A light dusting of snow covers the ground and I’m sipping at the hazelnut coffee (not sponsored yet) and reflecting back on my busy week. I want to welcome our Romanian and Indian readers to the blog. On the Indian front we’re having some great conversations about getting some of the CDI films there and also about a few collaborations on scripts we have.
Speaking of sponsors – Maple Holistics approached me about possible endorsement. I have a select list of products that I’ve got deals with. These often are passed down to our cast and crew in the form of gifts such as our awesome product from The Candleberry Company. I used the tea tree shampoo for this past week and I have to say I like it. I liked the texture, the tingle and it left my hair feeling very clean. You too can try for yourself and they’ve provided me a link below. Enjoy. Tell them DJ Perry sent you:)
We also had a Viking Tuesday taking the axe and splitting some wood for the office stove. Winter will be coming in full force and we’ll be ready. Onto the films shall we?
FORTY NIGHTS
BIG SCREEN!
Miller’s Historic theater in Bedias, Texas playing FORTY NIGHTS and we follow-up with a December showing of CHASING THE STAR. Both these films are now on Amazon Prime and it’s exciting to have new fans contact about the films daily. I can be contacted directrly about big screen public licensing.
So many great people participated and now others are getting to just EXPERIENCE them. These adventures have something for everyone – it matters not what path you walk. It is a great Christmas story maybe a bit more like the old Chuck Heston films in that they are not all sugar-coated. Now I have not seen STAR the new animated film about the birth of Jesus but the clips I saw had King Herod as a silly man. I think many people have eliminated the realty of a world under a tyrant ruler like Herod. We have one venue decide our film was too dark in tone. No sex or real violence but also not jingle bells or even one snowflake on the screen. I’m happy because much like THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, our film paints a harsh reality on the telling of that story but might create more understanding of the gravity of the situation. Where a lack of story once existed around the wise men – manifesting in lawn idols and contrived moments that only served to summarize the event. I think we put the stakes into a much more realistic context and gave plausible faces to the magi. Decide for yourself and help make these films part of your Christmas tradition. Next year will come Part 3 THE CHRIST SLAYER and that films is preparing to move into music and sound design in Jan 2018.
Now for THE CHRIST SLAYER to go into post another is coming out…WILD FAITH.
This post Civil War 1800’s tale is almost done. The visual time line minus end credits is locked with VFX. The audio is being tweaked and mixed. Color Correction is being set up for next week. This film is getting CLOSE! It will be done by the end of the year and we’ll be looking at all our options with this fine film property.
Additionally we’ve been in deal making mode on many of the CDI library. CDI and myself manage the Civil War film WICKED SPRING produced originally by CDI’s former sister company in Virginia. The new release will celebrate the passing of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. It will also be a nice release to a new audience in this digital age along with a 60 min doc that shows how a group of young filmmakers made this epic independent film. Follow us here for all the updates – https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarMovies/
Some of the past films looking at expanded distribution in 2018 include ASHES OF EDEN, BESTSELLER, FIGURE IN THE FOREST and THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ. Also many of the titles will be rolling out to foreign territories.
This week I also plan to release the WILD MICHIGAN book. This was my original screenplay before budgetary adjustments. This will be launching in time for Christmas. It will make a good holiday gift.
And if you like Christmas stories that are unconventional
KNIGHT CHILLS is a PG-13 scary Christmas time tale which can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many fine retailers.
MBF (Man’s Best Friend)
The bank account is open and we’ve started to fuel the ship up. We’re still in discussions with a few backers as we roll forward. I’ll be following up to get people’s paperwork this coming week. This great film is drawing some strong attention with its themes of military vets and dogs. We’ll be announcing more cast in the forthcoming weeks.
Several scripts submitted for collaboration/association are under consideration. For those that don’t know that means funded properties that are seeking production supervision and casting/crewing/distribution work. Also this week I had communications with a few major studio/networks over properties. I’m trying to put the pieces in play for the next handful of years. It was nice to catch up on a few calls this week with friend/associates. I know some of you out there are due a call and trust me I’m making my way down the list. I’m going to close this up as I still have some things to do today so that my start of the week will be solid.
Those that like to follow my brewing/wine making – the Ida’s Wine (rhubarb and mulberry) came out REALLY good. One of my favorites. The Green Goblin 3.0 is about to get racked to secondary and I might immediately start a new batch. I have some produce to use up from the freezer because we have incoming venison. Venison and 4H pork is about the extent of our meat-eating. Some chicken and fish get peppered into the diet.
So, next week I hope you spend some time with friends and family and not just on the day. Try some free tea tree shampoo. Watch a few holiday friendly films and be thankful. I’ll chat you all up next week. As always, thank you for stopping by.
DJ
November 19, 2017 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: 150th, 4H, adventures, Ashes of Eden, association, bank, Bedims Texas, beer, Bestseller, blog, book, CDI, Chasing the star, chicken, Chtistmas, Chuck Heston, civil war, coffee, collaboration, color correct, digital, DJ Perry, doc, dogs, DVD, epic, family, fans, Figure in the Forest, filmmakers, fish, foreign, Forty Nights, freezer, friends, funding, gifts, Green Goblin, hazelnut, Herod, holiday, idols, Indian, Jesus, knight chills, magi, Maple Holistics, MBF, Miller's Theater, pork, Romanian, screenplay, scripts, sex, shampoo, snowflakes, Star, story, stove, The Candleberry Company, The Christ Slayer, The Passion of the Christ, The Patchwork Girl of OZ, tradition, venison, vets, VFX, Viking, violence, Virginia, Wild Faith, Wild Michigan, wine, winter | Leave a comment
Arctic blasts of cold but warm greetings and meetings with family and friends. I’ve been working hard to try to close 2016 business and be ready to start new 2017 business. More distribution paperwork going out Monday so we can start 2017 with a new marketing roll out. I’ve been also reviewing, interviewing cast and crew for upcoming 2017 projects.
Let’s look at a few of these projects
John the Baptist and Jesus
40 Nights – Our new 2017 deal is about done and Easter 2017 will be the target of the new marketing push for our first film in the trilogy. I was happy to see that it was recently listed in Christian Cinema top 100 along with ASHES OF EDEN. Big things ahead for 40 Nights with a new DVD release. Digital is still being represented by Sony Home Entertainment, so take a watch this holiday season.
Chasing the Star – Excited that we’ve got our first look trailer out. The teaser pics are trickling out. The film should be done 1st quarter of 2017 and we’ll start doing big screen showings. The general release in the USA will be September 2017. More on this distribution will be announced with the new year!
The Christ Slayer – the business behind this third film is underway. We might be close to a big announcement. Casting and Crew talks have been moving forward as is budgeting, locations and other such development work. Personally I’m enjoying getting back into the head space required to play this role again. If you’re an Italian actor, especially on the West Coast – get your reel ready because we want to see it. Also looking for a pair of 18-year-old (can play younger) – girl and boy for supporting roles. We will do some casting announcements in the weeks ahead. This is planning on shooting in March in AZ.
Wild Faith – Our dramatic 1800’s series is in editing with fifty some scenes rough cut together. The report on the Civil War footage was fantastic. I know what we captured and I’m excited to see if all come together.
* The series is looking very promising. I’m working on putting materials together that would allow us to pitch. But in advance of the pitch – the interest is HIGH. It would be fun to produce many shows in our state. It could require three months of shooting over four months to get our season. I did love the work we did on the feature film.
The CDI library is being examined under our new deal to see what existing properties will be brought back out into the marketplace. We’re also exploring a complete website reboot of the CDI company that could handle commerce.
This year saw our venture into soundtracks which again make good Holiday gifts:) See “40 Nights” and “Bestseller” on iTunes and other music outlets.
Soundtrack for “40 Nights”
I am starting to look at what acting endeavors to undertake after shooting “The Christ Slayer” in March. I have a few projects in development script-wise so we’ll just keep moving forward. Stay warm my friends and be safe while running about gift gathering and socializing with friends and family.
DJ
December 18, 2016 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: 18, 1800's, 2016, 2017, 40 Nights, arctic, Ashes of Eden, AZ, Bestseller, budgeting, business, cast, CDI library, Chasing the star, Christian Cinema, civil war, commerce, crew, digital, distribution, DJ Perry, DVD, easter, family, footage, friends, gifts, HIGH, holiday, interviews, Italian, iTunes, locations, March, marketing, meetings, Monday, New Year, pics, projects, script, season, September, series, shooting, Sony Home Entertainment, soundtracks, teaser, The Christ Slayer, Top 100, trailer, trilogy, USA, West Coast, Wild Faith | Leave a comment
in Costa Rica for “Supermodel Showdown”
Much of the country got hit by a major winter storm. I thought this pic would remind us of a warmer place. In Michigan we only got a dusting thanks again to the protection of the Great Lakes. It has been a busy week for sure wrapping up old business and beginning new business. To look back upon the previous week’s news of death, it reminds me to live. Do what you’re suppose to do. Use your gifts. Be happy. I’ve been entering new areas of business as we climb higher on the ladder. It’s always an adjustment to climb higher, to believe and in our case, put forth your art to a wider and wider – world audience. I talked prior about my refusal to complain but adapt to our new growth. I know a few filmmakers with talent but they don’t really grow. They spread along the ground – ground cover but they don’t grow UP! You have to compete with other trees for sun to do this. So while some will play if safe and spread – making more or less the same material. It’s about taking bold moves but having the right business in place. Sunshine can equal shelf space, theatrical time slots or just the attention of an audience pulled in a thousand directions.
I’m thrilled that younger people are again gaining patience and a new appreciation of character development that is coming through mini series and TV shows. I think that Starz or HBO may be one of our future destinations for production. I place “Game of Thrones” and “Black Sails” as two of my favorite shows. I like that different time and place – world creating. We’ve done it on several films and it takes artists who are 100% committed. I’m so happy with our latest and greatest period film. It takes place in biblical times, “40 Nights” the first of a three part trilogy. The three films explore the quests of some amazing individuals. Early test showings have way exceeded expectations. Now I would rather pull expectations down and not light a match to fire up the haters, but I think many audiences will sincerely enjoy this story. I think within the story is something for everyone. We’re now done with the film. From here, we’re looking at theatrical and event showings. Our distributor may do a month push on domestic release to give us a little more time. It’s a film that truly should be seen on a large screen if possible.
DJ Perry as author Mark Franklin
I’ve finally circled around back to the business of the soundtrack deal. The agreements are being put together. “40 Nights,””Donors,” “Ashes of Eden,” and “Bestseller” will be the first ones to roll out.
Original KNIGHT CHILLS poster – “Scream” style.
A lot of prepping and energy spent on these new films releasing to the world market. We have an entire group of the older CDI films in the library heading for a new release. At least in one case “Knight Chills” – it comes shortly before a sequel moves into production. Essentially, instead of going to film school for 4 years we made 4 test features in various genres – crossing all the T’s and dotting the I’s so they could keep selling like they do today. I like to call them the CLASSIC CDI FILMS. They can also be defined as the pre-HD generation of CDI films. I was working in film in the early years before it became video with poorly attempted film looks, hopeful multi-chip improvements and frame rate adjustments. CDI moved aggressively into HD using some of the first cameras used by George Lucas in “Phantom Menace”… Lastly the journey has brought us to the age of RED and a slew of great HD cameras in the digital uprising.
One of the locations for the upcoming CDI feature “40 Nights”
We’ve got so much going on with prepping for the roll-outs on these films. We’re looking at a few projects we were approached on for feature film production. (They have their $) A few script reads teasing future acting roles. But we’re excited as “Chasing the Star” is gearing up to enter official pre-production. Some good news is that 4 days will be shot in Michigan which will allow some of our great talent to be showcased. Right now we’re finalizing our business. Almost done. From there we get ready for the first part of the shoot in Yuma, AZ.
I’m happy to announce I’m done with the 1st polished draft of “Knight Chills 2” and almost done with the polish on the third script of the QUEST TRILOGY. (“The Christ Slayer”)
Stay safe. Stay warm. Stay the course with your dreams. Have fun:)
DJ
January 23, 2016 | Categories: Blogroll, filmmakers, Uncategorized | Tags: 40 Nights, artists, Ashes of Eden, AZ, Bestseller, biblical, black sails, cameras, CDI, Chasing the star, digital, donors, filmmakers, fun, Game of Thrones, George Lucas, gifts, Great Lakes, haters, HBO, HD, knight chills, knight chills 2, library, Michigan, mini series, Phantom Menace, Quest Trilogy, scripts, soundtrack, Starz, storm, sunshine, talent, theatrical, TV, winter | Leave a comment
