the record, I think protests often breed poison if the leadership is weak. They start with words crying of unjust but often turn to poison in one’s own mouth. Watching a group of extremists who wanted to win their position at all costs, clearly demonstrated their uncaring position about balance. I’m still greatly saddened to see the way sacred halls were turned into a scene like ‘Cedar Fest’ after MSU lost a big game. These turned into mobs of people burning things and being unruly. Again, someone lost the big game. And by their actions we all lost, because our character was tarnished. But our character on the world stage was being tarnished by those we elected with their on-going actions. We all have much in common and if the elected people cannot find those bridges and take turns making each other’s priorities something to discuss and enhance, maybe the wrong people were elected. But people can change…
I saw the political bodies House and Congress united in fear and renewed purpose finish their work. Even the most ambitious-party minded politicians had to ask themself what was/is their real “purpose” in service. Now I was looking for that UFO invasion but what we got was an invasion on our process of democracy. I watched some of the most sincere words come from the mouths of people where I had only heard negativity and blame previously. I saw a unity that did not exist 24 hours earlier. Now this unity was not the intent I’m sure but it will likely be the result. It has caused all Americans to sit back and re-examine much like the Covid virus. I think that many never slow down enough to truly ponder and Covid did that. Now we can ponder the past week’s actions. I hope that I never witness such poisoned individuals rabid with hate but I know that is unlikely. It will only get better when we all get tired of the taste of poison hate and seek the sweetest of love and listening.
All this writing and I have not yet got into any film updates. I know that many don’t want any views from their entertainers and I’m often one of those people. As a screenwriter and artists I like to observe, seeking to experience the event from all sides. To question why things happen. I cannot say what tomorrow will bring. But I can control my thoughts, action and deeds and keep the poison from my mouth. I feel bad for the sick wrought with hate. Start a change with what you can control – YOU.
- BEST YEARS GONE – The 1st edit is done and it’s being polished so we can take a watch end of this coming week. The reports from editing has been very encouraging with the story, acting and execution of the story being hailed. This all done in a small break during the Covid lock downs.
- We are going to launch a ‘Best Years Gone’ Battle of the Bands to give one artist(s) a chance to have their song in the soundtrack plus be involved in a music video.
- Merchandise for CDI films has been in development and will be making a big jump in 2021. Stay tune to http://www.cdiproductions.com for updates – SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRIBE!
- As LOST HEART continues to expand in viewership here is an other PR article that I’m proud of because it really highlights the script. That is the issue with so many projects is they lack a powerful script that says something. http://m.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/entertainment/happy-days-star-don-most-opens-up-about-lost-heart-film/article/583626
- I love the time and process put into doing the final WRITER and DIRECTOR polish on the ‘SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA‘ script. Tony Hornus (MBF) and I spent 4-5 hours each day last week to go through every line of the script. To discuss each and every scene and motivation. We get to have advance discussions about what will be needed in production. We likely have one more day of work on it – maybe two.
- HASTINGS Tv show which is a spin off from WILD FAITH is being read show by show by some of the actors and proposed directors. Those reading the shows are expressing their joy in them. Shane Hagedorn star and one of the series directors said, “The shows are about being good to one another.” Sounds like something we could use. I’m in talks with several parties and I think this series is a matter of when not if.
- As we start the drive towards Easter season I hope people will take the time to watch THE QUEST TRILOGY. These are not preachy and propose an interesting perspective for seekers who might not align with the mainstream organized religious bodies. That is not to say that the various organizations haven’t enjoyed them as they all were nominated as ‘Most Inspirational’ winning twice but they were not created in a bubble. They relate very well to the world and I think the films have as many fans coming from a non-religious place. I’ve said it many times that you could be from a totally different faith from Christianity and still enjoy the films. Take a watch and see for yourself (Part 1 Forty Nights, Part 2 Chasing the Star, Part 3 The Christ Slayer)
Okay I could go on about a few more updates but it is noon and I have things to do. Several of the films can be seen free on Amazon Prime, Encourage TV: Youtube and more so enjoy a few of the stories and please do let me know what you think.
Be good to one another.
DJ
Welcome 2021! Hazelnut Coffee Cheers
Happy 2021! Hazelnut coffee cheers.
Outside this morning is a winter wonderland. We had a cold front move through Michigan that first put ice on everything -followed with a heavy dash of snow. Now it looks like a beautiful Norman Rockwell picture outside. This has been perfect weather for all the indoor activities I’ve had to undertake. I’ve always worked to enter the new year more prepared than the previous. Just by the addition of the previous year’s experience I’m better prepared. But I also find Santa Claus most always want me to stay in step with the changes in technology. I’m still a PAPER person. The trees! I LOVE trees and would be fine with paper made from hemp. I hear a leather is being made from cactus. Even with my love of paper I still need to evolve. I just start to get the hang of something and they change it. But it really is quite amazing – we are living closer and closer to a Star Trek world.
I should be doing product reviews-
I was due since last year for a cell phone update and finally I did. My phone went from a model iPhone 7 to 12 PRO and so I had to migrate all my data over. I also had to learn the new this and that – the camera got more complicated but takes great pictures. Also I got two new audio devices. One is a JBL Echo 3 I believe which is a wireless speaker but this one has a microphone and can be used in group conference calls. You can set it in a room and talk from around the room and it sounds great. It also jams out in a most excellent way in between those biz calls, Lastly was pair of Apple ear buds and I pray I don’t lose them. Like sunglasses – if you buy expensive ones even if a fix it plan – you will lose them. But a cheap gas station pair and 30 years they will still be around. So my business tools are being updated and I’m thankful.
Our industry use to shut down for several weeks during the holidays and still does. But with social media mixing with our business does it ever really shut down. During these times are when I enjoy doing my writing. I have writing goals lined up for the year. I’m doing my official page by page this week on SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA with our director Anthony Hornus. Our last writer/director collaboration resulted in MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND which is a powerful story. If you have not watched it hop over to Amazon, Tubi or any numerous platforms and take a watch. This next story is just wonderful. I wrote it a handful of years ago about actual events at a WW2 German PW camp in Iowa. Rance Howard was my consultant on matters of the WW2 era and farming doing that time. The scout trip had me speaking with all manner of people in the area who all had stories to tell. We are very close to a full GREEN LIGHT. That means funded and moving forward to those unaware. We are starting to look at locations, casting and more but again that moves to high gear once fully funded. But the timing between getting the script locked and getting green lit should be perfect. I’m very much looking forward to telling this story. I will be getting a traditional WW2 haircut on the run up to filming this one.
The other project playing front and center is the spin off TV series from WILD FAITH. As our audience grows by the millions, we’re looking to do something we have not yet done. We have interest from several sources and its just looking at all the possible combinations and options. I’ll have a few conversations about the TV show later today and into next week. Like above, if you haven’t seen WILD FAITH due yourself and favor and return to a simple time. It is quality watching for the whole family. John Hughes asked to read the script several years ago and left a message that the film has all the charming qualities of the old Disney films and TV. I think he was right on the money and that Wild Faith will turn into a memorable series. And yes that will have ole Ben Lily returning.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH will resume filming this year. That is the doc film we started end of last year. It is about the history of catch-Can wrestling and the passion of a handful of martial artists bringing it back.
SMOKE & MIRRORS will be completed this year. VFX and credits are all that need to be completed. The feature film script is something I’ve been working on. I had a nearly finished script before we did the short. Now I am doing a page 1 rewrite having gotten to know the characters even better. This is a great ‘Steam Punk’ early 1900’s world and the characters are amazing especially those played by David Gries and Melissa Anschutz but no surprise there.
(Finn visualizing – more walks, more treats, more…)
I hope that everyone is ready to visualize their goals and get after them. I’m going to enjoy doing some writing on this beautiful day. I plan to go stoke the wood stove in the office and make a few calls. After I want to sink into some script writing. I hope you all have a safe start to your new year – work hard and be kind to one another.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 
‘Best Years Gone’ Premiere Info, ‘Silent Night in Algona’ Updates and more…
Good morning and welcome to all our past readers and new readers from Italy, China, France and more. I’ve not gotten into the coffee just yet but might have to take a pause to do that. It has been a whirlwind of activity as we work to finish a few projects and start a few new ones. I have had much to ponder the last week some positive and some negative (for others). Much of it stems from communication and professionalism and timeliness. If you get an email as part of a work flow process you should confirm that the communication was received. If you receive an offer and you are busy you should touch back and let the sending party know that you are busy but can address their communication shortly or at a certain date. If anyone is offering you work even if it (schedule or rate) doesn’t meet your current expectations, politely pass. Adding attitude or commentary that is negative is also foolish as a person could ruin any future opportunities and in several circles. It’s again why we at CDI are all about development of good attitude people. Feature film isn’t for everyone and some work better in short format. Anyway we are almost all crewed up. The cast is also getting down to our last few actors. We’ve started rolling out announcements on the German actors and we’re about to go scout in Algona with our main producer team and director. Let’s do a TOP TEN updates this week.
This week also included a great soccer match, some yard zen, hops are almost ready to harvest. The garden has been putting forth veggies and the egg laying ladies are keeping at it. We had a Perry reunion this weekend and it’s nice to touch base with folks and we had some great food. This cooler weather is so much nicer than the humid heat. I know what lies around the corner. Today we’re going to the flea market and see if I can take a few items off the ‘Algona’ prop list.
This week will be a short pack for the ‘Algona’ scout trip and also resume talks with sponsors, vendors and final castings. End of the month I want to see paperwork start to go under cast and crew. We are almost ready to begin doing that. Once we get back on the 23rd from scouting we’ll start that process in earnest. I’m going to tag this up and upload it – I hope:)
Until next week when I update you all from Algona, Iowa – be safe and work hard.
DJ
Share this:
Like this:
August 15, 2021 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: actors, Algona, attitude, BEST YEARS GONE, Bestseller, Bigfoot UFOS Jesus, blog, blogger, cars, cast, castings, China, coffee, commentary, communication, crew, eggs, flea, For the Love of Catch, France, German, harvest, Hastings, HD, hops, Italy, Lost Heart, MBF, MBF: Man's Best Friend, music video, Perry, props, racing, Romas, scout, Silent Night in Algona, Smoke & Mirrors, sponsors, streaming, The Quest Trilogy, TV, vendors, Vertical Bridge, Wicked Spring, Wild Faith | Leave a comment