Mother’s Day, Weddings, Scouting, Casting and More…
Good morning! I’m starting this sunny morning with a hot cup of hazelnut coffee. A Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s out there. I’m taking the momma’s in my life to the movies today as it was deemed a bit too chilly for the park picnic or a few out the outdoor ideas. I’ve been so enjoying seeing the green that is springing up everywhere. Plants sprouting, squirrels building and birds are singing. Our chickens have been loving it and happily kicking out the eggs on a regular basis. Already some of the herbs like chives are growing steady. I’ve been getting the grill ready for some grilling and chilling. I had to fix one fence that divides off the raspberries and I still have a bit of property work to do. Having the ability to go work on the property while pondering decisions is helpful. So let’s get into some of the updates from that world.
Film Updates-
- The first draft of a business proposal for three films between CDI and Katharsys Media is done and being refined. These are three genre films with Lynn Drzick (In the Woods) directing.
- The first polished draft of RETURN TO ALGONA is done and sent to the parties in Algona we are working with. If everything follows plan we just might be filming that in 2027. The story is a powerful look at how time had marched on from WW2 to 1968 and the Vietnam War. It also has many lessons and examples that are applicable to what is happening in our world today.
- Following that script I now plan to finish up on MBF2 and the Wild Faith 3 script underway. Both of these don’t have a plan to shoot but better to have them waiting in the wings. I’m really happy with how both of these follow up stories are coming along.
- Wild Faith Christmas – Shane Hagedorn and I traveled to ICFF in Florida and had a great trip representing our film. From our nominations we won for Melissa Anschutz’s role as Hester! Before we left Florida, we heard that she had also been nominated for the RED LETTER AWARDS for Best Actress taking place outside Nashville, TN in August. We are nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress Addy Paddy, Best Supporting Actor Dean Teaster and Best Actor Shane Hagedorn. This train is a rolling and we are so grateful to everyone loving this film. We will work with our theatrical partners at Dreamscape Productions and see if they can book any additional theatrical showings but the film releses to streaming on 11/03/2026!
- ROM COMS MUST DIE is having its first kick off showing May 18th at the Sun Theater in Williamston. The full public is invited and tickets are $10 cash at the box office that opens at 6:30 with sNyte
- Adam Topwnerhow at 7:00. Come out and enjoy this comedy with many of the cast and crew. June 11th Adam Towner and I will be appearing on The Baron & Sindee Nyte Show that livestreams 7pm EST. Other theatrical bookings will start with a proposed Q3 streaming release.
- AI Jesus: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip is having a full review on Monday with our composer/sound designer before a producer’s review. The end credits are being built and soon this film will be ready to start some theatrical bookings. We’ll be heating up the PR on this film very soon. I think audiences will find the film heartfelt and will stimulate many discussions.
DEVELOPMENT: Moving soon out of development and into pre-production is DEVIL’S PASS. This adventurous tale is an 1800’s piece brought to CDI by Dan Searles. We will be working with Dan’s company and again McGraw Multimedia. John and Eldon McGraw will be directing and heading up the camera, grip & electric departments. We’ve worked so well with them on the last two feature films and I’m excited to launch them with this motion picture. We’ve set our shoot dates in September and we’ll be again shooting in Michigan. We’ve been working on placing some of the keys and early casting. There will be many upcoming announcements as we bring more good folks onto the film. We had an amazing scout trip last Thursday and found all our locations and more. Some locations are so cool that we might re-stage a scene at a different location for cinematic reasons. If your company, business or brand want to align with us we’ll soon be approaching our sponsors and product partners that help all these films get done. It took several months for CDI to agree to supervise and produce this film. Things have to come together the correct way and I’m happy that it did. So many moving parts and you have to have excellent communications. The schedule is being worked upon and soon I’ll have a rough actors day of days that helps with the casting process. We have an IMDB and Facebook page that we’ll keep adding updates to. We will be doing some local casting once we get done the road just a little bit more.
WRAP UP:
I will say that one of my most interesting experiences I’ve had was last Thursday at the scout. I had driven to John McGraw’s house and we were going to drive from there. I go to get into this car and the handle bewildered me. It was a TESLA. I got in and the entire roof is transparent and that car DROVE us to pick up Adam Towner and out to the scouting location. I’ve always said, “I don’t know” about driverless cars/trucks. But as I moved to the backseat giving up the shotgun seat to mister Towner, I was amazed. It backed out into traffic and started us on our way. The power and pick up to this car with no oil or standard brakes again left me speechless. Now having experienced it, I have to rethink my feelings on that entire process. I truly felt for the first time in my life like a JETSONS moment. Look it up kids, it is an old cartoon. But I could see the day of owning one. It can take you right to its own refueling stations and…just incredible.
I also wanted to mention that on Friday we attended a beautiful wedding as CDI’s Melissa Anschutz’s eldest son tied the knot. It was a beautiful venue and after was an elegant cocktail hour and dinner. Being there with several of the CDI old guard to celebrate with Melissa and her family was just wonderful. Congratulations to Alex and his new bride Catrina. We work hard and it was so nice to just have a little time to relax, laugh and enjoy each other’s company. I even got to try out a few wardrobe pieces I might wear in the upcoming film. Yes. I will be acting in Devil’s Pass but we’ll leave those updates to another date. I’ve got a fresh coffee and I’m going to go eat a few eggs, shower up and get ready to go spend time with the moms. Until next week- be good to one another and don’t just DREAM but DO!
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Hello ALPENA Again! Finishing One Film and Starting Another.
(Travel Day Pre-Meeting with 1st AD Ian Griffin)
Greeting my friends from chilly Alpena, Michigan. A beautiful drive North with a small stop at a quint German restaurant took us back again. Back to the waterside, historic town where we previously filmed Harsens Island Revenge. The experience and the hospitality is very much like many of the wonderful communities that hosted and doubled for our fictional locations. But as noted upon arrival it was considerable more cold that Lansing, Michigan. Months of prep work has led us to our pre-production team arriving. Tonight is our schedule talk through with department heads. This is where we look ahead at any possible issues. Advance solutions are discussed and questions answered. It is much easier with everyone in the same room. Even with Teams, Zoom, Skype or many face to face technologies it is truly not the same. Getting everyone communicating is the key. New information going to the right departments.
Good example of a miss – so our advance schedule has our locations and days locked in but as we get closer and weather and other things factor into the scene order. Our advanced schedule just had a default call time in the software. When these were shared with transportation department it wasn’t noted to move in confidence with the days but keep the daily call time open as fine tuning was being done. Here a remembered three sentence note to the department head would have saved some effort of going back to the horses, wagons and giving the actual call times.
I like thew illustrate things like this because I try to always respect people’s time and work. But movies have so many moving parts we have like a 3% error each day. You hope the hard fought 97% buys you some grace from the missed 3%. Good respectful communication of speaking to others as you would like to be spoken too. And be grateful for the opportunity to come together in artistic fellowship and create a story that will live beyond our lifetime. DEAN TEASTER’S GHOST TOWN a smoky mountain western from around 2006/7 has been remastered and re-released to streaming. But close to a dozen of the cast/crew have passed away. These adventures are special and the people we create with are special. Embrace that.
(Tony Hornus and I at the start of yet another adventure – Wild Faith Christmas)
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is booking special Winter screenings into select theaters. We’re close to the final theatrical deal. It will also be the template for Harsens Island Revenge once it starts its theatrical run 1st Q 2025. DVD’s are still be purchased on Amazon and such. Also the film is streaming for rent or purchase. The German meal above I mentioned traveling into Alpena with Anthony Hornus had us discussing our WW2 German POW film. Take a watch it is a holiday themed film for certain.
Harsens Island Revenge music is done and last Thursday Director Carl Weyant and composer Dennis Therrian listened and tweaked the score. Next week they will start to mix the entire film. Scene by scene mixing dialog, sound effects and music into the perfect blend and creating a 5.1 stereo mix. This movie is going to be so exciting and we all can’t wait to show the world.
KNIGHT CHILLS streaming is close to being all delivered and so that means soon I’ll be given a release date. The proof on the novel looks good and we should have that up for sale before Christmas. AN ORDINARY KILLER is also prepping to release to select platforms on December 15th.
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS – If you want to be up to speed on the entire storyline and characters please do go back and watch WILD FAITH that was 5 years earlier in our storyline. This is a great side adventure that is a heartfelt Holiday story with orphans being a theme. If you haven’t watched the original watch it and if you have rewatch it. We’re excited to tell this next story.
WRAP UP: We’re getting to a good place or finishing a film and the quiet before we start the new one. I love seeing everyone and as I’ve said before it’s great to end the year with an adventure like this. In three weeks we’ll be back with our families for the start of the holidays. But here in the know we’re about to tell a tale. I’ll be presenting more photos and such as you can get more info on the Wild Faith Christmas on IMDB.com and our FB page. I’m going to tag and post this and we have a 4:00 pre-production meeting. Wish us a good voyage.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 