Music Videos, Morels, UP TV and Updates
Hazelnut coffee cheers! What a week it has been and the weekend has been full also. I want to welcome our new readers from Brazil, Germany, European Union and more. Please do invite folks to follow along with our little weekly break. We’ll discuss more of the business aspects here soon but around the property I’m trying to keep up with mowing. Yesterday did some major trimming to a lilac tree and we constructed a cedar arbor that was from Christmas. Luckily it was not too hard to construct. We still have a planter with a built in trellis to build. The hops is growing like mad but I worry about their health this year as they climb up the deck. This Summer we’re going to bite the bullet and have a new deck built. It is needed and will be greatly enjoyed. It will also create a space under the porch too which one day will house the hot tub I want to soak my bones. UPDATE: After weeks of morel hunting and finding nothing I had pretty much given up. This morning as the window curtain was being closed what do you think was so big it was seen from ten feet away? MOREL! A closer look outside found a half dozen mushroom trees! One had to be sacrificed to the bugs. But they were so big and heavy they were drooping over. The largest morels I’ve seen in the wild top date.
In a bit we’ll be walking the flea market close to us. Last week we went to one and all I got was a door mat for the office. It was a Bigfoot mat which puts a few smiles on faces. We went to a living estate sale yesterday of someone we know and it was a fun adventure. I got some great cast iron hardware for gates and such. And also a large collection of high end tea blends. I’m a tea drinker starting about noon. So far my favorite I’ve tried was a Scottish blend. Malty with a unique taste that brings about thoughts of peat bogs and bagpipes. I really do enjoy such little treasures. I will be trying different teas for several weeks. Let’s take a look at some bullet points of top developments in the film world.
- Post Production has been working to get all the software aligned for the Harsens Island Revenge sound work. The cut is locked and we’ll evaluate progress end of July so we can more accurately predict a finish date and plan a premiere. We all want Fall versus Spring but that will all depend on how the next few weeks go. A trailer preview is almost half way done with its edit and a theatrical poster is being discussed.
- The deal was signed on THE RED WHITE AND BLUE PROJECT charity release of AN ORDINARY KILLER. A based on a true story crime drama of a two decade plus cold case solved by persistent detective work led by Vietnam vet Lynn Kendall. The podcast Two Average Joes Media had the film remastered and is coming out on a dual layer HD DVD. We’ll be doing PR once we have a place that you can buy the DVD. Also thinking of doing a return to theaters special showing whereas DVD’s can be purchased after. We will see but this film is returning and this time for a good cause- helping military families. We will looking at streaming maybe mid December.
- The Smoky Mountain western GHOST TOWN has also been remastered and is returning to the market. We’ll be announcing some streaming release platforms in the coming weeks. A new 2024 trailer has been released and we might also do a few special event showings in N. Carolina, we will see. We plan to do some great retrospective interviews and stories in the media in the coming weeks.
- A new deal between CDI and a publisher has been made that will output our novelization and scripts/making of books to Amazon in soft and hardcover. Both the films above have books and we’ll likely do making of/script releases also.
- KNIGHT CHILLS which was remastered and is available on BluRay is being prepped for streaming release this Fall. The book and script/making of are being assembled and will also be rolling out. We are working on a new trailer and poster art.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is starting to see the flow from home video and we want to thank all the good folks out there who actually bought the DVD to own. We sold over 2,000 DVD’s right out of the gate launching us past our marketing cost and into profit. We know streaming is even stronger and so we look forward to see how the flow increases in the coming year. The film is also getting ready to start its UP FAMILY & FAITH TV run which will bring the film to even more audiences. The film is currently being shopped in Cannes France and we hope many countries will get the chance to see this powerful WW2 drama based on a true story. Thank you to all of you who have shown your amazing support for this film. We will also explore putting it back into theaters for this upcoming Christmas season.
- Speaking of the Iowa based film SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA we are working to develop two other Iowa based motion pictures. One based on the Spirit Lake Massacre and one based on the state hero Frank Gotch, world champion wrestler. We are making some progress but not as fast as we would like. We wanted to film next year but that is all dependent upon funding. Development is one step at a time.
- I’m about a third of the way into my third script in the last three months. We’ve been working at the development of our 70’s film and have some of the funding in place just not what we require. We’re going to give it a few more weeks but are prepared to produce 2-3 smaller scope films if needed. I’m really enjoying this third writing endeavor as its a sequel film to one of our very popular films. We’re getting ready this week to start processing payout back to our investors which might encourage a few of our art loving supporters to jump onboard these new stories. I was delayed by 2 weeks waiting for checks on three of the films to come in. They were all sent the same time but the US postal service was a tad slow. But they arrived on Friday and so we’re good to start that process.
- We did the second music video for the same band last week at Golden Hour Virtual Studios. It was a great place ran by nice people. We really enjoyed working in the space and we’ll be using it again. The previous video is releasing end of the month while this video moves into post production. I’ll wait for them to release their own PR before talking about it too much. But I will say that it absolutely ROCKED!
- I’ve submitted my new headshots to Treasure Coast Talent Agency and I’ll give folks a link once it is open and available. I’m going to try and finish narration work for a book series I’ve been doing. I am getting a tad excited to get back in front of the camera and create a character. With a bit more work I’ll be able to bring you a few new roles.
- An interview for a new CDI associated documentary film was shot this Saturday and discussion on another are soon to happen. It is another class of filmmaking but one I also enjoy. What are some of your favorite documentary films?
WRAP UP:
I’m going to start to wrap it up now. I’ve got some screenwriting underway and some PR I could start outlining. If the rain holds off I might do a bit more outside work also. I’m excited to see where all the pieces fall in development. I know that Harsens Island Revenge is going to be a great story enjoyed by many. My flea market treasures included a few books, a CD Best of THE DOORS, and a LP of an old rap group 2 LIVE CREW. SCORE! I hope you all have a great week and make some serious moves towards your personal goals. I look forward to us communicating again next week. I’m going to go make a tea and do a bit more work here to get a jump on next week. I think if the rain holds off it will be grilled pork chops and morels. Until we meet here again be good to one another!
DJ
Home is Michigan
Again Michigan is covered in a blanket of white snow. I know that many of you are from various parts of the world. Welcome readers from S. Korea and Burma. How wonderful that all these artistic people have found our little corner of the internet. My hazelnut coffee is going down easy and I’ve got a list of updates on several of the projects. This morning I did take a stroll through the Facebook which has kind of replaced the newspaper sadly. I usually find science articles to read and enjoy certain animal posts that highlight how intelligent and soulful animals truly are. Where to begin?
I commented on a fellow filmmaker’s vent this morning. In short – a disdain for people who have more resources or who falsely claim experience. It’s a problem but one that usually works itself out. We use to lovingly refer to it as The Oregon Trail. For us older people it was a TSR-80 game. But in real history it was a rugged journey that resulted in many dying and being buried along the Oregon Trail. We use that saying to describe the many in our business who perished along the trail.
Many people have long-wondered what the “trick” is at CDI to producing their content. First, there is no trick. It is a logical checklist of work that must be done in a particular order. You can refine that over time but this takes an effort. Good management of people is something that you cannot buy for yourself. There is no piece of equipment you can purchase that will motivate good work flow. Some of the secrets, if you wanna call it that are…
- Hire artists firsts not friends – you can become friends (True definition not Facebook’s) through shared art, dependability, accountability and positive collaboration. But to assign/hire someone unqualified for a crew or cast role out of friendship hurts the collective endeavor and often the friendship. Don’t set people up to fail. Don’t let preventable failure lower the quality of your projects or worse yet – kill it. I think for young filmmakers that is where these 48 hour film challenge things help. With a youthful generation of highly creative, technology-adept youths INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION is a learned skill. It is easy to be disrespectful, behind a computer. But these comments in the real world to a real person, can get you kung fu’d, fired or create a poison in an otherwise productive creative atmosphere.
- Chiefs. I’m talking to company owners. I’m talking to producers, director and keys. You all set the tone for the environment. Define the roles ahead of time. Don’t figure it out as you go. Producers have months or years of development work before any camera roll – use it. Creative MUST respect the Business machine and the business must respect the artistic contributions that will elevate it above being a mere formula genre film. Only strong leadership can walk this balance between the two and enforce this kind of collaboration. NEED vs WANT…KNOW the DIFFERENCE.
- Follow Through – this means the same in micro as in macro – for anyone in the chain of execution. You NEED people with follow through or they’re simply a negative – excuses not withstanding. It does not matter what the creative potential of an individual is if they’re not able to follow through. This should always disqualify/limit a person from leadership. Now you can put creative slackers under a disciplined key so they can be exposed and maybe learn from leadership. Ego will sometimes make them reject the chain of command if they feel they are a superior artist. The best artist in our world has follow through and a “best effort” positive attitude. Again, the best artist is not always JUST the best artist but the best artist with follow through. If a creative caterer made half a crew lunch = fail. Someone at go time had collected only half the props = fail. Wrong instructions as to where to park support vehicles = fail. Hundreds of things a day can cause strife on a film set if your team is not properly prepared. Be prepared.
- Help is not weakness – many people have not learned the many important lessons from managing projects of various sizes and budgets. People need to know when to say NO or to seek out and hire the proper experience. But either greed or fear of loss of power, causes many to sell themselves onto projects that they are truly unqualified for. F- YOU DJ! YOU GOTTA START SOMEWHERE! Okay. Settle down, I hear you:) Now in the beginning, I might have been one of those people. But, I did qualify as a doer of many other things. Some of these things small and some large in other areas of my life. I have always been someone who has a natural drive to GET IT DONE if I’m behind something. Investors saw that eye of the tiger in me. Investor interest seldom comes from a fancy fluff package or a regurgitation of business buzz words – more often that investor see’s or feels something in you that was/is akin to his own inner fire.
OK. I need to save a little wisdom:) But I try to keep a pulse on this Michigan film community. I see positives and negatives. Michigan has always fought the ‘backwoods’ mentality given to us by Hollywood. Funny thing is much of the Hollywood elite is midwestern. But I will say that I see improvements. Tax incentives gone – my opinion – it never should have been about drawing work to Michigan but development of work from within Michigan. But it did help legitimize filmmaking as an acceptable title here in Michigan. Ask old-timers and MI filmmakers from the 80’s and 90’s, about being called a filmmaker. It was like telling your family you want to be an astronaut. It was usually met with a sideways stare and a loss of words.
Now people don’t sideways stare at me they simply want to know when the next film releases. They tell me they have young children interested in filmmaking. It’s great to see the parent support of these young dreamers. I burned out on festivals a decade ago but I respect all the great festivals our state has to showcase, network and nurture our creatives. I watch the yearly migration to the west coast where people learn that the increase in opportunities is usually matched by the increase in applicants. But many have to experience it. I will be out there for a week on some business this month. I’m looking forward to seeing some friends and associates. Oh, and the sun. But after a few I must return home. Home is Michigan.
Shane Hagedorn’s big shoulders to carry his first feature
WILD FAITH
We master the film off this week and I’ve got some meetings coming up over home video/foreign. The TV series is something that I’ve been aggressively chasing. I think it would be great for Michigan. I know a few other TV series working to get traction. How great would it be to have a string of TV shows happening. We’ve also been hard at work on securing theaters. We’ll be announcing soon as several deals are almost done. I do truly love the genre and I think it would be great to see weekly as a show. Once you watch the movie let me know.
WICKED SPRING
If you cannot wait and need a fix of 1800’s action/drama our Civil War film “Wicked Spring” is getting a re-release 16 years later. 18 years from when cameras first rolled. We shot the pre-war and war stuff in two separate shoots and areas. I’m waiting for the streaming link to go live on amazon. 2/5/18 is supposed to be digital release date. DVD’s on 3/5/18. Here is the new cover that the distributor settled on. It has one of my favorite pics from the shoot and it is of Anthony Hornus, who played the Union commander. Also that’s Michigan’s Brad Egan front and center marching forth.
Look for this cover that has the remastered film. Also the DVD includes a 45 min Making of that is a wonderful look back at producing 18 years ago. Please do take a watch.
Cool look at the TOP Civil War Films
https://www.ranker.com/…/all-civil-w…/all-genre-movies-lists
We’ll be posting places you can buy/rent as they go live on
Wicked Spring Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarMovies/
Are you ready for another look at Part 3 of…
THE QUEST TRILOGY
Forty Nights and Chasing the Star are working into more platforms and networks. The push will start for Easter sales. I’m excited that the poster and movie trailer for The Christ Slayer part 3 is almost done. As if the excitement of “Wild Faith” wasn’t enough this first full trailer will allow BMG to start promotions. It is amazing the scope of it all and it brings the greater story of the trilogy together and answers many questions.
SIDE NOTE: Forty Nights is part one and if you don’t know I play Jesus. I’m over due on a few character reels but this one was hard. When you’re in about 70 min of a 88 min film or so and you are looking for 2-3 min sizzle it can prove to be…difficult. My actor/filmmaker buddy Shane Hagedorn knew I’ve been very busy the last few years working on the whole. He surprised me with a character reel of Jesus. I will be sharing that with you all in the coming days. I always ask that one good role just gets me one more. This will come in handy as I’ve got a few things in the works hence the LA trip.
ACTING
Many have asked me what’s next for me on-screen. As we’re always working on delay – this year you can watch me as mountain man Ben Lily in “Wild Faith” and reprising my role as Jesus in “The Christ Slayer” film. I’ve got some good film role options that I’m not at liberty to discuss. It might be the year that several development collaborations pop. I can say that the main focus for me is MBF. (Man’s Best Friend) We’ve accepted collaboration with a military non-profit http://www.theredwhiteandblueproject.org/ that has done some great things in the past for our soldiers. They want to off-set some of our military cast/crew costs and create an educational aspect. That aside we’re trying to complete financing on this project and we’re getting close. I am excited about this project and I think so will you once you find out more about it. Here is our social media site.
MBF: facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MBFthemovie/
I could go on and one but I have some snow to shovel and I’m prepping to do personal tax prep tomorrow. Coffee cup is low.
Be good to one another!
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 