Post 4th of July Updates- Back to Business!
Good morning! I’m back to sipping the hazelnut coffee. I do enjoy the coconut flavor as a change but it is so nice to be back to my true love. It has been a crazy week with a lot of good business. The heat has been hindering at times but the plants love it. I feel bad for the victims of the floods and having been a camp counselor in my past I relate. A time meant to be a fun memory becoming a nightmare. The 4th of July Celebration is great as I do love and appreciate where we all live and call home. I use to enjoy fireworks as a child and young adult so I try to be understanding. But my reality now is having one dog who fears the loud noise. Once they start sometimes before the sun goes down my furry boy Finn is done going outside. He is restless in bed with several nights the huge BOOMS going until the wee hours. That also means him wanting to get up really early to go potty. So I’m up late and rising too early. I don’t love fireworks like I once did. Snakes, sparklers, jumping jacks, M-80’s, Roman Candles and more have been replaced by major explosives. I got out of the game with all my fingers, toes and both eyes so I’m good.
Harsens Island Revenge
Currently we are in a holding pattern with Harsens Island Revenge to see if theaters will give us dates. We just finished a run at the Wells Flame and are ready for more. We are still waiting on dates from Emagine and Fridley who ran SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. We might start planning some dinner and viewings that a few places offered but we wanted audiences to see it on the big screen first. We know 10/6/2025 will be our home video release on DVD and buy/rent streaming services.
We received word from the Red Letter Awards that I talked about last week saying that in the last category of Best Supporting Actor we had two nominations. I received a nod for playing WW1 veteran Axel and Dean Teaster for playing ruthless Abe Axler. Those two characters are polar opposites and even have a run in at the climax of the film. I think Axel was a cool cat and I loved the role and he was an extreme version of myself. As for Dean his role was way outside of his true personality and add in the accent. I would love to see Dean win for the role but I have no control over that. Matter of fact you can just run down our cast list for people I believe could have been nominated for Best Actors or Actress but I am biased. I love the Best Film nomination because it reflects on everyone. Any selfishly I do hope to win Best Writer as it is something I truly love. I even had talks this past week about agent or management representation for literary. I would love to sell off a property a year.
Wild Faith Christmas
Now that the holiday is about over director Shane Hagedorn will be getting together with Dennis Therrian for last listens on music and sound design. The VFX are being dropped in and we are working on end credits. This film will be wrapping up soon and we’ll start to work on the theatrical placement for the run up to the holidays. For those eagerly waiting theatrically will be the only way to see it this holiday season. 2026 will have the film releasing to home video with the theatrical window running into 2026. Again if you have not seen the first one join the tens of millions who have and meet some of the characters in advance. I’m excited for a listen through that will be forthcoming.
ROM COMS MUST DIE – Monday we have a studio watch through to do last looks on the edit, color, VFX and sound design. Once we lock it up we’ll prep it to move over to Dennis Therrian’s studio for music and mixing. This film is just straight up fun and pokes fun at ourselves as filmmakers, actors and artists. I think the goal here will be to do a premiere in Oct. maybe even an event at the McGraw studio or in a theater. After we’ll run it in theaters for 2026 and end with a fall 2026 release to home video. We might do some horror fest showcases in-between.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – Many have been stopping at one of the ad-based video on demand sites like Encourage TV, Roku, Xumo, Tubi, etc…to watch this WW2 home front drama. I did a watch on the 7/1/25 the release date and it was pure joy to watch this story again. This was directed by Anthony Hornus who we are about to talk about in development. Yes. He is getting back into the director’s chair to tell a very unique and timely story.
DEVELOPMENT:
THE SECRET OF THE KINGDOM CHIP – While this film stands on its own it also falls into a story that fits after The Quest Trilogy. For those unaware of the trilogy they are biblical adventures told with a Star Wars-like vision. Good vs Evil and the Heroes Journey play into the three films FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and The Christ Slayer. I really thought that I had put on the robe for the last time as I’m not funded on the level to tell of the return of J.C.. But this story pulled from the news and given a SciFi (For now) spin is a great follow up. The film has been hailed by several readers as the very best of my scripts. I’m not sure on that but I’ll take it since most all the others have been recognized for the script and/or film itself. I always say that the script is not just a box on a check list of development it is EVERYTHING. We are still in talks over the last few pieces of the funding but the finish line is in sight. We are almost done with the casting save a few that we will be doing some reads for. We have the development crew in place and the schedule is being worked on. We’ve landed on our locations and I’m very excited about the shoot end of September.
Misc. Development-
We have a handful of other film projects that are coming together. That can include script, rough schedule, concept art, budgets and such. I will be following up on more of these projects as we get others out the door. I will say that I did over the weekend start work on a highly anticipated sequel script. I’m in no rush but if it comes out how I imagine it will be very powerful. A hint can be found in a short video segment I posted this weekend. I even put a little Metallica music behind the clip for fun.
WRAP UP:
I see almost daily of artists taken while still in their prime. I’m painfully aware of the friends I’ve lost both in the filmmaking world and outside of it. It makes me really appreciate each day as a gift. The sun, rain, birds, squirrels, my loved ones and my beloved work family. I hope I’m blessed with good health to keep doing what I do. I hope my friends and family also enjoy this good health. Even watching some of Black Sabbath and Ozzy perform one last time due to Ozzy’s health issues made me pause. What if I could no longer do the things I love? I would hope I would find new interests and purpose. I joke when I get frustrated about our biz that I want to go bartend at the Moose Lodge down the road and just tell stories. But I know I would miss storytelling on the grand level that we have taken it. I was doing accounting breakdowns this weekend preparing to report and do payouts to our investors. I really appreciate all those good folks who have supported storytelling and the arts. I’m going to wrap it up here. This week will be fun with birthday gatherings, film mixing and more. I hope you all have a great week ahead. Thank you once again for stopping by and sharing a few moments with me.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Powerful Posters, ‘Harsens’ Post-Production and Premiere Info and ‘Wild Faith Christmas’ Pre-Production Updates
A light rain and cool breeze is welcome versus the horrible storms they’ve got down south from the hurricane. I checked in with many of my friends and some like my cousin outside Tampa, FL had nothing but wind. Others like Robert Bradley in Maggie Valley, NC are good but their town and region is not. Highways washed out and roads impassable. The main drag of Maggie Valley is flooded out. Just sad that so many are facing the hardships they are. Knock on wood- but we’ve been lucky being on a high hill and our property is sandy and absorbs water quickly. My thoughts and prayers with all those suffering in the aftermath.
I want to welcome out new readers from France, Netherlands and more. I really love the global artists circle we have. I had several folks comment and we’ve had lots of new subscriptions which is great. I’m going to provide some great updates and I hope give some insights that you can apply to your own endeavors. I’m going to do a warm up on my hazelnut coffee and we’ll get into this. Speaking of coffee we’ve been enjoying the new enhanced deck for sipping coffee and watching the morning nature. The dogs enjoy having a better view of the surrounding area and the gate allows me to have them enclosed. That helps at night if I smell skunk in the area which anyone who had had to bathe a dog who has been sprayed knows. I built a small step deck off the office/fort porch and a new compost bin from some of the old deck wood. I still have a good amount left for some of my projects. I’m still harvesting the end of season herbs and using them in cooking and for tea. So many great compounds that are in plants.
NOW TO THE PROJECTS!
With every CDI film we really try to let the director’s pick, choose and oversee one poster, the theatrical one. Because marketing staff at the home video level will put together the artwork that will best serve their purpose. This is the beautiful picture that our director Carl Weyant put together for our theatrical run. Below is some moody shadows and reminds me of the old detective posters of the 20’s and 30’s. Above you see The Purples, a glimpse of the Harsens militia and the innocents put at risk with this conflict. I’ve had a lot of people talking about wanting to buy a poster and all in good time.
We will be getting an RSVP for main cast and crew to see who can attend a private showing in Alpena. Following the screening they will have another show for sale for the public and it will play for several weeks in Alpena. That is what the deal is looking like. The theater controls how many screens and times so we are limited. But as I’ve said before, the more the demand the more screens and times they might open. Currently the invite is for just cast and crew and not plus one. Folks will be responsible for their own travel and lodging. I’ll keep you all informed here and of course we’ll be posting on the Harsens Island Revenge Facebook page. Now in January 2025 we’ll start our theatrical run. Several runs might be kicked off with a special event party like in Owosso, Lansing, Grand Rapid and Detroit so that might be closer for many of you!
We’ve been working hard on end credits trying not to miss any or misspell any names. That said, it happens every film because of the sheer amount of names and sometimes handwriting by people. Lastly, it is passing through human hands and we all make mistakes but we try to keep that as low as possible. The music, color correction and VFX are being finished and polished up. Next week they start to pull that all together. Dennis Therrian has been working a powerful musical score and every artists has been putting his all into the film. Final posting and mixing always requires an increase in focus and communication. Something I myself also work on and try to encourage. If you send something let the party know it has been sent. If you are the receiving party let the sender know it has been received. There is a reason the military is so effective with their communication. The thing to remember is that you all have the same goal and you’re trying to make a process as smooth as possible. Bottom line is the film is getting close to being done.
AN ORDINARY KILLER streaming will be on December 15th and I’m hearing that it will be going to XUMO and The ROKU CHANNEL. Likely it will go to AMAZON and possibly PLEX and PLUTO TV.
DEAN TEASTERS GHOST TOWN is streaming on TUBI and various platforms. We do plan to start selling the special edition theme park DVD’s prior to Christmas. For those that know Robert Bradley this was filmed in his home town and he co-stars.
KNIGHT CHILLS is starting to deliver assets for the streaming release. I also wrote my foreword for the new release of the novel. I’ve been collecting some materials to put together a nice script and making of book also. I’m excited that this film is out there on HD Blu Ray and will soon be streaming! I would like to see this franchise take another step and we’ve got a script. So we’ll see what happens!
Looking Ahead!
This year saw three of the films from CDI’s library (Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town, An Ordinary Killer, Knight Chills) get set up for a new release. We’ll tackle a few in 2025 also. We have to get the technical correct in order to HD remaster the films.
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS is in the final weeks of pre-production. We had a great meeting on Friday looking at the remaining TO DO’s. I’m happy to say that the main cast is all DONE! We found our last two leads and we could not be more happy! The sets are on point and we’re working on the last of the logistics. I met with our associate producer and legal over sushi and he’s putting the final pieces in motion. As I was reviewing the new official script and highlighting my Ben Lily lines I was so taken by the story again. I’ve been up to my neck in the business of it but it was pure joy to do lines and re-read the entire story. We have some new sponsors coming onboard with DEANS TREE FARM, SPORTS UNLIMITED and ANCHOR CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION! Thank you to all the fine companies and individuals helping to make this film be everything it can be.
ROM COMS MUST DIE is still on deck for the first of the year. We’ve been quiet as of late but that is because we have a lot out there. That said, we do keep moving pieces on the board. We’ve added Ian Griffin as the AD and will be playing a role in the film. He is an amazing actor that I met in 2002 on AN ORDINARY KILLER. He’s been in many of the films such as BEST YEARS GONE (The police officer) and he’s Boozy Jack the bootlegger in Harsens Island Revenge trailer that says he would sell to the devil himself.
Tis a good season to watch some scary films like IN THE WOODS, now on Blu Ray!
WRAP UP:
We have lots of things in development but like I mentioned we’ll wait until we have more in place. It is rainy and so I’ll likely work on getting some stuff done here in the house and at the desk. I like to get a jump on the week so I’ll soon switch to hot tea and keep at it. I am going to try and catch up on a few calls too. So until we chat next week I hope you all have a great day and week ahead. Remember that everything happens by slowly chipping away at the TO DO’s. I’m going to FOCUS and try to COMMUNICATE and promote better COMMUNICATION This week. We have a lot of exciting things ahead. Happy Sunday and coffee cheers!
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 