Welcome February! Looking at Updates and Exciting New Developments!
Good morning, Happy Feb 1st from frosty Michigan! I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee and I just let the chickens out retrieving one egg. Friday I was feeling the tinges of a head cold but I’ve about beaten that back. I’ve stayed quite healthy but the sub zero temps and being around a few small groups might have set it off. I think the fact that I had such a busy week and I sometimes go into work-a-holic mode. Once it gets nicer outside my time can be divided but when it is freezing staying chained to the desk is easier. I’ve got all the movie end of year tax stuff submitted to our firm. I even got my materials for my personal taxes out the door yesterday. My task I was putting off while recovering the last few days is splitting some logs for the office wood stove. I will get it blazing today and fill the bins. There is something about a good fire that focuses the mind, lifts the spirit and warms the body. I will give a run down of some of the highlights for the week and talk about what the week ahead holds.
- At one minute past midnight audiences got their first look at the director’s theatrical art for AI JESUS: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip and a link to the first preview. READ HERE WITH LINK TO THE TRAILER!
https://www.prlog.org/13124831.html - The above film AI Jesus has locked up their visual and it is moving into music and sound design with Dennis Therrian. This is one of my favorite parts of the process whereas the music magnifies what you feel on the screen. While not a direct follow up this movie has tie in’s to CDI’s The Quest Trilogy, a heroic journey series of stories that you can watch now. In order they are FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. Please do watch all three!
- ROM COMS MUST DIE – I’ve been pulling the final pieces together on the end credits. This coming Friday we will be doing a watch of the full film. Once locked we will add the end credits and create the file for theatrical and home video delivery. We would love to see it hit theaters around April 1st (no fooling) and home video will be Q3 before Halloween.
- Behind the Scenes of ROM COMS MUST DIE edited together by Jeff Behrendt will release on Valentine’s Day Feb 14th!
- WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS just wrapped up a theatrical run in Algona, Iowa. We will be running theatrical showings up to our Q4 pre-holiday release. This 2nd film follows the action of WILD FAITH streaming now.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE our 1920’s action/romance adventure has started its run on streaming services and I’m getting weekly fan mail from that movie. It was really fun to film and our CDI team did a wonderful job. Pop over to one of the streaming sites and take a watch!
- I’m really excited about the new update to the CDI website thanks to David Gries. You can check out the new website which is still being tweaked and proofed but is looking great! It is at http://www.cdiproductions.com
- In addition that the wonderful website update we have a CDI Highlight Reel coming from Adam Towner. He was given a task and we allowed his creativity to flow and flow it did. We will be releasing this soon but it is to celebrate 30 years of CDI.
- We are exploring a few Dennis Therrian music videos for some of the songs created for HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE and WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS as well as a CDI co-production of another music video from our friends with Shallow Rising, a song called BLIZZARD. We will let you know when that releases. But Yes. CDI does music videos so reach out if you would like us to consider producing yours. We can work with several budget sizes.
- We do have a few commercial projects in development as well as a documentary or two. We have artists that excel in all these different areas. So again reach out and let’s see what we can do for you.
- I had a few great conversations on some feature film development both large and small. I will save some of this talk for another day as I don’t like to discuss too much until it becomes more solid. Also with some of my end of year work coming to a close I can turn more attention to development.
- Last Sunday I filmed on a short film in my home town. It was actually shot on 16mm and it had been a while since I was performing on actual film. The day was a snowstorm and freezing but all went well save a drained battery in my jeep that had to be jumped thanks to great production assistants on set. My battery just needed a charge as it might have came off the lot with a low battery charge. But that is all behind me and I’m looking forward to seeing what these passionate filmmakers created. A rule is often the harsher the weather conditions on cast and crew the better it looks on camera.
WRAP UP: Today is the full moon which is my 24 hours of cheat eating a month so donuts are in order. I’ve been subbing in on my brother’s indoor soccer team and it is getting my running legs back in shape. This will make it easier when outdoor season starts. I had one of the two remaining wisdom teeth removed this week so I’ve been dealing with that. In a few weeks they will do the other one.
This week we will start work on the theatrical poster for ROM COMS MUST DIE and have a meeting over submitting to a few festivals. The AI Jesus film will start expending the marketing based off the new trailer. I’ll be working to place the last few marketing supporters behind this unique story. We are working to expand our sponsorship base and build off the incredible brands we work with now.
I’m going to go refill ye ole coffee cup and prepare myself for some log splitting. I hope you all have a great start to your month. Can you believe that the first month of 2026 is in the books? I want to say RIP to Roger Moore who worked wardrobe on our Ghost Town movie. He stayed on when the theme park was open performing gunfights with Robert Bradley. Also we lost a few legendary artists with Catherine O’Hara and Demond Wilson whom I reached out to before on one of our past films. As I’ve said before we are taking the torch and we’ll keep creating. I hope all of you will do the same. Until next week my friends, coffee cheers! – DJ
Into 2025! Here We Go!
A big hazelnut coffee cheers on a VERY bitter cold morning. And WELCOME to 2025! We are off and running in the new year. This past week was some good prep and progress on projects. We are starting to collect our paperwork and funds for our ROM COMS MUST DIE comedy we will be shooting with Travis Hayward directing. I’ve been slowly morphing into this new role and working to get stuff prepared to film at the end of the month. We had two end of the year Christmas gatherings with my parents and family. Good food, fun and laughter. We are preparing to send over info to the accountants for issuing 1099 and K1’s on our last film WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS. On last briefing with our director Shane Hagedorn the edit was at the 70-72 min mark. We are in the final act of the story and Shane commented how enjoyable it was spending time with those characters.
Harsens Island Revenge has been in final color correction and clean up. I watched the most recent version yesterday. It was beautiful and sounded just incredible. The added days for the color mix were worth it. We noted a few end credit format fixes and a handful of small fixes that would make the film even more complete. That is noticeable out of period things that appear in the film. Only noticeable to a few folks perhaps but if we can fix it we will. So we’re taking another 3-4 days to correct and another 19 hour render for our lower resolution film file. The 4k takes almost two days to render out. But my plan is to show the nearly complete film file to our potential distributors. These fixes have dragged our timeline by about 2 weeks. But thankfully we are not in a crunch. But it is looking like the 1st premiere might be end of February as it takes time to set up and market these events. But I promise the slight delay will be worth it when it hits the big screen.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has been being enjoyed by families both on select big screens and streaming on most platforms with Amazon Prime being most popular. This year in June/July we’ll see the film move onto even more platforms for ad based video on demand. If you have not seen this CDI wartime film set during WW2, do so. It is a great piece of true history and one that will touch your heart.
KNIGHT CHILLS our 1st CDI film is going to get its first streaming release on 1/31/25. We’ll be doing some more PR on this as we get a bit closer but I am excited to have it play streaming. Buy the book on Amazon too now!
Looking Forward into 2025–
- As noted we’ll be rolling cameras on the comedy ROM COMS MUST DIE.
- End of February will likely be our first Harsens Island Revenge premiere.
- End of February will also be the targeted month to move WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS into music and sound design. We are still targeting a Nov 1st theatrical release.
- Projects are under development that could have us filming a feature in the Summer and one in the Fall. Script feedback and funding are always factors so we’ll see how that works out.
- More merchandise will be finding its way to the CDI Store which you can get to via http://www.cdiproductions.com
- More literary work will be coming out in 2025 on Amazon joining the IN THE WOODS (script/making of & novel) and the KNIGHT CHILLS novel.
- We have plans to try and remaster the remaining 3 films in the ‘CDI Classic Collection’ FROM VENUS, HEAVEN’S NEIGHBORS and FIGURE IN THE FOREST. The last two can be bought as a DVD double feature on the merchandise site. We are fighting against old format and a ‘film look’ filter applied all those years ago.
- I’m going going to finish the last couple of the WILD FAITH HASTINGS TV series scripts that need to be adjusted to take place after film two. I’ve got a few other pet projects and possible work-for-hire scripts to write. I do love to write and this cold weather is perfect for allowing one to focus upon this task.
- I do want to get a CDI Highlight Reel and also an actors reel for myself showcasing some of the more recent performances. I got some new headshots late last year but I need a few new showcase pieces. But the roles keep coming so I guess that is a good excuse for not getting new materials together. But still…
- Lastly, I’m looking ahead to warm weather and the new endeavors on the property. I’ve got a new log rack and want to rebuild the wood shed. The above and below parts of the new deck will be fun to “deck out” to coin a phrase. I harvested and gifted a lot of tea this year. I’m going to bottle a new wine made with paw paw fruit. I also have an Irish beer to make sometime this winter. It is always nice to pop a few bottles over a good meeting. So it will be fun to revitalize the property and that always takes some planning.
WRAP UP: As the news said, a horrible way to start the new year with the attach in the French Quarter, New Orleans. Someone stole the new year optimism and lives from a handful of people. Others forever changed by injury and the poor families. I’ve spent time there in the French Quarter and it is heartbreaking. I’m more low key these days having already done the crowds and crazy in my youth. Now I like quiet contemplation going into the new year. I’m ready to create projects, moments and memories with fellow artists, family and friends. I’m looking forward to the journey and will work to keep the energy bright and positive. Enjoy the challenges and the rewards. There are many who are unable to meet challenges beyond day to day survival. But each day and breath is a reward. I love nature and use it to rejuvenate myself. I had a moment the other day with technology, one of the few things that can disrupt my zen. But thankfully I have talented friends with some patience. I do try to learn new processes and technologies but it doesn’t always come easy.
I’m going to wrap things up here to go to bday gathering for a family member. Later I will get to see my brother and a few friends for the first time in 2025. Stay warm. Stay safe. And we’ll talk next week. I hope you all are enjoying your first days of 2025. Look ahead at what you want to accomplish and start moving in that direction. And for our Detroit Lions (football) let’s hope for a victory tonight. Coffee cheers to you all.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 