It’s Starting to Look a bit like Christmas! CDI Updates
Hazelnut coffee cheers. I do have my new computer mostly set up but I’m using my phone to post this. I want to thank my readers from dozens of countries around the world. It goes to show how storytelling is important to the entire human race. I’m at that end of the year place of evaluating the past year’s journey. I’ve had a balance of prepping for the new year and taking care of business in front of me. I’ve had a few minor frustrations usually surrounding tech as I try to set up my new systems for 2026. Streamlining and starting new work flow operations with dispersement and management of incoming funds. Let’s look at some of the updates.
1) Harsens Island Revenge which is just starting its home video run on dvd and streaming set records at the distributor for ad engagement which we hope will translate to views. A wonderful story ripped from history and adapted from Karl Manke’s book of the same name. Check it out on Amazon!
2) While ‘Wild Faith Christmas’ has been releasing in multiple states we’ve had many family, friends and fans who want to enjoy the much anticipated follow up to our ‘Wild Faith’ film six years ago. The film picks up five years later and so far audiences have loved it. But this showing tomorrow at Celebration Cinemas in Lansing, MI plays at 6:00 (few tickets left) and 8:15 (tickets available but going steady). It will be a great gift to our loved ones and town. We hope to see you there!
3) Rom Coms Must Die: This dark comedy that makes fun of the film industry is in final mixing of audio. We will have a premiere and go to theaters with it first of the year. It will release to home video Q3 2026.
4) Working its way down post production is AI Jesus: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip. This thought provoking film has comedy and real emotional impact. The edit is close to a lock. VFX is being worked on and will be dropped in the first of the year before music and audio work begins. It will go to theaters before enjoying a Q4 2026 home video release with Wild Faith Christmas.
5) A few developmental projects both commercial and features are moving along nicely and hopefully that will plan the course of action for 2026. Businesses wishing to get involved via sponsorship or investment feel free to reach out to have discussions. CDI has been growing steadily and we’re always looking for the right partnerships.
6) CDI website and new highlight reel is in the works. Next year is our 30th anniversary at CDI! Look for some exciting stuff to emerge that celebrates this milestone.
7) I will soon be setting goals for 2026 as something I do on a weekly basis both personally and for CDI. I encourage you to put your own goals down in writing.
Wrap Up: I’ve got some Christmas stuff to wrap up for our three family gatherings. I also love the small CDI gatherings with our folks. I’ve already had some wonderful ones. I appreciate our people deeply and love to watch their growth. I know many are struggling to find their balance personally and professionally. It is not easy being an artist. It is way more than just playing. It is creating within business perimeters. We do just that and so our growth has been steady. I’m going to wrap things up here. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I’ll speak to you before the new year. Be good to one another. Coffee cheers! DJ
Trust in the Process! Welcome to May!
Germany, Finland and Ireland are where most our readers were from last week outside the US. Today is a touch chilly but the sun has been out and color from flowers blooming are everywhere. Violets, tulips and apple blossoms are among the many flowers. I’ve been cleaning herbal grow beds and planting some seeds here and there. Sun flowers and green beans are some of the seed planted. I mulched up all the leaves and also started some test sanding on the deck. It only needs some spot sanding and so I’ve decided to do it all myself. After will be a seal and stain but already the railings on the stairs is nice and smooth. I need to get things ready for some grilling which maybe I’ll do today. The deck is waterproofed with metal sheets underneath that run into a gutter and out into the yard. It makes the under area so nice. This week I’m going to work on rebuilding a retaining wall but it makes such a nice space behind the house.
This week was full of movie work with release promotions, post production work and development for the next couple of CDI films. I’ve been having scripts read by some of the key folks we are considering. I’ve been working on budgets also which is a lot of number crunching. We’ve already got some folks ready for the next couple adventures but I have to make sure we are ready to make it happen. Who, what, where, when and how are the basics. We can discuss more on the new projects later. Let’s take a bullet point look at some of the developments.
- Harsens Island Revenge was held over for a second week. Alpena and the surrounding area have turned out to support this wonderful story. The shows have been selling out and many people have seen the film multiple times. Four times might be the current record. I’ve been getting some great fan mail on the movie itself and the character of Axel. A heart-felt thank you.
- Here is a great review from the Alpena News READ: https://www.thealpenanews.com/life/2025/05/step-back-into-the-1920s-with-harsens-island-revenge/
- If you go to the Harsens Island Revenge Facebook page you can see updates on new theaters and great pics and videos from people watching the film.
- Next up will be NCG which we’re trying to get it booked beyond the Owosso screen (Starts May 17th) so if you have an NCG in your area call them and request Harsens Island Revenge!
- Our previous period drama SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA was the kick off film for Iowa’s 3rd annual Farm to Film Fest at the State Theater the oldest continuing operating cinema in the world! If you have not seen this film you can rent/buy it on Amazon and several platforms. Directed by Anthony Hornus this WW2 drama will educate and entertain you!
- I hope in the tradition of spring all of you had a chance to watch THE QUEST TRILOGY the 3 biblical adventures consisting of Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer. Available on many platforms just google it up!
- I want to explore WILD FAITH going back into select theaters before our sequel Wild Faith Christmas releases into theaters this year. The post work is coming along great and I’m excited to have this follow up story release. The TV series is still a hope and we’ll see what opportunities open up. Music is being composed and I’m looking forward to a listen through soon!
- Rom Coms Must Die the Travis Hayward directed comedy/horror film is close to a lock picture. We will review on Monday to also sign off on the color correction. Sound design has been underway and we’ll do another spot on that. We will also be reviewing a first trailer cut so that will be exciting to see.
- I’m told that Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town is now playing HistoryFix a subscription based site that runs quality historical films. It is also where you can watch it in 4k!
- CDI’s first film KNIGHT CHILLS is now available on TUBI for lovers of that platform. Actually CDI has several films playing that service you can google the titles from IMDB or just search ‘DJ Perry’ or one of your favorite CDI actors and their films should come up.
MISC.
I think I’ve mentioned before that The Red Letter Awards nominated Harsens Island Revenge for Best Picture. Previously our WW2 drama Silent Night in Algona beat several million and tens of million dollar budget films for Best Picture. I also was nominated and won for Best Screenplay. I believe in part that is why we could knock off bigger films. It has to be captured and performed at a high level but it all starts with the script. I love that over the last decade plus my writing has been recognized. I use to play it down so it didn’t eclipse my acting but I don’t hide that anymore. I celebrate it because to have a chance at a good film you need an excellent script.
I’ve been evaluating two books on request to possibly turn into screenplays and likely produce. I will work on a script that CDI doesn’t produce. Some organizations have many things going in the right direction but a poor script will hurt everything. I got into writing as an actor wanting deeper more powerful stories. I’ve had to have a few conversations about scripts that isn’t always easy. But write, write and rewrite can help improve your skills. Many directors aren’t as good of writers as they are directors. Hey, I don’t direct. We can’t all be good at everything. I recently challenged a friend to dive deeper into a script they are developing. I also have a call this week where I was asked to evaluate a film and the weak point was the script. And the company owner is the writer so again I’ll have an honest conversation. It all starts with the script.
Development: I’ve got the two active developing scripts and we have at least three passive development scripts. Active could be shot this year and passive is more likely next year even if funding pops now. Locations, casting and many things directly affect the development of a project but ultimately it is funding. Over the course of the month we’ll be running accounting to prep for new dispersement of revenue from our films. Peaks and valleys as often films go on and off certain platforms and catch an audience here or misses there. We’ve got some new campaigns to push certain films into new circles.
I will say with two of the CDI films MBF: MANS BEST FRIEND and LOST HEART I get asked often about a sequel Both have sequel outlines and both have had some script work. But the audiences need to get behind the originals. We have loyal fans for both those films but share that love with others. I might work more on those two scripts in my free time. But right now we have a good amount of development work underway. I will be approaching some of the past EP’s to give them first opportunity on some of the new films. I would love to film one this summer and one this fall.
WRAP UP:
My week was made by the smiling faces and the great responses to the new HIR (Harsens..)release. I hope to have some promo art underway this week. I know the film is being delivered to NCG this week for testing. Also home video will be getting the film with a few format corrections for the Oct 1st DVD/streaming release. I’m just tickled by all the joy I’m seeing. That is so much better than anger, division and hate.
I might finish sanding the railings on the porch today and do a bit more yard work. Tomorrow I look forward to being in the studio with Rom Coms Must Die. We are working with our Dreamscape Prods partners to get more theaters on line. You calls help this process. Work hard towards your goals but also trust the process. That is also a way to practice patience. If you’ve done the work sometimes you must wait and trust the process. I’ve talked before about this as a PULSE versus a RAY. The latter can be draining and as we know sometimes the watched pot never boils.
With that it is time to refill the coffee cup and soon make some eggs. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. I look forward to sitting down and sharing with you again next week. If you saw any of the films and want to drop a note here please do. If you want to have a film play near you make the calls. I will be attending the Owosso, MI May 17th screening and look forward to shaking some hands. I hope your May continues to be a beautiful one.
DJ
Showtimes are Coming for CDI’s Next Film!
(The previous film adapted from a Karl Manke book – watch it now!)
A chilly good morning to you from Michigan. Hazelnut coffee cheers! We had a handful of nice days followed by rain and cold and now just windy and cold. But the sun has been out and I’ve started the yard clean up. I’m slowly dismantling the old wood shed and plan on a new set up. Maybe even a greenhouse we’ll see. I did reorganizing the remaining wood and we’ll have a few more good fires in the office. Speaking of the office, my spring cleaning and organizing has been going great. The new shelf unit has helped tremendously. I’m holding off on any mowing or mulching to give the bees and such time to get past the frost. The birds and squirrels are about and setting up their springtime dwellings.
Let’s get to some other news concerning the films.
Harsens Island Revenge – The film has been tested at the Sanctuary theater and the reviewers loved it. Shane Hagedorn was responsible for us finding the beautiful city of Alpena to film in. He will be the master of ceremonies for our kick off April 25th release. An early showing will be for our local cast and crew and few VIP guests although everyone who helped I consider VIP. But only 95 seats for that first show. But tickets will go on sale soon for a 5:00 and 8:00 showing. It will run for a week at the 3, 5, 8:00 time slot in the big theater. After that it will go to a smaller theater and play multiple showtimes. A fun 1920’s afterglow is being set up and I hear some folks may go in 1920’s dress. I will not be attending the Alpena showing but will be anxious to hear audience reactions. After watching feel free to go to IMDB.com on the film’s page and leave your thoughts. I do promise to attend some future special screening for signings.
I’m also proud to say our theatrical partnership deal with Dreamscape Productions is done. They will be reaching out to other Northern, MI theaters to see if they want to play the same Alpena dates. We will also start working to set up the Owosso, MI kick off and run with the NCG theaters. This is the home town of the author Karl Manke, co-producer/actor Anthony Hornus and the Stuarts whose Alpena house was used in filming. I hope the film gets placed in many of the NCG theaters.
From there we’ll be planning Lansing, Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan showings. I saw that Dreamscape Prods working our friends film WAS ONCE A HERO is booked in a few drive ins. That would check a goal of mine to have a CDI film play a drive in. We use to attend lots of them back in the day. From there we’ll start to spread across the USA and so contact your theaters and request the film. Reach out on our HIR Facebook and let us know the theater. I know we want to come to all our friends in Iowa and Minn. who enjoyed our SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – Speaking of- it will be going July 1st to the popular AVOD platforms. That means ad-based so you can watch for free if you watch ads. Platforms like TUBI and the distributors Encourage TV. If you have not seen this powerful WW2 wartime drama please do. Available now on many platforms to rent/buy.
Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town is coming to HISTORYFIX! This site is for fans of history and period films. The film was previously mastered to HD but now has been re-mastered to 4k providing the best version of the film.
Look for new marketing campaigns for both LOST HEART and BEST YEARS GONE. Both bring the drama and the laughs which can sometimes be tricky for marketing. Both these films should be required CDI viewing! Let me know your thoughts on them both.
Wild Faith Christmas is in post production and being worked on hard for a holiday release into theaters. The color correction process is underway as is dialog, music and sound design under the masterful ear of Dennis Therrian.
ROM COMS MUST DIE – will be making some production announcements as we prepare to shoot the final pick up day. We wanted a different season so we had to wait a few weeks. April 6th we will film our last pieces and we’ll be able to lock picture soon after. This film is crazy fun with some wild performances but our cast. Our partners the McGraw brothers are taking a few days to remember their dear father who passed. I’m glad he got to enjoy our rough cut and gets some laughs and joy from the viewing.
DEVELOPMENT –
I’ve been working on that one script I mentioned that I was highly motivated to write. A small scope and powerful piece pulled in part from our news headlines and given a good WHAT IF twist. I’m halfway through the script and very happy with it.
I’ve also got two books being sent to me that the parties may want me to write the script and possibly produce the film. The above mentioned McGraw brothers also have a project that they want me to write on for us all to produce with our CDI association.
We have a few scripts that I’m considering putting some of our investors behind and producing this year. One promising development funding path hit a roadblock and I mention this only because our success often gets mentioned but not the setbacks. We have many setbacks on the way to success. Patience and persistence play into the equation often.
In the wake of Wild Faith Christmas we will see if we can get some traction on the WILD FAITH: HASTINGS TV series. We have a built in tens of millions audience that grows weekly. We will see if the season one, eight shows can find a funder or distributor who does original programming. Creative control is still my main concern as I’ve seen way too many projects go South due to bad variables.
THE QUEST TRILOGY – I hope that some of you have sought out and enjoyed our three biblical adventures. Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer and in that order. This are very unique in their telling and have brought strong recognition from people from all walks. With one of the scripts I’m writing we might look to return to Yuma, AZ to film we will see. We have some great folks there and it has been too long.
WRAP UP: My film end of year work is over. I had one investor move without notifying so I had to make sure he got his proper paperwork. I will be looking at paying all those off plus my own personal taxes. I have about two weeks to get into my ROM COMS MUST DIE role for one more scene. I’ll finish that script I’m working on likely this week. The cold days keep me writing more.
My dental implant went great and all is good save my checking account. But it is worth not having the dental pain that cracked tooth gave me. Speaking of cracked teeth soccer season is right around the corner. I hope for a fun year with no injuries to anyone.
I might actually work on that script a spell while the coffee is flowing and so are the words. I was a sad at my schedule conflict on the Alpena premiere dates but it happens. More of my family will be attending one of the showings down state and it will be nice to enjoy it with them. I know all the folks in Alpena will be proud of the showing.
Until we talk again next weekend I hope you have a smooth and productive week. I’m going to keep the wheel steady as she goes. Enjoy some nature. Enjoy some family and friends. Move ahead on your goals and smile. The sun will keep coming up and shining. I see many swimming in negativity but do not get dragged down in it.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Reflections on a Past Year and Plans for Another!
(Finn waiting for Santa Paws)
Coffee cheers from a wet and rainy Michigan. I’m sipping some coffee and proud to be bringing you the last blog update of 2024. The years do click by and things come and go but I’m happy to have some consistant things and reflecting with you all is one of those things. I have a final holiday gathering today and so I’m writing with only a few sips in on the coffee. I usually like to get a full cup down me before starting my writing so forgive me if my words are a tad sleepier, sloppier? I had a very nice Christmas thus far that I found to be recharging, reflective and full of remembrance. We all have loved ones that are no longer with us and that changes things. But we try to adapt and appreciate where we are and who we are with. I think I hit a good life marker that should help reduce some of my concern I carry as a leader amongst artists. I’ve always been alpha organizing the sledding trips, the backyard football, capture the flag, or Dungeons and Dragons games with friends. Haunted Houses constructed yearly in friends basements or garages. I love to find gifts for people and even enjoying the wrapping. But why concern?
(Childhood – when life was more simple)
Those activities of youth were all under the roof of parents who took care of life’s concerns. Now I’m seeking larger budgets to do larger projects and compensate artists better. I try to stay organized and up on basic technology so that I can make sure to do everything that is required of me so that we can keep moving forward. You can add fear of doing things wrong to a list of why people don’t do things. I know that one day old age (may) sap my ability to oversee these big endeavors. Or that eternal rest might quiet all the calls to get things done. That TO DO box doesn’t exist that will pass onto a new generation. So while I’m here I will keep creating and doing all the things I need to do. It is not just doing but doing it well. I might control the process but not the end result.
(I’m not 20 anymore)
This week we watched many things but one was a documentary called BRAT PACK. It was about one media journalist article whereas it grouped and somewhat belittled the work of a handful of young 80’s actors. It was interesting to watch Andrew McCarty who was deeply affected by the label that these successful actors got lucky and were more about fame and partying versus taking the craft serious. Sounds faintly alike something we might hear about even today. It caused many of the actors to not work together again. It became what you accepted it to be. Many of these actors were young and so some of it really hit deep. But this actor wasn’t trying to be overly hurtful he was just trying to say something against the grain. He added a catchy phrase all in hope of keeping his young writing career going. Sounds a bit like social media these days. Someone is always going to speak against the trend to try and stand out.
Many still had fond memories like Demi Moore and others like Rob Lowe seemed to have taken it all with a laugh. But what it reminded me of was some of the early criticism from people watching my first films like IN THE WOODS or even KNIGHT CHILLS. I too was in my 20’s and the harsh words sometimes cut because I allowed them too. In the doc Rob and Andrew were talking about the fact that if anything lasts 30 years that is quite something. Now IN THE WOODS isn’t Breakfast Club and Knight Chills isn’t ST. ELMOS FIRE, but it is…kinda. They are someones version of those films. This past 18 months so both those above mentioned films to be remastered and released on Blu Ray. As of 1/31/2025 Knight Chills will go streaming and later this year I plan to see IN THE WOODS follow that up streaming. The beautiful thing is on the Vinegar Syndrome site for lovers of those classic horror films Knight Chills was adored and even mentioned as release of the year. It doesn’t matter but my point is that something that I was proud of back in the day of I was made to feel somewhat ashamed of because of mean words. But now almost 30 years later they are back because of the fans. And the fans are giving roses versus rocks. Not sure that is a good thing with Sir Kallio around. But I know Lynn Drzick (Dir of In the Woods) is talking about a few conventions to do meet and greet with fans. Maybe some of the cast and crew? I know a sequel script for both films now exist. Thank you to the fans.
Let’s fast forward back to the modern. I got to sit in the early theater show and watch and reflect on SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA (SNIA). It has been enjoying a jaunt back into select theaters for the holidays. Several locations in Iowa, Lansing (MI) and it still plays in Grandville (Outside GR) until 1/2/2025. It was such a moving experience and was one of those STOP, TURN AROUND and look at how far you’ve come. It seems only yesterday Darrel Folkert and I were making little videos with the family camcorder. This amazing film can be watched on Amazon Prime but for those able to see it on the big screen it is magic. As I sat there I remember being 7 years old with John Luginsland (Same name from SNIA) watching STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. My favorite actor was Harrison Ford and he let me know that you could grow up and be something other than a Fireman, Policeman, Doctor…you could grow up and be an actor. And now I sat watching previews for our film in the theater and here is the new Marvel film co-starring Harrison Ford. They were promoting his new film in front of ours. It made me smile. Maybe as close as I’ll get to him but you never know. I’ve met some pretty amazing people in this industry.
(In the game – I love that our stories are being enjoyed)
Looking ahead to 2025! If you want to see bullet points on projects for sale, merchandise, books and more to go with our movies- go back and read a few entries. Every year I write down goals. Each December post Christmas I refine those for the new year. Which goals carry over? Which were achieved and what was achieved that I didn’t even predict the year prior? What I do know is that Harsens Island Revenge as of yesterday was undergoing two last steps before being called done. They were doing a last overall filter on the film and relaying the black bars. Also they were checking to make sure the opening logo was the best quality. But as of today or tomorrow that film should be done. I can’t believe I’m saying that. We’ll be uploading a lower res to a site for our distributors to see. I plan to sign both the new deals 1st of the year after they do a final watch. We will upload to a site for festival submissions as we’ll do a few this year. And it will be prepared to be tested in the theater for our premiere and theatrical run. The CDI tribe led by director Carl Weyant has brought us one heck of a film. It is not too early to start calling your film theaters and requesting it. It prepares the market for when the booker starts reaching out. So call, call, call instead of just wait, wait, wait…
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS which was such a thrill to end the year on is past the hour mark in editing. The film advances about 5 min a day and so in a week or two we’ll have a first edit. Following that will be a first poster and trailer to share with awaiting audiences. I’m so proud of the job director and co-star Shane Hagedorn did and now he’s editing. A force of passion and that is what a director has to be. That leading, driving force pushing to see a vision through.
(GW Burns captures the miners from ‘Wild Faith Christmas’)
ROM COMS MUST DIE – is an intelligent mock on the state of the film industry filtered through the comedy/horror genre. We have our 1st prep meeting of the new year on day two of 2025. We’ll be locking dates and putting things in motion to shoot in Jan/Feb under the directorship of Travis Hayward. It will be fun to be back in action on the screen so soon. This is the first of many collaborations with McGraw Multimedia. John McGraw worked with CDI for many years as camera, grip and editor of several of the early CDI projects. They provided the B unit work on Harsens Island for the above mentioned film. John is the director of photography and we’ll be shooting both on location and in the studio. I’m excited to have John and his brother Eldon and their team joining forces with the CDI tribe again.
Misc./Wrap Up
We have a few additional projects developing for 2025. One which I’ve been waiting for Carl Weyant to read but wanted him to finish the ‘Harsens’ film first. I finished the new draft of show 5 of 8 on the WILD FAITH: Hastings TV series. I will work to finish 6/7 this week and 8 after that. I have the TV show now following the second film versus the first. Acting. writing. Producing. Goals for the property to complete in 2025 are set. Whereas last year it was the new deck build now it will be deck stain and who knows maybe a carport. So look at your 2024 and see what you got done and what you did not. Plan for your 2025 and develop a plan of action. There is development in 2025 that won’t shoot or happen until 2026 but the planning starts now. Have realistic goals. Set short term goals leading towards your long tern goals. I’m going to end this by wishing you a Happy New Year. I hope your Christmas was peaceful be it solo, a few together or many. I want to again thank each and everyone of you for stopping by each week to read these words. I hope some of it can be used to give you motivation, contemplation or any other help you might have needed. I will continue to give my best efforts on a daily basis and there is not anymore you can ask of yourself.
Happy Holiday and cheers to Happy New Year!
DJ
A Sunny ‘Spring-Like Day’ Recap
(Easter is coming as is Springtime)
Good morning! So here in Michigan the weather has been quite the rollercoaster with a porch-sitting warm day followed by a bitter stormy couple days and now we are moving back to the 60’s in February. Yesterday was a multiple mile nature hike at a park called Sleepy Hallow but luckily no headless horseman was enter counter. That was a Washington Irving reference for those not knowing. I want to welcome all the readers from various countries including one I’ve never seen Brunei. I need to research that to find out more about it. Signs of Spring are everywhere from robins to budding plants and trees. I’ll take the shorter winter but I do worry about too much change. But we’ll adapt to it and more on.
The cold days were put to use with a lot of desk work. One of my proud accomplishments was the finishing of a first draft on a new/old script. I had started a script years ago and after doing a short based upon it (Smoke & Mirrors) I deconstructed it and did a page one rewrite. The result is a unique film script that is set in that Victorian time period in the tradition of KNIVES OUT or CLUE. It has a touch of that STEAMPUNK flavor to it as well. This is looking to film next winter season if everything plays out right. I will know more in the coming months. But I was very happy with the draft and now I’m polishing. Adding to the description and working dialog. I’ve been reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories also as an inspiration. It helps me get into the time period, the world and the language. This is all based on some feedback from our distributor and it will make a great little film.
Tax work for the movie’s is almost to a conclusion. Once I get all that paid out it will be moving to prepping for more investor payouts once second quarter is received and processed. We are going to be working to streamline some of that business this year as we are growing and growing. We’ve been steadily working on putting funds in line on our Summer film HOT ROD LOVE. We took another couple steps towards our goal this past week. Still many irons in the fire and folks interested to speak with. We will also be going to look at the track in the coming weeks. I just want to get a little further down the road on funding.
And a bit more development-
Developing film SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE will be announcing its intent this week in PR. We’ve attached Iowa local Jim Brockhohn to work with our team. He’ll be assisting with our funding meetings and locations once we are moving forward. We have a few forthcoming meetings and with the support of some good folks we’ll be telling this story. Staying on the subject of development and Iowa, a script is being polished on the life of Frank Gotch, a turn of the century Catch-Can wrestling champion. Curran Jacobs is working the script based off the book and 1st draft script by Mike Chapman.
Post Production work-
This past week also ended with Shane Hagedorn and I doing a little video for the “behind the scenes” of Harsens Island Revenge. I talked script and he talked location since the actual island is quite modern and Alpena possesses many period buildings in their original state right down to the tables in the lodge. Adam Towner has been working on this and we’ll get to see a work in progress on Weds of this coming week. We’ll also be watching the first cut of the film by Carl Weyant fresh back from Brazil and excited to show his hard work. It will be everything save the opening WW1 scene which we’ve been prepping to shoot later this month. We will also be meeting Weds with Dennis Therrian to discuss the score and sound design. I love that part of the process.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is continuing to march deeper into home video release territory. We are working to expand our foreign sales for this powerful story. I can’t say enough how much all the positive feedback has meant to us all as artists. The film will be at the International Christian Film Festival coming up and we’ll see if it gets any further recognition from our peers but the audience reaction is what means the most to us.
I’ve been thrilled to see WATCH PARTIES going up for THE QUEST TRILOGY our biblical three films as we head towards Easter. Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer keep growing in audiences views. Audiences are finally realizing that the films interconnect as a trilogy. People who watched the 2nd film first became highly curious of “who was that old man at the end?” “what happens to the boy”….WATCH THEM IN ORDER and all will be revealed and more. Encourage TV and several platforms have the films for you to watch.
The CDI Library – without going into detail which I’ve done in previous blogs, I’ve been working hard to prepare some of the older films for a new life going forward. A new theatrical trailer for Ghost Town will be forthcoming and we’ll be looking at theaters to run the film in likely this fall. A new Knight Chills trailer will be cut from the new remastered HD footage after mister Towner gets down with the “making of” he’s working on. NEW “From Venus” artwork is underway for a new Blu Ray release package being put together. Any day now IN THE WOODS will get a Blu Ray release date and I’ll be heading to Kalamazoo for a special theatrical release. An Ordinary Killer is also working on some artwork for new physical media and streaming releases likely following a theatrical run. I’ve been going through boxes trying to dig up more materials but it takes time. I need to find a merchandise manager who is fluent in one of these online sales sites and can fulfill. We have some great merchandise and such we just need to work on our delivery system. Literary and Music is also on that long list of mine.
(Some of the many faces of DJ Perry)
WRAP UP: The sun is shining and I’ve got a list of things I want to get done today. I’ll be back at it hard tomorrow morning. I hope that the coming of Spring is awakening some new motivation in all of you. Write. Paint. Sculpt. Perform. Or do that business needed to elevate your craft from hobby to your bread and butter. I’m very pleased with how 2024 has shared up thus far. I’m focusing on my health and happiness which balances with my goals at hand. Soccer season is right around the corner and I’m really looking forward to that. The idea of shooting a 70’s drag racing film this Summer with my friends excites me and motivates me to have another productive week. Once I finish this script I’m polishing I think I’ll keep my writing habit going although maybe from the patio in the sunshine. I’ve got a few other partially done passion project scripts I want to finish. The flea markets will soon be starting which I love seeking props at for the films. I’m beyond happy with the projects and endeavors. I love balancing the work with my nature endeavors and we’ll be getting the garden beds going. My new stick eater works well creating some nice mulch. The fruit harvest will be strong this year I’m sure. I’ll be moving some of the older logs towards the processing area where axes do swing. I’ve got some aging oak which will move into the back yard to be used to decorate until it dries enough to split. The chickens are giving eggs again and even now I smell our 4H bacon. Bacon and eggs are a good way to start the day…and coffee:) hazelnut cheers my friends, hazelnut cheers. It makes me think we went to an estate sale where they had a brand new coffee bean roaster for sale only $12,000 – DOH! I’ll keep buying for now. Until next week be good to one another!
DJ
Artists Helping Artists- Updates and Insights
Good morning!
Happy Chinese New Year of the Dragon! Happy Super Bowl Sunday or whatever you want to attribute the day too. I just will say Happy Sunday! I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee which is really tasting nice this morning. I’ve had a good week and I hope to give you a few updates to our projects and endeavors. I want to thank everyone once again for joining me here. This format here helps me to summarize my progress on projects and to plan ahead. It also serves to update the interested parties and for other artists it can help, artists helping artists. Where to begin- I had a great talk this past week with an author John Farkis doing a book on Old Tuscan/Mescal studios in Benson AZ. If you do your research it is where countless great films were shot. TOMBSTONE being one of the most famous. I was privileged to have worked there myself. A producer Thadd Turner, well known for his passion of westerns was doing a new film there. His son who was young at the time loved Civil War films and WICKED SPRING (You can watch free w/ ads on Encourage TV) was his favorite film. And his favorite character was mine. So what a cool father to reach out to hire me as an actor. He knew I had experience in producing and I wanted to really study how others produce. I had not yet produced Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town or Wild Faith yet but they would require more wrangling of horses. So I jumped at the opportunity to produce the behind the scenes for the film. We ended up with an epic hour and a half or more of content that was shown at the Lone Pine Film Festival. (Another famous place for filming western TV series) I was thankful to be able to be on set and meet some many talented and wonderful people on both sides of the camera. It is the set where I met Rance Howard, who would become my mentor and co-star in another four of our films. One of my childhood heroes David Carradine (Kung Fu) whom I got to know quite well. Wes Studi, Irene Bedard, Mark Rolston, Buck Taylor, Michael Parks, Francine York, Brian Libby – and the list goes on. The film’s lead Tim Abell and I would forge a friendship that would lead to several collaborations like playing my dad in MAN’S BEST FRIEND. It was fun to bring back all these good memories. That is what each film is like. The experiences of making the film. Tommy Dippel was always a hoot and took time to really explain the wrangling aspect. Jon Proudstar coordinating in the office but was happy to see him acting in Reservation Dogs recently. Wes Studi on Finding Your Roots. Watching TV and film becomes a different experience when they are your friends and co-workers up there. John the author and I had a great talk and now he’s another to add to the circle. He enjoyed watching WILD FAITH and will be doing a review for which I’m honored to have.
(Lone Pine me, Tony Hornus, John Saxon, Thadd Turner, David Borowicz)
Speaking on literary – recently I talked about the new campaign for my first starring film IN THE WOODS. A cult film that was the resulting passion of a couple young filmmakers trying to earn their way into the industry. So soon they’ll be announcing info on the remastered film and the new director’s cut. End of this week I’ll get my first watch on the new director’s cut and we’ll be capturing commentary. To prep for this new campaign a making of book (Now also in hardcover) filled with the story of the struggle and original script released late last year - PURCHASE HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Woods-Lynn-Drzick/dp/B0BXMTJS9C/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36RJZKN42LZ5G&keywords=In+the+Woods+movie+lynn+Drzick&qid=1707660674&s=books&sprefix=in+the+woods+movie+lynn+drzick%2Cstripbooks%2C85&sr=1-1
Coming soon is the new special edition In the Woods novelization by Nancy Gideon. I had penned a prequel script the told the full story of the creatures in the movie. An epic sword and sorcery tale that sheds light and answers all the questions viewers of the film had. We cut some of the flashbacks from the film due to budgetary issues as we discussed previously. But if you read this you will get the full story. I was proud to add to the world created by Lynn Drzick and if you enjoy a good story of warring kingdoms this might be just for you! PURCHASE HERE: https://www.amazon.com/panDEMONium-Woods-Origin-DJ-Perry/dp/B0CV8F73D6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WENU3ERCKDAR&keywords=In+the+Woods+DJ+Perry&qid=1707661064&s=books&sprefix=in+the+woods+dj+perry%2Cstripbooks%2C92&sr=1-1
All this is preparing for the new release of the classic and new version of IN THE WOODS on Blu Ray! The question that lingers in the aftermath is SEQUEL? PREQUEL? Only time will tell but I will say that there is an interest by all parties. Wayne Higley? Al Fargo? Alex Kerwood? Or Prince Freeacus? Lentar? Captain Hur? We will have to wait and see what is to unfold in the forthcoming-
LITERARY –
Staying on the subject of literary with books being a close second in my favorite medium next to motion picture/TV. We are looking to release several books/screenplay combos where the materials exist. Plus cool interviews with key folks about the making of that particular film. One such book I’m exciting about is THE QUEST TRILOGY, our 3 films (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) * Also on Encourage TV – all in the biblical realm. A coffee table book with the three scripts and essays by the three directors and key members of the production. I have to get after the essays as that can be like wrangling cats.
Re-Issues: All the CDI films are now being loaded onto the backup CDI RAID which I’ll name HAL. Once there we’ll be digitally remastering some and creating new DCP files (For theatrical) as some films like GHOST TOWN and AN ORDINARY KILLER will be getting a special new release into theaters as a first step. Blu-Ray deals are being looked at for all the films as a superior way to preserve and view physical media and lastly streaming. From the CDI Classic Collection – FROM VENUS is going to be pushed behind CDI’s first film KNIGHT CHILLS, which released in Oct. 2023 on Blu Ray BUY HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Chills-Tim-Jeffrey/dp/B0CJ5WBSZR/ref=asc_df_B0CJ5WBSZR/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=680424942453&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10081684957020523845&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1019404&hvtargid=pla-2260223998064&psc=1&mcid=399dd8121370380c8b97cdbf876e05c6&gad_source=1
Knight Chills streaming in Oct 2024 is a goal and we’ll be talking to various horror streaming sites. FROM VENUS Blu Ray in Oct. 2024 would be great also. But things sometimes move at their own speed. But we keep pushing forward.
All of these CDI library films getting new life in the HD age is exciting but we have many films living in that world now.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – PR will be forthcoming but as always you get the news here first. While the film continues to be available on DVD or play on a growing number of transactional platforms available to rent or buy like on Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, Youtube and Amazon Prime– WATCH HERE: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CN1KYNNT/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r - The film will be going to subscription video of demand on the UP Family & Faith tv this Summer! Our distributor will continue to work hard to bring it to the various countries around the globe! Thank you to all you have enjoyed this movie and if you have some positive feedback feel free to leave it on our http://www.imdb.com page!
Harsens Island Revenge – Our director Carl Weyant is back this week from Brazil. The following week we’ll be looking to have a sit down and watch the film minus the opening scene yet to be shot. We’ll be discussing music with composer Dennis Therrian who has been “sketching” musical beds to play for Carl. We’ll also be discussing the first teaser trailer which scenes are being pulled for. And the theatrical poster plus by the end of the month we plan to release a behind the scenes video by our own Adam Towner. To say I’m excited to sit back and see the flow is an understatement.
DEVELOPMENT:
HOT ROD LOVE– Our next Shane Hagedorn directed comedy drama set in the 70’s made some more steps this week in funding and sponsorship. If we can lock up funding in the next 6-8 weeks we’ll be looking at July/August timeframe to prep and film. Schedule could slide if funding takes any longer but we’re in talks with several parties and have faith we can keep our timeline.
We have another feature in development that I cannot speak on until development paperwork is signed but that should happen this week. It is another historical drama based upon a real person. We’re very excited about this project which the goal is to fund in 2024 and shoot in 2025.
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE is another true event film in development. It is the state story of Iowa’s early days and will be a great story to preserve the history.
WILD FAITH: HASTINGS– We keep putting piece after piece into place on this TV series that would be the spin off from the pilot feature seen by tens of millions around the world. Step by step!
SCRIPTWRITING: I’m also 1/3 of the way through a script that could film next winter. Smaller in scope but a great piece of acting full of intrigue and interesting characters. The script is the blueprint as I like to say so it is important to have a tight script.
WRAP UP: You can see that various projects are underway. This past week we the help of a few amigos we got the remaining logs cut up into kindling for the wood stove so we’ll be ready for the next snow and…the first podcast “Fireside Chat with DJ Perry” which we hope to do the 1st one this week. I’m happy to report that our chickens are starting to produce eggs and even some of the plants and herbs are getting a head start with the warm front we’ve had. My cousin handy Bart gave my newly acquired wood chipper a once over and so stick clean up will be more productive. The end result will be much needed wood chips. I’ve been still immersed in my study of herbs and I’m looking forward to a good growing season. More clover will be going down in the yard that is loved by both the chickens and leprechauns. We’ll see if things align for the new patio deck this year. I also want to look at better privacy fencing in places but one thing at a time. It is all a work in progress. Just like we are. I hope you all have a great week. Keep those 2024 goals firmly in mind and work towards them. I’m exciting that soccer is right around the corner and I’m ready to lace up my cleats! Until next week-
Be good to one another!
DJ
PS: I lost a few pics and all my tags trying to upload and I luckily had my recent draft so I’m just going to upload “as is” as I’m out of time.
Secrets to Success – Starts With Attitude
(Color test on ‘Harsens Island Revenge’ footage)
Coffee cheers to all of you out there. I want to once again thank all the readers who stopped through last week. We had some readers from different countries joining us including Ukraine. My sincere hope is for peace and for issues and misunderstandings to be settled by words not war. We had a slight reprieve from the arctic chill but it is back this weekend. I had an eventful week both business and personal. On the personal it included helping a buddy out on a couple afternoons and engaging my love of herbal concoctions by making my first batch of ‘Fire Cider’. I already take a shot of apple cider vinegar everyday. This mixture is comprised of maybe 20 ingredients infused over several weeks in apple cider vinegar. Ingredients like garlic, ginger root, turmeric, orange, lemon, thyme, cinnamon bark, honey and more. I’ve also been enjoying my ongoing study of the individual ingredients also including many teas. I’ve been into wild crafting for a long time but I’m just being more disciplined in my approach. I’ve got a journey that I’ve been using to record and review my studies. A great external salve something that medieval medics have used for centuries to treat battle wounds is ‘garlic honey’ or honey infused with raw garlic cloves. For years I’ve studied the natural pharmacy on our property. The sap of the white pine is also great for wounds. The needles make a great tea with lots of vitamin C. Many of the herbs, fungus, roots, barks and berries hold great beneficial properties. Knowing what is edible and what isn’t is a good knowledge to have. For those that don’t know I use to be a camp counselor at a nature center and I love that connection with nature. So if this filmmaking doesn’t work out you’ll find me running DJ’s Potions & Lotions. But seriously, many minor health issues or the strengthening and reinforcing of ones constitution can be done with natural properties. This was part of my New Years resolution to take my casual interest and study and make it a daily routine. I’ve spent many years of my life to the study of the warrior and this phase of life has me becoming the healer. I touched on that last week talking about haters. Where a decade or two ago such remarks would bring out the warrior I now see the negative mental anguish of someone and I feel sorry for them. The healer in me wishes that find a filter of happiness to start looking at life through. When you have those dark negative filters in place everything positive in others sparks those negative traits. Sadly that negativity only draws more negativity to them. Use bad reviews that are not just stating something is not their cup of tea but digs deeper – click on their profile and most all their reviews ring negative. For them even sunshine is too bright. Stars twinkle too much. Roses smell too sweet. Some only create a profile only to spread negativity. That is giving a lot. I follow my mother’s advice if I don’t have something nice to say…you know the saying. Wise words. I just go on to something else. I watch programs all the time whereas some don’t do it for me. But I don’t spend any energy discouraging someone else. I will on occasion when something leaves a very positive effect recommend it. A film, a restaurant, a band or song or a place to visit. Because I want others to possible have the same positive intake of energy that I did. It is a way of living. Mental illness can stem from living in that negativity. Be careful what you say about or to yourself. A few weeks ago we talked about broadcasting unbalance. To put into filmmaker terms – a person lamenting about their unbalance and bemoaning a lack of funding is like a babysitter broadcasting their lack of attention and/or responsibility and bemoaning nobody wanting to hire them to watch their kids. Hence no money and the negativity circle continues. You must be first seen as capable and earn that reputation by following through. No big secret just common sense. I really do hope that these simple words help a few folks out there.
(‘The Actor’ was a NYC film I did with director Jon Osman – seen here with actor James Russo)
Another simple lesson that I use and has resulted in many positive outcomes. When you aren’t sure what to do next or what your next destination is – organize and prepare. When a ship doesn’t have an immediate destination the captain will order the barnacles to be removed. The hull to be tarred. The sails to be mended and for rations to be restocked. Prepare to play. An athlete doesn’t wait to be put in the game to prepare to play. They’ve spent countless hours running or strength training or coordination drills. Whatever they need to be when the time comes they’ve prepared for. Slow times for your acting career- polish your resume, get new promo materials and get yourself feeling and looking your best. I have been quite satisfied by my acting work and even turned down a few opportunities due to timing. I aways have ‘working on a few outside acting projects’ as a yearly goal because it’s fun to just create a role without all the added production responsibility. In my past I’ve been with several small agents in various markets and I’ve been with one of the big three agencies also. The shingle of the agency can get some respect from some but it is really about the integrity and character of the agent and agency itself. I’ve had a few deals in the past wrecked by agents playing hardball or just leading with their ego. So for many years I’ve just handled my own business with my legal team. Over the past several years we’ve brought in many talent from a certain agency and agent and they’ve always been a joy to deal with. I’ve seldom said that about previous agents we’ve had to deal with. But that has been different with Treasure Coast Talent Agency. And so I’ve decided to align myself with them. I’m picky about my projects but I’ve built a relationship with them over the years and realized I like the way they present, conduct and handle their business. So I’ve been updating my Actors Access page which I’ve not touched in years. I’m going to cut a new reel for 2024. Maybe some new pics although I do have many great ones but mostly in character. I’ll be doing some PR likely next week announcing this new partnership.
But, don’t think that is going to replace production work. We are only picking up steam on that front. Let me run down some bullet point film updates.
FILM UPDATES–
- CDI has done a variety of “in association” films whereas they were funded by others so they are the managers of the property. One of these was a “found footage” horror film shot in the Philippines entitled DARKEST NIGHT. For being a dark horror film it was such a joy to film. It was the first film by author/producer Russ Williams and it recently just celebrated over 300,000 views! Congrats and if being scared is your thing, take a watch HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PZtiDrLfRM
- Staying on the subject of scary films KNIGHT CHILLS, CDI’s first film from 25 years ago enjoyed a BluRay release in Oct of last year is looking to expand its new release campaign with streaming and a book release of the novel and the screenplay together with fun BTS pics. The Blu Ray can be purchased HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Chills-Tim-Jeffrey/dp/B0CJ5WBSZR/ref=asc_df_B0CJ5WBSZR/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=680424942453&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10064638097126313670&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017262&hvtargid=pla-2260223998064&psc=1&mcid=399dd8121370380c8b97cdbf876e05c6&gad_source=1
- IF you want to see what kind of book we’re talking about see the link for my first feature film I starred in IN THE WOODS, as Alex Curwood monster hunter. It is now in hardcover! BUY HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Woods-Lynn-Drzick/dp/B0BXMTJS9C/ref=sr_1_7?crid=2OOFTD9VKNH5U&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CxQQRxhTMPJogT4O2O30vsyJcCJ3gFeJ-fI7WGXy4ho2tAPbZc4IS5HYIpTwheQuUqatHw6OBsjqeoAEi9J67L5vFCUCK35bd8ghehGN5rysnRWhjxiW1FDmn-PFjcv3B9dIQKqtp1dlZAbu39VB3LrXCUkVmr4tRlraeuuj0onZ9dJITDj_ldwUwu2tj5l6edYa0Q1hXXembWYic6ujeO7GVGQ8l899XbAGFljpGJg.eFyhsOAOm9yBoXDimPiE3Qq6D-4Ho0z-gvBFVZjYoRw&dib_tag=se&keywords=IN+THE+WOODS+screenplay&qid=1705849771&s=books&sprefix=in+the+woods+screenplay%2Cstripbooks%2C94&sr=1-7
- Furthermore with IN THE WOODS, the film has been digitally remastered plus we also have a new director’s cut that is much more enriched. I’m waiting until the theatrical premiere to see it. But we shopped the film and have had a few good distribution offers. I think we know which one we want to go with for BluRay and merchandise. The novelization by Nancy Gideon is also going to get a re-release and perhaps even the origins script I penned many years ago. It is fun to see these classic films get remastered and enjoyed and appreciated by a new generation.
- Following KNIGHT CHILLS, CDI’s second film was a nod to comic books and the pulp SciFi entitled FROM VENUS, directed by Jeff Kennedy. New art work is being assembled/painted by Tom Miller the fan artists who did the amazing paintings for the Knight Chills Blu Ray. Once I have this packaged we’ll shop it to a few of the companies that focus on these films. It is an honor to have these films appreciated as classics. I want to preserve them and allow them to be seen by upcoming filmmakers. We are started somewhere.
- Jumping 20+ year ahead let’s talk about the films front and center. SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is really doing well on home video. We’re still getting theaters asking to have the film play on the big screen. We are able to do that so we might start having some select big screen showings. But the DVD and STREAMING has been strong and I hope to have more specifics on how strong very soon. This WW2 home front war drama is a must see if that time period interests you at all. DVD and STREAMING can both be bought or rented HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Night-Algona-Anthony-Hornus/dp/B0CL7DFYSK/ref=asc_df_B0CL7DFYSK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=680424942453&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7946069189314477119&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017262&hvtargid=pla-2260853923386&psc=1&mcid=a5b5ef0d428739e98e194c62143ee272&gad_source=1
- Harsens Island Revenge editing is still going strong and our director Carl will be home in a week and change. The film is really coming together and beyond the intensity of the characters and story the footage is just beautiful. Carl was also working on a few settings for the color correction and it made the beautiful footage even more amazing. I cannot wait for us to sit down with Dennis Therrian our composer and sound designer. He’s been sketching sound and score samples to discuss with Carl. Also we’ll be bringing the producers together for our one opening scene shoot to kick off the film. It’s WW1 and will be quite exciting to film. If we shoot in Feb or March will depend on the snow, the military base and how quickly we can pull it all together.
- HOT ROD LOVE – This is the next feature film looking to shoot this Summer. It will be directed by Shane Hagedorn and is a drama-comedy set in the 1970’s with drag racing being the back drop. I think we’ve found our track partners but need to do a formal scout. We’ve got some of the first commits to funding and will keep on those. Following Pepsi we have some other sponsors landing and this will be a fun one for advertisers. The race track, cars and racing suits and such will allow us to really capture some great brands. If you or your company want to know about involvement feel free to reach out to me.
- Additional Development – I had a few nice calls this past week about CDI coming back into Iowa to film again. I had a good meeting with Curran Jacobs, who we’re looking to work with again and we think we’ve got the right project. Some development paperwork will be put into play and once done we’ll talk more about that project. SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE was discussed this week and we have some forthcoming talks that might move that piece on the chessboard. WILD FAITH: HASTINGS has some interest but patience is in practice as we await a few developments.
- If you’ve not watched the CDI library many of them can be found on Encourage TV on a Playlist so please do enjoy these film. WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0LCdlq-BK0&list=PL2Tn2MhKrkFOCsmKZaxoZCT1R5GEOEL3E
I’m going to wrap up this blog update so I can get some breakfast, shower up and be ready to cheer on our Detroit Lions football team. I had a Lions helmet as a child and I’ve been a lifelong fan along with many family members now deceased who would have loved to see this game. Win or lose we will all be proud of this team but we’re all looking for a win. I know we’ll get their very best. GO LIONS! I’ll look forward to sharing with you all again next week. Stay warm for those in the arctic zone and be good to one another.
DJ
2024 is Underway and Here We Go!
Coffee cheers on a snowy day in Michigan that is actually looking like winter. I want to welcome our new readers from Sri-Lanka, Philippines, Brazil and more. Note all those places are warm. Speaking of that last one Brazil, I had a chance to speak with our director of Harsens Island Revenge in Brazil via FaceTime on my phone. What an amazing jump in technology from just a few years ago where I would have given anything to say hello to loved ones at home when in the Philippines or India. It was occasionally jerky but clear as day we had a good meeting over the film progress. We might as well jump right into that but I hope you all are having a great start to your new year.
First our director Carl Weyant will be staying an extra week and coming home the first week of February. The edit so far is at 1 hour and ten minutes and moving quickly towards the end. He’s over the moon with the performances and the film even before color correction looks great. The film really sucks you in and keeps you engaged as the story progresses. The relationships are strong and we just really talked also about our journey getting to this point. He credited the script strength and the performances and I acknowledged his positive attitude, preparedness and his creative eye. Carl and I first met above the cloud line in India in a place called Ooty. A place unlike the hot and humid lowlands. A place high above set in the mountains where great pine forests lie. Here the British built palaces and the tea fields grow vast fields of the precious stuff. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Gem set at the top of the mountain. The film was called Karma: Crime, Passion, Reincarnation and is a great spooky thriller that is just beautiful. There is talk of trying to bring the film to the USA. We tried several years ago but what they wanted $ wise did not match want distributors wanted to pay. But maybe this could be the year. It really is a gem of a film. I loved the experience save the getting in and out of the country itself. The airports are a bit chaotic and communication was not what is is now. From there, Carl who was the leading man and I was the supporting detective became fast friends. Over the years we’ve guested in each others films. I went to NYC to play an FBI agent in THE ACTOR (On Amazon) and he acted in ASHES OF EDEN (Also available to watch). After that he was our lead as the blind centurion in part 3 of our biblical adventures in THE QUEST TRILOGY entitled The Christ Slayer. (All three can be seen and should be seen in order Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer) CDI had some exciting short form projects like music videos opening up to us and I paired he and Travis Hayward and it was magic. Those two work so well together and we’re soon to start another music video. Carl was invited to Iowa and played Lt. Grant in SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA and from there he was awarded the drivers seat on Harsens Island Revenge.
Relationships are everything in this business. I use to ponder that statement in our business of “it’s all who you know.” While really it is “who do you trust.” Trust to give 100%. Trust to appreciate all the effort before they came onboard. Trust that they will be that sail not an anchor to a project. To trust requires one to know. That is a big part of my job to look at a story and the pool of trusted creatives and pull together the best trusted team. When I’m successful I build that trust with my team. I’ve surprised people on several occasions with my outside the box ideas or the choosing of a certain person for a certain role or position. Bret Miller as the director of Chasing the Star was a surprise to some but he was the right person. Josh “Ponceman” Perry as Albus in The Christ Slayer. Carl Weyant was one of those surprise choices as the Harsens Island Revenge director but I dare say in all three of these examples the right choice was made. I’m so damn proud of our always growing tribe of creatives. I encourage you to watch all these films and follow the history of CDI. One day I do want a doc made on the company and now that we’re about top have easier access to the films footage it will happen eventually.
One of my goals I think I failed to mention was to become more present in a few of these industry mixers and open myself to discovering new talent. I’m a bit of an introvert by nature loving to listen to music, ponder and write. To take and make phone calls and in-person meetings. My days of “partying” are truly behind me having been there, done that and got that tee shirt. I like being productive and creating. But I can socialize and I do love getting to know people’s stories. I’m easier to get to know when I’m not on set with lots of responsibilities in producing and performing. So I’m going to make more of an effort this year.
Active development is underway for 2024 and 2025. Some projects like SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE and WILD FAITH: HASTINGS are large and require more time and larger budgets. These two will be working towards rolling camera sin 2025. Active development in 2024 looking to shoot this year includes HOT ROD LOVE and a KNIGHT CHILLS follow up. This coming week we’re going to be approaching our pool of past investors with HOT ROD LOVE. A great film with much to say as most CDI films do but wrapped in humor and set in the glorious 1970’s drag racing world. Shane Hagedorn (Best Years Gone) will be directing and we hope to film late summer/early fall. We already have Pepsi signed on as a sponsor and will be talking with many others with this exciting film. A few of the film’s investor units are spoken for and as noted we’ll give first opportunity to those with seniority. After we’ll open it up any remaining opportunities to those new folks wishing to journey with us.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA had a great Christmas season and will continue the roll out march into our new year. This war time film can be enjoyed at anytime of year. We’re starting our marketing expansion and I hope many other countries get to experience the film. We had a very strong November and I’m sure December was even stronger. And this time next year I would imagine it available in many countries and playing on broadcast TV. Fans of free watching with ads will likely be able to see it in several months and with certain subscriptions. I would love to see it on HBO, which was always my go to for historical fiction.
BEST YEARS GONE, MANS BEST FRIEND, LOST HEART, WILD FAITH…so many good watches. It might be a first watch or just a chance to watch again and meet up with old friends like Hannah Sweet, Paul Landings, Chip or Emmett Murphy. We have so many films on Encourage TV that they gave us our own playlist so make it a watch marathon – WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2Tn2MhKrkFOCsmKZaxoZCT1R5GEOEL3E
WRAP UP: I’m going to work to wrap this up. I have eggs and corn beef hash awaiting me. I’ve been getting lots organized for end of year taxes both personally and the films. We broke an axe and sledge hammer while splitting logs last week and so I need to get replacements. We winterized the chicken coop just in time before this heavier snow flew. We still have our Christmas stuff up which I love but the tree will come down soon and Christmas lights will go into storage.
Our back up RAID for film storage is built and so we’ll be loading films onto that in the coming weeks. We’re looking at what older films from the CDI classic collection to remaster and get out to market. The re-release of KNIGHT CHILLS has been very fulfilling. To see where you started makes you truly realize how far you’ve come. One moment you’ve taking a rest at the Peacock Tree Farm in Bath, MI waiting for the fire department so you can blow up a car on Knight Chills and next moment you’re at the Old Lighthouse in Alpena, MI capturing magic hour for Harsens Island Revenge. 25 years plus in a blink of an eye. Don’t put off any dreams you might have. This past week a friend lost his dad after a full life and tragically I read about a 50 year old friend of friends who passed way too early. Don’t wait. Don’t be afraid to fail. Failing is learning. Learning is growing. Growing is what makes us truly feel alive. If you’re 80 years young and always dreamed of writing a book, do it. You’ve always dreamt of leaving the hustle bustle and have your own food truck, do it. You always wanted to share your music, do it. Okay, I’m off to eat and enjoy this wintery day. I so appreciate all of you for taking your time to stop by and read these words. I hope they offer you some insight and inspiration to your own endeavors.
Be good to one another!
DJ
Christmas 2023 – Good Tidings and Joy
I’m sitting here after another near non-stop day of prep for a holiday trifecta of family get togethers with another on the 30th. I know this is a time for many to reflect upon past holidays and days gone by. I know this time of the year can be hard for those who’ve had loss. We all have empty spots around the table missing grandparents, parents, siblings and dear friends. I had a close friend lose his father today and those losses hurt us all. We are the ones giving the comforting hug or receiving it when it is our time. I had another friend’s memorial a week earlier and that makes these times painted with bittersweet. One of my cousins today was sending me pics of past days and that sparked emotion. I felt like Clark Griswold watching old films in the attic. But it is good to remember even when it hurts a little. Usually a smile will come as we recall funny stories from those past days. Even past pets bring those happy and sad feelings. But we have a new pack of love here with our two dogs and our new kitty Sybil. All are adopted and bring joy into our lives. That is the turning wheel of life. So love on your loved ones and if you are alone consider an adopted pet. They can truly bring joy back into your life.
(Luna Mae)
We also had a furnace issue resulting in a lack of heat. We just had a new one installed a year ago but the problem is that the old one we knew. Yes. It looked like something from Freddy Krueger’s boiler room but we knew it. This new one is very efficient but looks like something that could be found on a spaceship. We looked about and tried a reset but dealing with electricity and gas is unnerving. No dice. So we went to sleep praying we did not have a gas leak. The slowly declining heat was not too bad thanks to the warm weather we are having. The next morning we got ahold of our installer also a friend. The reset button I was trying to find on my own was so small five of them might fit on a penny and between two wires. Ultimately it was a dirty sensor that had to be removed, wiped down and presto. HEAT! But man, you need to know where everything is. Being Christmas and a friend we got off very reasonable but I can see where some would be paying up for a simple service. BUT, they have meters and equipment that are costly and I know that even moving a diesel service truck is costly. I’m thankful and I now know how to clean a sensor. Okay that sensor.
While doing some work this week I did my yearly Christmas watch on The Quest Trilogy. This unique exploration of three interwoven biblical stories always invokes deep thought and positive feelings. Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer. Watch them in that order and I think you will take something positive away. They can be watched many places but on Encourage TV you can watch free with ads. Truly a challenging role for me and a massive undertaking filming all three of those in the desert. Filmmakers earn their desert stripes by filming in a desert. If you know, you know.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has been sweeping across the country. I was sent a link this morning where it was talked about on a National talk show (Clay Travis & Buck Sexton) to an audience of 10 million + folks. Our national PR doesn’t really kick in until the first of the year but people are renting and buying it. They’re traveling back to 1944 and experiencing a true story that is a bright spot in human history even though it happened during the very dark time of WW2. It is important that we don’t lose those stories and I want to thank our investors and sponsors for making this project happen. I want to thank our cast and crew and my producer team led by director Anthony Hornus. He was the director of Man’s Best Friend which is one of the most talked about films with fans I meet. This film is an amazing follow up and really shows the heart ‘Tony’ puts in his storytelling. But that heart and passion can be found in most all our CDI tribe. I love what I do and much of that is because I love the people I work with and I love the fans who reach out to tell us how they’ve been touched. It was a VERY hard film to make but it was all worth it. I’m glad it is complete and now being seen by the world.
I had some great conversations about upcoming and developing projects. I believe that projects will find a way if they are meant to be manifested. That doesn’t mean sitting and just waiting- it takes packaging and aligning. Countless calls, meetings and the hard work of a strong core of producers. Audiences can already rest assured that another CDI story is coming at you in 2024. Harsens Island Revenge is coming together currently being edited in Brazil. We were closing on the first hour of our story in my last director update. I always like to take the path of modesty but everyone associated with that project knows we have something very special coming. Early in 2024 audiences should be getting their first look with a teaser trailer with the first music by the one and only Dennis Therrian. With the amazing photos by GW Burns a new advanced theatrical poster will be coming.
KNIGHT CHILLS has been fun to revisit. It was CDI’s 1st film and is now on BluRay and selling well. The extras are a great source of learning and inspiration for new or upcoming filmmakers. Thank you to all the fans of this little film. Big things might still be coming from this franchise. You can buy the Blu Ray on Amazon and many retail stores like Walmart, Barnes and Noble and Best Buy.
WILD FAITH: HASTINGS is getting some momentum. HOT ROD LOVE will soon be officially announced on the development slate. We have Pepsi officially onboard and our first investor. We’ll be giving our past investors first opportunity in the new year before opening it to those who’ve given interest in getting involved. Like I said in a meeting this week- we’re building pyramids. These stories will last for generations and they should. I really do like making films that matter. I enjoy films that are just escapism for fun but the older I get I really like the depth. I believe that both can be achieved and much of that starts with the script. I’ve been doing a little bit of screenwriting also but we’ll save that for a different day. We have a few projects developing with young filmmakers and opportunities to grow that next ring of branches at CDI. I have a few potentially big meetings first of the year including one requiring me to jump on a plane across the country. I’m just happy I’m not flying during this time of the year. But in 2024 I’ll jump on a jet and try to kickstart a few new films.
Speaking of 2024- I’m really spending some time recharging and refocusing. I usually make a set of proposed goals and I already have a few in mind. I’m pretty disciplined but that is going to become even more-so in the new year. At 53 I feel like I’m still moving towards my peak. What’s really helping me is the wisdom I’ve accumulated over the years. I know myself very well. I know what I like and what I don’t. What I will tolerate and what I won’t. Mistakes of my past have become vital experience used to achieve success. I’m very excited about 2024 and I hope you are as well. ‘Be the change you want to see’ is a good statement I’ve heard recently used. What I want for Christmas is comfort for those dealing with loss. Peace on earth and goodwill amongst men (and women). Love, unity and understanding- even for a day. If it can start with a day it can grow into more but it takes a step. 2024 doesn’t have to be division filled if we learn to respect one another including learning to respectfully disagree. Anyone preaching or proclaiming hate should not be a leader. And they are only empowered by followers so trust your heart and follow only that. Skip the slights and insults and instead just communicate. Thank you for almost a year of us meeting once a week to think and ponder together. My last blog of the year will be New Year’s Eve. I look forward to joining with all of you again next week and the year beyond.
Be good to one another and Merry Christmas.
DJ
SEVEN UPDATES and LOOKING AHEAD!
(Axel from Harsens Island Revenge by GW Burns)
Good morning to you all! First, I’m happy to almost be settled back into home. I still have some wardrobe and craft service stuff to stow away until our next filming adventure. I’ve been working to settle all our Harsens Island Revenge business. I’ve enjoyed dropping into a fall festival. I’ve got the yard almost back to normal. I still need a little front yard work but with Halloween right around the corner it fits the theme. I’ve just about harvested everything that needs harvesting and will keep doing some clean up. I had to fix my gate and a few other home fixes. Yesterday we had a nice time with the moms and my brother and his family. They carved pumpkins and we ate sloppy joe’s. After we watched MSU take a beating from U of M. At least our Lions are having a good season.
Moving towards the theme of movies we can discuss the strikes. It seems the WGA has worked out its deal. The SAG-AFTRA negotiations is a cluster$#@%$. The news is dominated by discussions on Halloween costumes and can actors wear costumes that are ‘Struck’ by the union. Wait! Clarification- it doesn’t apply to actors kids. This all has become a bit of a joke. Nobody is putting pressure on talks by not dressing as some film characters. I’ll just bite my tongue and carry on.
Also with war happening in the world I think the time is right for our unifying stories. I think films like SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA (SNIA) is coming out at the perfect time. This is the season of ramping up PR for our upcoming releases. Let’s look at some of the new developments.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – The DVD and Streaming release on 12/1/23 and pre-orders are available on some sites. We’ll be getting a list of what platforms have picked up the film soon. We start our bi-weekly marketing meetings with the distributor this coming week. I know AMAZON PRIME will be carrying the film. It should start accepting pre-orders this week. I also found Google-play prepping for a release. Just google the film and scroll and you’ll see outlets approach. This award winning film will be featured at AFM to license around the world. Follow our FB page for all the updates. AMAZON – https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Night-Algona-Taylor-Nichols/dp/B0CL7DFYSK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QCRGKW7S0K6F&keywords=Silent+Night+in+Algona&qid=1697980490&sprefix=silent+night+in+algona+%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1
- Oct 30th/31st is the wide release date for our KNIGHT CHILLS Blu-Ray with many already enjoying the film buying directly from the distributor Vinegar Syndrome. We do plan to release the new HD remastered film on streaming in the new year. PRE-ORDER HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Chills-Tim-Jeffrey/dp/B0CJ5WBSZR/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1U9U31YJB9IFJ&keywords=knight+chills&qid=1697980603&sprefix=knight+chills%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-2
- WICKED SPRING is playing on History Fix amongst many platforms. The film has been remastered and released. Here is a great interview I did with Will Eichler on the film and the making of an independent epic. WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=himyS5W61Mo
- If scary Halloween films are your cup of tea some of the titles I’ve acted – Knight Chills, In the Woods, Blood Ties, From Venus, Savage (writer), Smoke & Mirrors (Short), The 8th Plague * gory, GPS, Karma: (Crime, Passion, Reincarnation), Dog, Deadly Renovations, American Liar, Darkest Night, Donors, and Bestseller. Just google them up and see if you can find some of these titles.
- On the other end of the spectrum our family animated film THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ is playing free with ads. Maybe try playing Pink Floyd with it:) WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLaw6zOAsw0
- Speaking on music – our newest music video for Remorse Code will be completed very soon.
- HERE is a good watch the short SMOKE & MIRRORS which I took from a feature script. How many out there would like to see the full feature film of this? WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcobe1eng0
WRAP UP: The last entry above is right in line with the flow over here at CDI. We are ramping up the SNIA marketing and Harsens Island Revenge (HIR) is now in post. And we should have a locked picture minus our pick ups on Jan. 30th. We have 2 pick up pieces to film in Feb and we will have a locked picture ready to move to Dennis Therrian for music and sound design.
We are also in development on several fronts and we’ll start to get an idea of our 2024 in the next few weeks. I have development meetings and calls underway and it will be exciting to see where that all goes. Winter is also my season of writing so I’ll be picking which projects I work on. I’m also exploring again a literary agent to offer my scripts or services. Everything starts with a powerful script.
I’m going to do some computer clean up and get some breakfast going. I am going to look at some development projects also this morning. I hope you all are having a great fall and that you’re getting your final 2023 goals accomplished.
Until next week- coffee cheers!
DJ
Hints of Fall – August Updates
I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee and appreciative of my time here with all of you. I want to welcome our new readers from Canada, Ireland and Singapore. It has been a wild week in the world and one of the top events is the awful fires in Maui. I got an opportunity to be there in the very district that was destroyed by fire. The poor people, animals and property lost is heartbreaking. I hope they are able to rebuild but life on that island will not be the same for quite some time. Fire also played a part in our own endeavors as one of our locations to be used in the next film had a fire. Water damage is the main issues thanks to the quick efforts of the local fire departments. I think they will be okay in a month when we film otherwise we will have to make some adjustments.
This past week I put a major grooming on the yard which was growing wild with all the rain. The plants are loving it and growing strong. Tomatoes, herbs, hops and rhubarb are all growing well. I will keep harvesting and nurturing the plants. The hints of fall are all around. Our Detroit Lions football team won their first pre-season game. I had another soccer match that we lost. I saved a goal towards the end but took the kick to my upper thigh. It has been sore but should be good by this next Thursday. We went to a Mint festival in a nearby town and that was enjoyable. We have a flea market in a bit and I’ll be on the look out for more props. That will take us into talks on our films-
Harsens Island Revenge– We had a great meeting with our director this week. We’ve made a few more casting choices and one is a special cameo by multi-national wrestling champion Gabe Dean who will play a bodyguard and enforcer for our lead gangster. We will continue this week with locking down our final cast, crew, locations and props. We had a great change to one of our scenes that will give us more bang for our buck. Some of our prop weapons arrived yesterday and we’ll be excited to bring out the Tommy guns this week. It is truly a fun scavenger hunt for props. We’ve been locking in our agreements and flights will likely start end of the week or the week after. We have some new sponsors that have added this past week. WarReplica out of India and the Michigan Community College Association. We have more meetings and talks this week with more brands wanting to align with us. I look forward to every week working with our team to take us closer to a launch. The cars, boats and even a plane is in the planning. We are about a month out from moving into our on-location prep and shoot.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – We’re about to officially close our theatrical and do a first dispersement to our backers. The final tech prep on the home video version of the film is progressing. It will be exciting that everyone who wants to see the film will be able to. The story which is real has such a moving and uplifting message. It will be the perfect holiday film and we hope will become a classic for families everywhere. I’m also excited to see the new artwork that is being worked on.
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE is a truly moving story again taken from history. We will really start working to put the financial pieces in place in mid October once we get past our Harsens Island Revenge shoot. I had a wonderful talk with a historian in the Iowa area about the event and our take on the story. It will be another great piece of history that will be saved. It also has the ability to give the local Spirit Lake museum some great attention.
MISC –
We have several other pieces of news that will unfold here towards the end of the year. The music video we just shot went great and could also lead to another. I’m excited to see the first cut of this one. I believe I have another one of the Revel books I contribute to having a release this holiday season. The audio book series I narrate FOR GENERATIONS TO COME keeps rolling. I’ve been listening to some of those I’ve narrated and I’m very happy with it all. I have a few interviews that I’m lining up for the end of the year promoting some of the projects. CDI’s first feature film (Do you know it?) will be getting a special blu-ray release and that will start promoting next month. In the same vein, I’m excited to see the new director’s cut of IN THE WOODS, which was my 1st starring role in a feature film. We might do a theatrical run with the new cut. The director and I have been discussing the sequel ideas as we have an interested party in funding that and another supernatural thriller. It will be fun to return to my genre roots in a few select projects.
WRAP UP: This week it will be business as usual. Each week we just knock things off the list. We’ve been addressing questions on the next film pertaining to extras, vehicles and props. Each week the list of TO DO’s gets shorter. I had a great end of week meeting discussing a new film back up system we’re about to put into play. We all had a beer that just so happens to be my Mexican-Style chili beer and it seems to be a favorite. I just obtained the material needed to make a milk stout style beer. Something I haven’t tried but should be a good winter beer. The ‘Rocking Rhubarb’ wine will be going to bottle pretty soon. Springtime captured in a bottle.
I’m going to get after a few eggs before hitting another flea market today and see if I can find any good props. I hope you all have a productive week. Be kind to one another and be kind to yourself. I’m looking forward to spending time with more of our team as we prep on ‘Harsens’ and get closer to being on-set. I’m ready for the rain and humidity to pass. Fall is truly my favorite season and we’re not there yet but it is around the corner. I’m going to go fill the coffee cup and get on with my day. Again I appreciate all of you stopping by as I try to share some of my insights and updates. Until next week.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
End of Month (July) Updates- Mysteries, Goals and Making Moves
A beautiful morning in Michigan that has that slight chill I love. I’m sipping my hazelnut coffee and looking forward to sharing with all of you. Thank you to all the new readers. Do share the blog with artists who you think might enjoy the weekly read. I’m still hearing and reading many expressing their fear over the new emerging technologies. I had an interesting talk with a doctor friend of mine recently. We talked about the developments in medicine that may change how we treat disease and the social issues that could go with it. Imagine if suddenly we were not losing millions of people a year to cancer, heart disease and more. What if they could slow or stop cellular degeneration, aging? How would things change if 120-150 years became the life expectancy? Population is already an issue that is devouring natural resources. Housing, social security- I could go on but I think you see the issue. That is why I love the space race that our billionaires are engaged in. We will need to start living on the moon or other planets to survive the rising population. The wild fires in Canada sending smoke down into the USA gives a hint of how horrible things can be when air quality goes South. What if it was volcanic ash or worse nuclear fallout. AIR, WATER effects FOOD supply and in turn HEALTHCARE. These things should live outside politics. No lobbying should allow the pursuit of short term profit doom long term health and happiness. I think our advances in medicine are coming but the issues of millions extending their lives by decades will come with issues to consider.
This week saw government talks on UFO’s. Yes. I know they have different names for them now but I’m old school. We as kids loved the mysteries of ghosts, UFO’s, Bigfoot and Loch Ness monster. Never in my imagination would I have thought these fringe topics would be mainstream. Maybe the many tv shows proves how much we all love mystery. It is just incredible to watch it all move out of the shadows into the light. I think the public is more than capable of handling the truth. Science continues to push the boundaries as we can see farther, smaller and into areas that before were hidden. Even ground sonar is finding ancient structures that were hidden by nature reclaiming them. But with several “news” outlets reading more like the National Enquirer it can be challenging. It will be interesting to see what will be revealed in the next decade.
Let’s get back to discussing movie updates-
HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE – We’ve moved into the final six weeks of off location pre-production. The schedule was released and we do have a small adjustment coming whereas one of the characters was missing from a scene so that is being added. We did have a few shake up’s due to the schedule. This happens every film, every time. When we look back at picture wrap we can never imagine it being any way other than how it went down. One actor we switched roles and one had to drop because of being out of the country. This past week I did all the agreements for crew to be reviewed and dispersed and this week will be the cast agreements. We are closing in on filling the small handful of cast and crew needed. Things like catering, insurance and lodging are getting solidified. Friday is our new meeting day and it was great to do an end-of-the-week recap. Jersey Giant joined Lerma Transportation as a sponsor and we have more to announce. Independent films are made with the assistance of many and we due provide visibility to tens of millions worldwide. We’ll be announcing many more in the coming weeks.
On a personal level I’m now at the point with my character of breaking down wardrobe for each scene I’m in. I always like to have a say in my props and clothes as the role. I run stuff by our wardrobe professional and it becomes collaborative. I had to get all my measurements for some pieces of clothes I plan to purchase. I’m still tweaking personality traits for the role and studying daily the world in which this character lived in. I still need another haircut to get it closer to period. I’m excited to soon be telling another story. I also love being with all the artists. Some I only really see while filming and so that makes it pure joy. More on this film as it develops.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – My hope is that our few visual fixes will be done and we can move the new master film file to our distributor and their third party to fix a pixel drop. Something the eye doesn’t catch my the QC software did. So we’re going have that fixed that in prep for the run up to DVD and home video. The theatrical run has concluded and we’re only awaiting payment from one remaining theatre. After that we’ll be doing dispersement back to our backers. We are all so EXCITED to have people around the globe see this film. It is as powerful of a film as we’ve ever made. I’ll look forward to all the communications from fans over this film.
DEVELOPMENT WORK – We’ve got a TV series and a new epic film in development. Our pitch decks are complete and we’ll be approaching folks over the next few months. Things take time so they have to start many months/years ahead of actual production. That is one of the things I often encounter is people having unrealistic timelines. We make it look easy but it is hundreds if not thousands of moves on a chessboard of development. I know we could move faster if we were willing to sacrifice creative control which I’m not willing to do. When we don’t have the reigns that is when things can get messy. Many in my position might agree to whatever terms but experience shows that creates turmoil and often failure in such endeavors. So sometimes the longer road is better than the perceived short cut. Remember that.
WRAP UP– The hops are blooming into cones. I harvested more rhubarb for future runs of wine. The herbs have been in full swing filling the air with sweet scents. The eggs are coming daily from happy chickens. My furry son had his first run in with a “white-striped kitty” resulting in a needed, unscheduled bath. The trees are full of apples which may become hard cider or just be squirrel food.
We had another soccer match whereas this time we came up short but again I just love the hard-nose competition. I love how strangers can just collide in brutal fashion, fighting for space and to move the ball towards the opposing goal. I’ve been enjoying watching the women’s World Cup matches while doing work. I still love the game and I’m happy to be able to still play at the level I do.
I’m going to conclude this post and get to finishing a few projects around the homestead. I hope you all have had a great weekend. I hope that your week ahead will be productive and move you closer to your goals. It is important that even when you have a major goal sitting in the distance that you also focus on all the smaller goals that will help get you to that major goal. Proper evaluation is very important. Hard work can be wasted if it is not directed in the proper way. The smarter versus harder is true. Pressure needs to be applied in the right place to get your desired outcome. Do evaluate your plans and see if you are doing things in the correct order of business. Again, I see so many people do what they WANT to do or what they deem FUN but ignore what NEEDS to be done. Fun will follow when things are done in the right order. When they are not you don’t get fun as a result you get frustration.
Keep following your dreams! Coffee Cheers!
DJ
‘Silent Night In Algona’ Release Talks and More…
Good morning. I’m sipping my hazelnut coffee and enjoying this brisk morning. A welcome change from the 90 degree days we’ve had lately. My soccer game on Thursday resulted in a loss but the battle was good in the scorching heat. I’m worried that I might not have drank enough water. It was 92 degrees and I have to say I play much better in the cool Fall from my school days. My whole system felt off for two days after the game. Add day two soreness to the equation and poor sleep one night and I had a rough go Friday night. Usually I sleep very soundly and I’m a person who must get at least 5 hours to perform properly but usually get about 8 solid hours. Saturday was as close to a sick day I’ve had in a long time. But most of it was the sleep deprived from the night before. So I’m going to ramp up my water intake for sure. I slept good last night and things seem almost back to normal. But rest and hydration is a much needed element to being productive on the highest level. I use to be a night owl but now I’m a 11-7 sleeper and I enjoy the early rise. We have roosters in our neighborhood that helps with this early wake.
The property has gone full blown with everything growing and blossoming. I’ve started a batch of Mexican-style beer which I’ll be bottling this week. I’ve been harvesting rhubarb and almost have enough to do a batch of wine. I’ve been doing a run of beer and wine each year and it makes for a fun sip at meetings. The hops are growing like crazy and we’ve got several plants gifting us herbs and soon veggies will follow. I love tending to all this while still carrying on my creative duties. I’ve been cutting freshly cut logs to dry and splitting older logs to fill the bins for the coming Fall/Winter. The wood stove is getting a rest from its duties of heating the office. All of this is a good connection to nature and trust me that throwing the axe and hammer around is a hell of a work out.
June is now upon us and that is my birthday month (June 23rd) and I’m not sure if I will do anything special. I am often fine with just a nice meal and the company of family. I can’t believe how the years have gone by. But I feel very blessed to be able to do what I so love- storytelling. Shall we look at a few film updates? Okay we shall.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA- The film and elements have been delivered and are being checked by our distributor. We are still in that process so we don’t have solid home video release dates yet but the talks are going on now. It was proposed to release the DVD and transaction digital around Labor Day (Sept) with subscription video on demand and ad based video on demand around Thanksgiving. We are approved to return to the Fridley theatre in Algona for a FOUNDERS DAY run. So if you did not see it in the theatre, here will be your opportunity or if you want to see it again. The home video version has added sound design and visual effects and so that will also be a great new way to enjoy the film. We’ve had many people want to purchase a keepsake DVD and share this film with family across the country for the Christmas season. People will surely have that opportunity. I’m thinking that the museums in Algona might start carrying the DVD’s also. The current theatrical is just ending but with another showing run in July I guess it is not done. In theaters from Dec 9th to July is a pretty good run.
HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE is heating up with the official production script now formatted and we’re awaiting the schedule for producer approval. This will also give us the day-of-days which tells us what actors, boats, cars and such are needed on what day. This will allow us to move to the agreement phase with talent. I’m going to be putting our VFX deal together this week with McGraw Multimedia. I’m looking forward to working with old friends Eldon and John McGraw on bringing a handful of VFX scenes to life on screen. This will include a cool WW1 scene, two boat scenes and a plane sequence. I’m excited to bring this story to life. We’ve been working on the hard parts of the production which is lodging and catering. I’ve also been in talks with several companies about sponsorship aligning their brand with this film. In Sept/Oct we’ll capture this story and have the Fall/Winter to put it all together.
MISC. DEVELOPMENT
As noted in previous blog entries I’m working to bring some of the older films into the new age. This will include HD enhancement on some. Others will have extras such as ‘Making of’ books and merchandise. And in a few situations it could include a sequel or reboot. We’ve also got some serious development underway on a new Iowa-based film and the WILD FAITH tv series HASTINGS. It is a balance of past, present and future endeavors. I don’t feel like going too far in depth right now on development but we do have many fun projects underway.
ACTING – In part because of the new acting role in ‘Harsens Island Revenge’ and part because of soccer season and the heat, I gave myself a haircut. About 8 cuts of the shears and I’m now sitting much cooler with shorter hair. It was about to the middle of my back. It grows like a weed. This next role in a hardened and experienced ex-officer from WW1. I was watching a doc show of actual life at the front lines in the trenches during WW1 and it was an eye opener.
I found myself thinking about an opportunity to work with an agent again and I’m conflicted. When I was actively seeking roles I had a high booking rate. But taking outside roles does take away from my development of CDI projects. But it is nice to sometimes just go an act versus running a circus. I’m not against considering roles but it has to be something special. At this point in my career I’ve played a lot of roles. I demand a lot from a story/script. Many regional castings are poorly presented and if unpaid have to be a pass. I’m not against those doing unpaid films as it will allow some new talent a chance to showcase on passion alone. I’m just at a place where I cannot sacrifice my routine of doing for free. Also I need to read an entire script. I turned down one project this year because free and fun are just not enough as I mentioned above. Another turned down my inquiry because they were eyeing another name talent. But I do have a great role ahead of me and I’m excited to become this man. I believe in the overall rule that I will do the projects I was meant to do. I know that I still love it though. I could not just produce without the acting. I could write without either of them for someone else but I would still miss acting and producing. Again, I will do what I’m meant to do. The thing about working for others just acting is when the character becomes lost because a story is never finished. I have 5 films I’ve acted in that never finished and four of them were features. I was paid for my time and it took me to places like Miami and Las Vegas but the hard work has never been seen. This always makes me think hard when taking on an outside project. All actors have these stories.
WRAP UP-
My growling stomach is telling me it is time to feed. I see eggs and bacon in my future. Today might include getting some veggie plants and flowers. I’m going to stay better hydrated and get ready for a great week ahead. I hope you all have a great week also. Brick by brick – build towards your goals.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Happy Mother’s Day and some EXCITING Film Updates
Hazelnut Coffee Cheers and Happy Mother’s Day! I’m up bright and early because we have a full day ahead of us. Plus I have several good updates to give. Today is a special day because we get to spend it with the mothers. In my seeking of something different we are doing a Victorian style tea today with the moms. It is at a historic mansion house and gardens and it should be fun. I have my tuxedo tee-shirt ready to go. I wanted to also speak into something that people occasionally have where their day is just slightly off. Related to, getting out of the wrong side of the bed. Spilling or tripping over stuff or just a general string of mishaps. Comedy of errors is enough term I’ve heard. I had a few days that felt like that but a 20 min shut down and reboot via nap, meditation or just a chill can sometimes reset things. Many will say that they don’t have time for a 20 min reboot but when productivity is poor sometimes you can’t afford not to take it. Sometimes it is related to eating at the proper times. Lack of coffee can have a day slightly off on occasion also, damn caffeine. Sometimes it is just a string of odd occurrences.
Yesterday I spent the morning feeding the chickens clover tops before mowing the lawn which I did on a high setting to still allow many of the wild food plants to thrive. Our yard is full of color and the smell is wonderful with apple blossoms and lilac scent. I also worked on a new fence to contain our row of raspberries growing. I had a breakfast of a few eggs from our aforementioned chickens and some bacon but the work outside had burnt those quite quickly. My legs are also repairing and recovering from our second soccer match which we won by one goal. A quick shower before off to the zoo with my brother and family. I was needing some energy and went to get into the glove box where ’emergency snacks’ are kept. I realized we were in a dealership loaner vehicle while one of the rides was being fixed. We get to the zoo and the first animal is one of my favorite, the otters. I watched as they were doing back flips and gliding back and forth across the little pool. While trying to get a better look my sunglasses fell off my neck strap and splashed into the pool. The otter was playing with them and we swear trying to wear them. Not wanting the otter to harm himself or choke on them I had to seek out zoo staff. So I waited until the kind lady arrived and the glasses were found discarded in the enclosure. Had to bleach those. Everything worked out as they sold bbq pork sandwiches and so the hunger was squashed. Later that day once home we had planned to grill. I had thawed out some venison burger and pork ribs. We went to get them out of the fridge and found BLOOD all over the fridge. They were sealed and in a glass dish but blood was all over and into the veggie tray and what a mess. A few things had to be thrown out and we were wiping down everything that had this sticky blood…wait. Wait a minute. We discovered a jar of gifted pickled beets had spilled in the fridge, not blood but beet juice. The cookout went better from that moment. But sometimes your days just get off slightly. When it does try the time out and sometimes you just gotta roll right through it. Sometimes that is with work and sometimes that is with personal everyday things. It was not fun while we thought we had blood all through the fridge but looking back it is funny when it turned out to be beet juice.
Onto the film and project updates from this week-
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA mastering of the movie for home video delivery was completed. A few adjustments had to be made to the opening credits but otherwise the new enhanced video and audio blended into an amazing film. New end credits were added on with a better layout and smoother scroll. The film is being uploaded tomorrow to the distributor and already they are prepping it for presentation in the marketplace. New DVD and streaming artwork will begin and the sales team will start pitching to platforms and foreign territories. It is gonna be a great upcoming holiday season where folks can sit home with their families and enjoy this wonderful story.
- WILD FAITH is our western era film that has been doing very well for us on most all the platforms. On the distributor’s home video platform ENCOURAGE TV the film has passed the 7 million watches benchmark. This is a wonderful thing because we are working to try and set the TV series up with HASTINGS already having a first season already written. This helps our endeavors to see the TV show launch.
- KNIGHT CHILLS is the second film from the CDI library that we are updating and putting back out to market. The new transfer of the film looks really good. I’ve tried for a few months to wrangle new retro interviews and we’ve gotten a few. I did an interview myself last week and I might try to do a new commentary this week with our composer Dennis Therrian. It will be exciting to see the film in the new enhanced form. After the Blu Ray is finished I will look at getting it prepped to stream. Many interesting extras and fun additions to this early CDI film. Join the Facebook page and follow along.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE – Catering, lodging and location talks continue on the next CDI film to shoot. We’ve been doing more casting and we’ve found our young actress to play the leading ladies daughter and her name is Blu Owens. Also another one of our gangsters was found and his name is Nick Schroeder. I enjoyed talking with him about his early days starting out in this business. Funny how many of our stories have a similar start. I’ll be making intros this week and soon wardrobe can start getting our talent sizes. A cool teaser poster is almost ready to release. It is amazing to see how everything starts to come together. We are awaiting the AD team’s new white script and schedule. From there we can start locking down dates for talent. More sponsorship talks this week as we have many interested in aligning their brands.
- SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE is getting a polish by yours truly and after I’ll have my amigo Tony Hornus do a second pass. We have some momentum building and will be entering talks with the Spirit Lake museum and we hope we can bring attention and help to their organization also. I was optimistic that the film would shoot in 2024 but it is looking like 2025 since the scope of the project is larger. Funding has to be locked and after locations and casting will take a good part of a year. But we have enough things lining up for 2024 to keep us busy.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH 2 will be the follow up to the documentary we did that showcases the amazing history of the grappling style known as the Catch-Can style. Our next one in the series will go more in depth is about the military history and use in hand-to-hand combat. We will be meeting over this next documentary this week and try to get this one rolling. Thank you to everyone who has watched the first one.
- We have a few CDI “in association” projects being considered for production in 2024 and we’ll see which of those becomes solid as we move forward.
- I need to check in and see where we are with IN THE WOODS which is getting a new edit from a new transfer and from what I hear is pretty amazing. Again this was my first starring role back in the 90’s and it will be exciting to see this new version. I hear a theatrical special play might be in the works before the Blu-Ray and other extras.
WRAP UP:
We are going to do a stop at the flea market this morning before coming home and getting ready for Mother’s Day tea. I’m excited to spend some time with my momma who was recently on vacation in Las Vegas. As we talked about in the opening of this chat- everyone has off days so sometimes you can hit that reset and sometimes you have to power through it. Sometimes things look ready bad and it turns out to be beet juice. Sometimes things aren’t perfect and you might need to do a little extra work to achieve that near perfection. I say ‘NEAR” because is there any true perfection or is that just a subjective view point?
I’m ready to attack the new week ahead with some great pre-production meetings. Most casting and crewing work along with more lodging and catering talks. Get in the habit of consistently building towards your goals and watch how you suddenly find yourself there. I’m going to get around this morning and do a few things before heading out prop looking. I’m going to refill the old coffee cup and get at it. If your momma is no longer with you light a candle and have some good memories. If your momma is still with you enjoy the day and express your gratitude. My mother brought me into this world and I’m so glad she did. I think life is pretty special. She is credited for everything I’ve done and I love her more than she could ever know.
Happy Mother’s Day and coffee cheers to a productive week ahead!
DJ
Thoughts on MSU Tragedy- Plus ‘Silent Night in Algona’ and ‘Harsens Island Revenge’ Updates
A hazelnut coffee toast to you all on this chilly Michigan morning. As a MSU alumni, I’ve had a lot of thoughts with the shooter that was on the campus. Once the alert went out I switched to the scanner and I was impressed at how the chaos organized quickly with law enforcement. Base camp at the presidents house- where my memories are chatting up former movie studio president Bill Mechanic and screenwriter Jim Cash. The Union, was a haunt of mine that once had a bowling alley in the basement and it still might be there. Berkley Hall lectures, learning with my fellow students while trying to plan for an eve of fun activities. I hated parking at MSU, but otherwise, I truly did enjoy my time there. Back in the day, they did not have a film program so I cobbled together an interdisciplinary humanities degree, that touched on what I thought I might need in the future.
The shooter, was approached just down the road from our house. He only lived a street away, but ended his own life down the road when confronted by police. Sad on all fronts. Three dead and five injured and many students infected with fear. Plus a troubled young man who pulled the trigger. I still don’t have any answers because it isn’t any one issue but many, that likely led to this horrible situation. So I’m starting my blog with just a little acknowledgement of the pain this community suffered but especially our MSU family.
IN OTHER NEWS-
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA– We have theatrical bookings continuing up to March so far. Last week, I had more meetings over the home video and foreign licensing. The box office numbers have been good and there is consideration by the distributor to expand the film with a 3rd party into hundreds more theaters in several states. This is where all those reviews on http://www.imdb.com has helped (So please vote & review if you haven’t) but the attendance at the theaters has been the main push. This week will tell more as we finalize the home video battle plans. The distributor is excited about the project as a whole which they feel will have wide appeal. We’ll deliver the final film on May 1st – with our current plan to see it on DVD/streaming in November. More as we move forward. We will be examining a few select festivals to showcase the film at. We’re in discussions for possible UK and German screenings. Again, our heartfelt thanks to all that have supported this beautiful story.
HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE– The next CDI film is now in active pre-production, which means this film is happening. The account is open and we’ve got the goods to make it happen. We’ve had several production meetings and now can talk with cast and crew in confidence. This is the first in a new slate of CDI films coming down the development line. We’ll be shooting in Sept and into Oct. this year after Labor Day in Michigan. We’ve been reaching out gathering targeted reads by proposed cast. I’m really excited by the powerful cast we’re already assembling and we’ve got much more to come. We’re also slowly starting to put departments in play. Some are already working on breakdowns and prepping for the filming ahead. We were treated to a great read by Don Most (Best known from ‘Happy Days’) for a powerfully dramatic role in the film. He loved the script! That’s been the response from the talent we’ve approached. I hope to start rolling out some of the cast to IMDB soon. We also have a FB page for the film just starting to post updates. Yesterday, I had a good talk with Robert Bradley, our armorer and works transportation department. There are some friends I really only get to spend quality time with when filming. We will have another incredible shoot. This week we’ll be meeting to try and get Camera and G&E departments all set. Travis Hayward (Best Years Gone) is our director of photography for this exciting new story. A new teaser poster is in the works to rally around.
SHJ PROJECT – The in-association supernatural thriller is getting closer to being solid enough for an announcement. The exciting part of this deal coming together is that it could be multiple films. But like I always say, put your everything into one film and it should bring you the next one. This might get split into an EXT and INT blocks of shooting. More discussions on locations and scheduling once the foundation stones (Funding) is in place. But this will likely shoot EXT at the end of the year and the INT first of the new year (Jan/Feb 2024) – There are so many other exciting talks that go with all this but again, let’s get more solid before I spend time discussing.
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE – The first production draft is complete and has been submitted for approval to move to the next phase of development. I’m getting that approval so the next layers of development work can get underway. This story is pulled from real history which can be more powerful than fiction alone. We blend everything into historic fiction because writers, historians and more are forced to fictionally connect the dots. I’ve been getting some good initial feedback from the story from members of the Native American community. It’s being called an even balanced look at the history of this event. Once moving forward, we’ll do a PR announcement. This year will be some builds and casting for this forthcoming movie. Much like SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA and the German actors, we’ll likely start with the Native American casting, first. I have a few in mind already and several have the script to review. This film will shoot in Iowa! We have so many friends there and it will be nice to return and tell another story.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH and FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH II: Battlefields – The first documentary film is out in the marketplace to watch (TUBI if you wanna watch free with ads) and the groundwork is being put in place for part 2. The Red, White and Blue Project and CDI, are once again putting this all together with Curran Jacobs hosting and again directing. Adam Towner will be editing and providing some of the camera work. If you want to explore a write off for your self or business, please reach out. I will be circling around to our previous donors and giving them first chance to get involved. This will be a series of films exploring in-depth, the many topics we touched upon in the first film. This next one explores more of the military history behind Catch Can.
WRAP UP:
We have many projects and associated endeavors in development, but at this point we don’t need to go in-depth on any of them. We are working a few of the films from the CDI library, bringing their materials up to date for future re-release. We have all the films newly backed up and will be putting in play yet another back up storage device. I’m excited with each new week. I love connecting with many of our artists and getting to know new artists, and examining how they might thrive in the CDI tribe. I’m looking at keys that can travel for multiple pictures ideally. By 2025, I think CDI will be overseeing multiple projects, whereas we can keep most of our folks working pretty consistently. That is a goal.
I know the tribal chiefs at CDI, are almost all actor/producers and would love to have more comedy sprinkled in with the dramas. HOT ROD LOVE was on that comedic track (pun intended) but it had a few temp set backs. You can go back and read on that in my earlier blogs- but we have a great comedic script that will one day – race into production.
I’m going to finish this coffee and work on some writing for a book. I’ve been asked now for several years to contribute stories to several books on animals. I’ve written true stories on cats, dogs, horses and now birds. Yes. I have a few good stories to share that have birds at the center of them. So, I’m going to rough out a few of those stories.
NOTE FOR ACTORS: If you’re an actor and a fan of the CDI films wondering how you can be seen- Go ahead and paste your actor reel link to https://www.facebook.com/cdiproductions/ and I will promise that each and everyone will be watched. I do try and keep up with emerging talent but time wise it can be difficult.
I will end with this thought- while we discuss plans and dreams becoming reality- tragically for some, their journey here has ended. If you are reading this, your journey continues. Appreciate the struggles we all face. Appreciate the people in your circles. Appreciate still being able to dream and move towards a goal. Just appreciate.
Coffee Cheers.
DJ
2023! Goals, Gifts and Growth!
Good morning 2023! I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee and happy to report no hangovers or such this morning. I had a few drinks yesterday afternoon in a meeting with a few of our artists, picking materials up. We toasted the victories and those lost, no longer traveling. The beverage sipped was some of the Frankenberry Wine, made from all the berries on the property. But in the eve it was just ginger ale and a peaceful welcome into 2023. I can recall many days of my youth of celebrating too much and paying for it the next morning/day. I get up early and have my productive routines that I follow. I don’t regret most of those party days but I don’t miss the aftermath.
I carved out a day this past week and did film disbursements to our backers. I’m so thankful for all the supportive people who love the Tribe CDI stories. I had a sit down with one of them this week and really enjoyed all the positive feedback. We also talked about future endeavors, of which we have many. I’ve been working to get organized and prepped for a highly productive new year. Being organized is one of the secrets to success. I’ve got a series of end of year tax prep stuff for the films but I have a great team and this year should be quite smooth.
It was a year of hard fought victories and some sad losses. My furbaby Daphne, my second mother- baby sitter Marie DeFord, my friend/family and building mentor Dan Chapin, all powerful losses. Also a slew of artists passed on, which leaves us artists to pick up the torch. SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, was the most complex film we’ve produced to date. Two languages, 1940’s clothes, props and vehicles. Windy, cold days and nights. Extensive VFX and just a few bumps bringing all the elements together on an advanced release schedule. But, we did it. The Algona, Iowa premiere was so full of good energy and the ongoing energy has had the film hold over four times now and expanded into multiple cities with more emailing about booking every week.
We will be having a producers pow wow this week over the ongoing roll out. A special screening in Owosso, MI is in planning. We will be exploring a few choice film festivals and we really want a few German screenings. We have a few VIP’s awaiting to view the film which could really assist the home video release. We’ve had many people talk about merchandise and swag and we will be addressing that and hope to have that available with the home video release later this year. We’ve already received so many nice emails about the emotions stirred by watching this story based on true events. Some reflected the deep pain and hate that some carried from their own war (Vietnam) experiences and that this film gave them a new perspective that allowed them to let go of that hate. That is powerful. A story made them let go of poison and replace it with understanding. We’ve had many of these notes sent to us. The community is alive with history. They are all talking the stories once told and almost forgotten. The museums in town being part of family trips into Algona, to watch the film. We had a beautiful letter from the museum boards about the quality job CDI did. And the interest has brought a new awareness that will help these places not just survive but thrive. I’m beyond proud.
We will have an amazing 2023 journey with this film and I cannot wait for each and every one of you to experience this story.
ON DECK-
Once I get past the state filings, K-1 send outs and any 1099’s for the films- we’ll be forming the new company to produce Harsens Island Revenge. If you liked CDI tackling WW2 and the 1940’s, wait until CDI gets after the roaring 20’s! I plan to get with our director and finish our writer/director draft. We’ll be putting the casting breakdowns together soon and that will be an enjoyable process. We were lucky to do some location scouting and found many great places to use in the telling of our story. Stay tuned to many new updates on this film.
SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE – In 2023 we’ll be doing some passive development which might include the building of a few period cabins. This is a spring 2024, Iowa shoot if everything stays in the right direction.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH (Battlefield) – Working title- Following the success of the documentary film FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH, directed by Curran Jacobs, edited by Adam Towner, produced by CDI and The Red, White, and Blue Project Inc.. The film will now have the first sequel documentary going into production this Spring/Summer. While the original was a much needed summary timeline of the history of professional grappling, these follow up films will go more in depth with various aspects of the history. It’s very exciting to continue this journey.
Furthermore, CDI is considering the first “in association” in a while, with an exciting supernatural thriller. An animated feature is heating up and more…
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself but I too, feel that rush of the fresh energy. Every year I write out my goals. Personal goals, business goals, home improvement- It is good to get those out in front of you. You won’t always make all your goals but you’ll be surprised at what you did achieve.
I JUST took a pause for my first 2023 eats. Eggs from our girls, 4H bacon and protein waffles with MI made syrup. If I had the right trees I would be boiling sap. Okay. Goals….bacon…back to goals.
A few of my goals as an example-
- Design and have new deck built – it is getting close to that point of need vs want
- Produce two feature length film endeavors
- Act in one outside CDI project- that said, I MUST connect with the material and role
- Better plant and garden bed growth and harvest
- Looking to increase strength and flexibility training for a good soccer season ahead
- Finish two feature scripts
- …you get the picture.
Even this blog is very helpful in me deeply thinking through my TO DO’s for the week. Communication continues to be a key to success and I find it can always be improved upon. I see or read about several people being overwhelmed by the waves of life’s hardships. Here is to the hope that 2023 becomes an island to get your footage, regain your balance and readjust your sights. I will keep trying to communicate better to serve as an example of respectful collaboration. Preserving history and stories, lessons to be remembered and to grow from.
Cheers to growth in 2023!
DJ
SURPRISE Early Post- End of Year Wrap Up (Thank you!)
I’m sipping my hazelnut coffee on a VERY snowy Michigan day. Negative degrees outside and blowing winds. But we will most definitely have a white Christmas. When we all left off, I had the premiere of SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, in Iowa. It has performed beyond expectations with several extensions (Algona until the 29th) and expansions into other theaters. (Follow our FB page) I did not attend the Michigan kick off at Celebration Cinema, as I was attending a funeral and memorial up North. My week stayed very busy with trying to deal with family things. Working with our team on prepping materials for the upcoming releases. It looks like we were able to get the film to a downloadable link for theatre owners. I was reporting and prepping for end-of-year check dispersement on the movies, which will happen next week. Lastly, was trying to get the Christmas stuff around. So, this Christmas is a bit chaotic with the death in our family, the blizzard and our film’s window of release.
Once we have this delivery of the film process set up, we’ll turn to looking at film festivals and a German screening. There is even talk of showing at one of the US military bases in Germany. This film will have an exciting journey ahead of it. The film has definitely gotten the positive response from the people I care about most with this story. I had an opportunity to speak with several elderly people and they gave high marks on the re-creation of the time. The regional people were so proud of this story and it is resonating with people everywhere. The film has already generated some heartfelt fan mail that is just humbling to read. That is the power of storytelling. Thousands have seen the film and many have seen it multiple times, taking friends and family. In Michigan, we’ll be looking at doing a special Owosso, MI screening and also a run around Detroit, MI in the new year.
Our battle plan with SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA (SNIA), will continue through 2023. I’ve been re-reading a supernatural thriller for a possible CDI associated film. Also in 2023, we’ll get the foundation put in on our next CDI feature film, Harsens Island Revenge. We have already started scouting and we’ll be announcing our director early in 2023, as we enter the casting phase. So again, update those reels. I was able to take a few good meetings while attending the SNIA premiere. I’ve finished the first draft on the SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE, and some development actions will be underway in 2023. If all goes as planned we could be rolling cameras in 2024.
REFLECTIONS AND GOALS –
Every year, I do deep reflection on the past year. Success, failures, trials and tribulations, all equaling growth. This year has had great harvest being the biggest release year I’ve had since 2005. We saw BESTSELLER, BEST YEARS GONE, SMOKE & MIRRORS, FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH and SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA release. Has anyone reading here, seen all five releases?
I set business and personal goals. I set goals on home fixes or improvements. I set goals as an actor, writer and producer. I set goals for/with Collective Development Inc. (www.cdiproductions.com) – new projects. New divisions. New endeavors. New collaborations.
This year saw a few music videos release under CDI’s production. As someone who was there when MTV started, I loved working in that medium.
OFF TO THE RACES from the movie ‘Best Years Gone‘ by Vertical Bridge
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=393380005705951
LOVE these guys. From our state of Michigan! And these gents are also from MI and really, really kick ASS.
REVOLUTION by the band DeepFall
This year full of releases and we did produce and prep several projects. HOT ROD LOVE, the CDI racing comedy set in the 1970’s went back on the shelf this fall. We had some funding. We had some sponsors. We had some participation from track owners. SOME, doesn’t cut it in filmmaking. It is truly one of the funniest ensemble comedy scripts sitting at CDI, with Caddyshack being the tone inspiration. Everything in its own time. I had to finally let go of a look I was developing for my character in that film. I am setting my “acting/producing” sights firmly on 1926 with WW1 veterans going head to head with the Purple Gang mafia.
This past year, I did turn down two different acting roles. I usually do so for one of three reasons. One. Not connecting with the role. Two. Not connecting with the story/script as a whole. Three. I cannot give the project the due attention I put into all my roles. I don’t phone anything in. I take each and every role very serious. That is why once business is out of the way, you get 100% effort, no less. $200 or $200,000 will get you the same performance. With acting performances, audiences got to meet Mark Franklin, Gil Gilles, Mr. Hosworth and Col Lodell. Vastly, different gents. have you met any of them?
The last gent was an honor and a very complex character to play. Let’s talk, Col Lodell. First the name of several characters based on actual camp assigned people, were altered. The events are true cut the characterizations are just that, not meant to be a biopic. That said, the camp commander that I portrayed, took his internal motivation from his faith in ‘The Golden Rule’. To treat others (Captured Germans) as you would want your PW boys treated. The filming was cold and rugged and that plays on everyones face in the film. A grit that cannot be manufactured on a stage or with a LED wall. We’ve been experimenting and will use LED walls in future VFX but there is something about a wild wind in your face, eyes near watering, and experience something closer to what these actual men did. We get to hear CUT and go back home. Every perspective has a story and they all dance closer and closer to a true event that helps to restore a touch of the humanity we all seem to have lost. Unity. Love. Even with a world at war. The fallout. The anguish, shame and soul crushing heartache.
My backstory was after serving in combat in WW1, Lodell, is pulled from academia, back into action as a camp commander. Seeking out Nazi-rot that grows inside the camps threatening lives and a PR nightmare should an escape happen. A majority of the PWs are farmers taken in desperation and forced to fight. Surrender came fast, not willing to fight to the death for Hitler’s war. Real threats. But like a needle in a haystack. The heaviness of supervisions production in many ways mirrored Lodell’s challenges. I channeled much of my real heaviness of responsibly to my performance and it works.
EVERY soldier just like the prisoners of war, missed their own bed, toilet, lazyboy, pet, family. I love a scene in SNIA where Col Lodell is just watching a Christmas scene of Santa and his nurse ‘elves’ giving children presents. He is the man with the most medals and he is as sad and homesick as the lowest prisoner. WAR hurts us all. I think that is why many SPORTS came about so that things could be handled more easily for both parties.
I’m happy that people are enjoying the film. Lodell, had to be the Col Potter of MASH. Leadership on screen or in real life takes many qualities to do it even semi successful. Lodell, has the secret to leadership but you’ll have to watch the film. I got to get more clean cut and play in the world of my dearly departed grandfathers. Burt Swope, in the Navy and Robert Emerson flying cargo in the Pacific, I believe in the Army. Air force was started in 1947. Anyway. This film captures everything that is nostalgic but also makes you feel as if you are living in it. Not some black and white flicker, cold and distant but in living color. If you can see SNIA on the big screen do. Otherwise, after running our theatricals into March or so, we plan to screen in Germany and a few film festivals. It will start DVD and home video around Nov 1st is my best guess. Meeting next year will tell. TRIVIA: On that scene above, my face got so cold I blew a take unable to fully pronounce my words. I asked for a moment, gave the face a rub down and a few good smacks before ACTION nailing it.
I think the performance will open a few new doors. I always tell actors, don’t get frustrated by people because they don’t see what you don’t show them. This is usually followed by, I don’t get a chance. The 14 year old filmmaker in my rolls his eyes. Almost everyones phone is a studio, where you can work a monologue a thousand times. Comedians and magicians work their craft over and over. If you get the slightest bit off when a camera comes close, you need to work on that. That camera should be that old friend, never glanced at- yet always embraced. Being natural leads to comfortable which leads to the environment to make interesting. In 2023, don’t get in your own way with doubts and ‘cannots’ and all that negativity. See dead ends, as paths of the maze mapped and now known. The true path becomes closer.
WRAP UP –
I truly do LOVE winter. I always have. It teaches you a healthy respect for nature. You admire the beauty of pines that thrives under the blankets of snow. Crackling fire, destroys the old leaving nurturing ashes to sprinkle for the spring plantings. Writings and new ideas like to seep into the pondering mind. A season of hardship and helping where you can. When everyone does a little the world is a better place. We here at TribeCDI are resting and rejuvenating with our loved ones. But rest assured the call of the storyteller rides these cold Michigan winds. Tomahawks and Tommy guns. Hot Rods and Painted Horses. I want to thank all our cast, crew, sponsors, supporters, families, friends and FANS. Tom T. Hall use to have a song, I wish I had a million friends – and I’ve complained about Facebook ‘Friends’ vs acquaintances – but with so many of the films being seem by tens of millions and I’ve been blessed to read your notes of encouragement and connection. I do feel like I have millions of friends, because you accepted our stories, our characters, into your homes. You’ve hunted Bigfoot with Niles Cass in Lost Heart. You felt for Paul Landings and his terrible loss in Man’s Best Friend. You’ve laughed with Ben Lily in Wild Faith. You’ve taken comfort during the holidays watching a relatable Jesus, in The Quest Trilogy (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) And I could go on- my point is thank you. Sincerely, from a childhood dreamer who started with my friends and a VHS camcorder, thank you.
Next up New Years Day! So Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy and Healthy New Year.
DJ
Filters of Attitude = Finding Your Balance
The hazelnut coffee taste so good on this chilly Sunday morning. We got a record setting 13 inches when the snow storm came through. We might get a bit more later in the day. I for one love the beauty of the snow but I’m ready to move on to Spring. We had a “Viking” day chopping wood to keep the wood stove roaring. I’m excited to implement many new improvements to the property this year. Our moving of veggies and herbs to raised beds and turning the garden into chicken land has been fun. They are fun to watch like little Dinosaurs.
I want to say that everyday that I read about someones untimely passing it reminds me to love what I’m doing and the people I’m doing it with. That is professionally and personally. I know friends and family that have lost pets, parents, grandchildren and even one past film peer was announced to have passed away. I was not extremely close with him but exchanged communications over the years when either of us has a new success. The sad thing about the last mentioned loss was that it may have happened by their own infliction. I’ve had a few friends over the years that fight real mental battles with themselves. I think on some levels we all do but some cope poorly where others eventually find their way out of the forest.
I’ve had dark days in my past whereas my parents divorced after 30 years putting me in the middle and my acting career was struggling. Michigan’s film scene in the late 80’s and into the 90’s was lacking. I see folks complaining about a lack of opportunities today and chuckle. Today is like a sea of opportunity versus the 90’s. Also post tax incentives the term filmmaker became legit to the common everyday person. Much of my darkness was knowing what I wanted but not having any guides or mentors in that field. My dearest mentor, my father, was rightfully concerned. I had essentially came home and told my father I was going to be an astronaut. Again something made more realistic thanks to the billionaire space race. But he knew how easy life could be if I took the easier road, the practical road. His concerns came after several years yielded very little, in his mind. Failure can affect people different.
A certain amount of punishment and failure can break some and force them into a secondary or pie-life. Pie-Life is when you work X amount of the pie to earn shells and beads ($) so you can freely enjoy the remaining part of the pie, your life. A few years in the real world and most have sufficiently built a standard of living prison around them that forces them to stay the course with the survival job, pie-life. For others of us that have “it” (passion) bad and refuse to let go no matter how much rough ground they’re dragged over. I felt like Indiana Jones being dragged behind that Nazi truck hauling the ark. (Raiders of the Lost Ark) I climbed hand over hand up the whip, climbed on the truck’s bumper, over the side, kick in the doors, punch and throw the driver out and took over the truck. BAM!
If someone can do something else occupational and be happy living the ‘pie life’ or even something close to contentment, do it. But if you are stricken with that passion that will not leave you, embrace it. By that I mean stop being half-ass and whining and do those things you were afraid to try. Pull your confidence, self-worth and inner fire from your own personal well and don’t just try to pull energy from people. When people feel your personal geothermal-like creative energy, they will be drawn. People who draw energy from the masses is a slave to the masses. Now artists create for the masses but often to show a perspective. Life is all about perspective and perception. What we perceive can be seen via positive or negative filters. A failure might be seen as negative but in deductive reasoning it can be a positive. An elusive goal might have just been made easier to obtain as certain roads are found to be dead-ends. No more time wasted or spent. Although some will get caught in that loop, beware.
So the negative of loss that I see each day ever since we’ve all become so much more inter connected as a society, can be a positive fuel to live and pursue dreams and goals. I’m so proud of one of my associates who set out to write and take a few children’s books to market and he has. Tomorrow isn’t promised. A beautiful and haunting statement. Life is a mysterious and short phase of existence and so I would ask that those out there questioning, stay the course. Ride life and learn whatever lessons you can but best of all is learn to be the best you. I’ve said this before, the path to your dreams sometimes lies in helping others with theirs. I know some people will say I’ve helped their journey immensely and others will say, I have not. The truth is you can’t help everyone. You can inspire by your actions to pass it on. I’ve had mentors and I try to mentor. But I come from that martial arts background and sports. To take valuable time from some teachers you have to be prepared and focused, ready to learn. You can apply that lesson to teachers in school. Respect that they are there to try and teach you.
Let’s bring this around to movies, my favorite medium. It also includes some of my favorite artists, filmmakers. Last week we were treated to the announcement that BEST YEARS GONE was multi-nominated and won a few awards. The biggest award being BEST PICTURE which is great because it embodies the collective effort.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is soundly in post. A BTS (behind the scenes) video is being worked on and the first look teaser is being outlined. Meanwhile the feature is being cut with the first rough being done by mid March. We’ll keep rolling out some new photos while we wait for these first videos.
HOT ROD LOVE is the next CDI picture and we’re looking to prep in May and shoot in June. It’s a heartfelt comedy that has many classic 70’s and 80’s influences. We’re putting our investor/sponsor presentation materials together, but the truly exciting news coming this week is the announcement of a director and Dir of Photography- Mr. Shane Hagedorn and Travis Hayward. This re-teaming is building on the previous chemistry of BEST YEARS GONE, coming to home video starting in June. Our #1 goal with BEST YEARS GONE was to have fun filming. The Covid lockdowns had beaten everyone down and the humor and fun making the film translated to the final product. That laughter is the big take away from the theatrical playdates thus far. The world needs more laughter right now.
WILD FAITH: HASTINGS – More great discussions on this TV series spin off. I have follow ups first thing this coming week. It is going to happen, I’m just trying to follow the best road to production that keeps the integrity intact. Have you seen the feature WILD FAITH? Take a watch. Leave a review on imdb.com or the film’s amazon page and let us know if a sequel interests you. I love the idea of how many folks will be involved should the tv series happen.
The WEEK ahead-
This week is wrapping up end-of-year tax materials for the films. I actually got almost all my personal tax stuff around. This year has been quite smooth so far thanks to our amazing team. I’ve also been keeping my daily screenwriting happening. I’m deep into another comedy script from a treatment I’ve been bouncing around for years. I’ve got my next work-for-hire script/production coming up. It is an adaptation from a book, which I’ve almost finished. I’m really excited about the time period and the storyline. One other work-for-hire script/production is in discussion. Everything in their own time. But I find these cold days are the best for screenwriting.
Last week we talking about video game development and more which haven’t advanced too much in the past week. I got buried in numbers for a few days. But several projects including animation and a music video are in development. It is a busy time but as we discussed prior, get doing- if that is your calling. I have lots to work out in the coming weeks as we’re also in some serious production talks that could be a multi-year commitment. I laugh, because it’s all really a multi-year, lifetime commitment. It’s all a process to try and streamline funding and production. Balance. It’s all about balance. I’m going to bring this to a close. I have some writing to attend to and a few things to do around the homestead.
Be good to one another and coffee cheers.
DJ
The ‘Sacred Set’ of Unity and Non-Judgment – ART for the Save!
Another Michigan Sunday and another day of beautiful blowing snow. I think we’ll only get the fringes of this new storm. I had planned to jump right into the movie updates but I’ll discuss a few things here that I see as important. Not only to our endeavor but to all endeavors. I’ve noted that on our productions we have cast and crew from all parts of the spectrum. But this spectrum can be in ethnicity, religion, political or even the disabled. In the off time these artists go off to their own circles of living. Some feel the need to shout their stance about everything, lobbying their point to the masses on their social media walls. These opinions are often in opposition to one another which leads to child-like spats.
My sight of this banter is brief as I scroll to post our PR on various film projects. PR is really the only use I have for social media along with keeping up on a few cousin’s day-to-day lives. I’m disheartened by what I see which is a slew of people communicating beyond poorly. WHEN CONDEMNING HATE MAKE SURE YOU DON’T GO TO THE SAME PLACE. Social Media often misused becomes a poison. By reading lots of angry statements I see the poisoned people. People all sipping from the same cup of poison. As I work hard daily to develop, launch and fund projects, stories and parables whose goal is to cast positive light upon all people, others are busy ripping each other down.
I had some great meditations this week on politics since our country is still working to find its balance. I’m a moderate when it comes to governing. I don’t want total supremacy of any extreme stance. I don’t want to have everything my way. I will try to explain a bit better but it’s more about sharing my curiosity on the subject. If I have a group of priorities that is important to me, I’m happy to have some of my ‘wants’ met and to concede some priorities to others. If you have school children your priorities could be very different than a childless couple. But you know even while some of the priorities while not yours, helps others – and so you should be happy to give. Extreme people seem eager to win everything and after a while, at any cost.
In business, we call it same side of the table negotiation. So everyone walks away feeling like they got something they wanted or needed it is a WIN-WIN. If one party has everything and the other party has nothing, it’s not good for the balanced whole. But many people still so want it all. For you to have all others have nothing. Who does conflict serve? I cannot control the world or how individuals treat one another. A world where people are forever pointing out the perceived wrongs by the other party. People trying to remake the world into a place where two wrongs make a right. The one place I can control balance and unity is on a film set. I can say that the stories we tell are built onto the ancient chassis of tragedy and comedy.
I believe, again I say ‘believe’ in the restrictive age of dangerous opinions – that communication via storytelling is one of the few remaining ways of collectively, effectively communicating amongst people. And so by us leading by example – by putting stories of laughter and tears forth and pushing lessons to try and make everyone a little more kind and understanding. Our stories show us where we’re alike and illustrates the often toxic results of leaning too heavily into our differences. So we will continue to tell our stories with a vast array of artists without boxes. I did recently have someone say they might not want to participate in something if the people involved don’t align with their views. No such nonsense will prevail here. I’m accountable for good size chucks of money. I hire the best artists available to us. I work to unify and bring out the best in each artist and it manifests on the screen.
While shooting on ‘Best Years Gone‘ (Now we’re talking movies!) we had talented artists that come at things differently in their personal lives. That was all moved to the background as we told our story of imperfect love, loyalty and dream chasing. All this happened during heavy political and Covid times and yet our artists remained focused. In 10 to 20 years these stories will still be influencing while the politics of today become a notational blip in history. Be skilled. Give the Tribe your best efforts. Be respectful on set at all times to everyone. These are the things I care about. So our storytelling will never have strings attached or walls restricting people save maybe laziness, dishonesty and negativity. A CDI film is a manifested place of creativity, imagination and ingenuity. The outside world with all its A or B is not something I participate in. I choose to try and understand and develop people versus cancelling them and not listening. Participate in that game and nobody wins and eventually it will turn on you.
All the crazy seems to be over one person’s right to check a voting box. Their box checked is based on their own opinions but unsure people often feel the need to over-explain or justify why they check this box or that. You don’t need to explain your view or tear down the opposing view. Just check your box and move on. Why the need to justify with insults to people not listening? PEOPLE don’t listen if they don’t RESPECT. Start with that- I can’t heal people of their insecurity, or need to gather support for their opinions and viewpoints. But I will not get into the judge game as so many do. As I stated before, I don’t want nor need to have everything my way. I’m willing to concede some to create a better balance for the whole. When you walk up the plank boarding a TribeCDI ship you’ve willing come on board for a greater adventure. To tell a meaningful story that will enlighten for decades to come or maybe more. Black, white, brown or green – Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Pagan or Spaghetti Monster- Gay, Disabled, Conservative, Liberal, Moderate will all become ONE TRIBE of STORYTELLERS. This is the way:)
Forty Nights (The Quest Trilogy Part 1)
CHASING THE STAR (The Quest Trilogy Part 2)
The Christ Slayer (The Quest Trilogy Part 3)
THE QUEST TRILOGY above is getting ready to play as a series on PUREFLIX (SONY) on the run up to Easter. I think these films are 100% unique in that they were made with no agenda except exploring, distilling and speculating with a certain teaching at the heart of it. In these films we also chose to tell the story in a style akin to the Original ‘Star Wars‘ films. Please do take a watch on the three films in their proper order. Even if religion is not your thing or even Christianity, take a watch. The films are for everyone and again explore many of the questions that people have pondered for thousands of years.
MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND is getting a new 2021 campaign with BMG. WILD FAITH and LOST HEART are continuing their trek out to worldwide audiences. With home video up 40% we’re getting tens of thousands of new fans per week. If you keep an eye on the parent http://www.cdiproductions.com site you will see many updates coming including streaming and merchandise.
DEVELOPMENT
The Hastings TV series is being packaged to sponsors and potential financiers. The show scripts are being reviewed by possible directors and returning talent. SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has been incorporated and we’re working to put the last financial pieces in place but it is so very close. We’re started the hard -casting in earnest and we’re starting to lock in some of the talent. Once we move from development into pre-production we’ll start rolling talent PR announcements out. We’ve been doing a national casting on our young lead 8-11 that plays young. Blond hair preferred. I’m always amazed at the young talent making it happen. I can say I’ll be playing a supporting role on this one. It will allow me to go clean cut for a role.
BEST YEARS GONE is now being worked on by the editor and director to get us a locked picture. This coming week we’ll be helping to set up the new post studio. It’s in a beautiful pine forest and I’m looking forward to our upcoming film work there for years to come. I’m going to start to wrap this up. I’ve been getting a new story synopsis out of my head and onto paper. I have a few business proposals I might try to get a jump on for the week ahead. Be kind to one another. Erase those hateful thoughts. Spit out that poison and do something constructive, productive and meaningful. I see so much wasted time. If you’re in the arts and failing look at your allocation of time. If you waste thousands of words and hours throwing stuff back and forth arguing with no real goal or possibility of change, don’t complain as others pass you by in productivity.
I have said it before, I don’t consider myself special. I’m not anymore special than anyone else. I just focus and hone my craft and basically outwork others. End of the week I had a nice development talk with a younger filmmaker that I had not spoken with in a few years. He has traveled the country in the various film communities and encountered the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY of our biz. You can’t move away from it. It exists. You can learn to recognize and avoid these pitfalls and quagmires. He was pitching me on an idea I had pitched 15 years ago but I think the environment is now better suited. This filmmaker was on the right track with a mindset adjusted by the world situation. To dream with realistic short goals that can lead to greater rewards. Wait! Was this individual a conservative? Liberal? What religion? Was he gay? Straight? Does he like McDonalds or Burger King? I have no idea. We didn’t talk about such things and they were not important to our discussion. We were two artists with experiences talking about how to move ahead and keep telling stories. Different groups of people doing vastly different things with their time. Which team do you want to be on?
With that, I’m doing to bid you ‘good day’ and get to some other domestic Sunday business. I do have some wine that could be bottled. Maybe a bit more office work. I got a lot of caulking done this week. Thankfully the wood piles are full from a few ‘Viking Days’ at the fort. Keep that fire burning!
Have a great week!
DJ
New ideas, thoughts, processes and appreciations were born in 2020.
I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee and want wish a Happy Holidays to all of you. Welcome new readers and subscribers from UK, Trinidad, Tobago, Philippines, Sweden, Denmark, South Korea and Africa, France and Ukraine. I left my cup to you all and give you my best wishes for a productive 2021. I’m wearing a nice new pair of warm pajamas and I feel blessed to have been gifted an assortment of love gifts. I also got some new technology that will assist with my 2021 business. I have a new JBL Charge speaker meant for speaker calls. I also have new apple I-bud things which I hope fare better than my past Bluetooths. A few new clothing items and an assortment for fun items. I enjoyed gifting and spreading some happiness to folks. I still have a handful of people to catch up with but I will all in good time. I love all the holiday wishes and I hope everyone had a safe Christmas. We went like Santa and did short drop off and visits. We did the zoom opening of gifts and while different and not the preferred celebration, we had fun. In person would have been better but until our elders in our family get the vaccine it was a smart call. We want them all around for the holidays 2021.
This is the time of year when I start to clean up and organize all my actor/filmmaker materials. It is also the time of year for LLC state file fees, end of year corp tax work and other non-sexy but required work. I for one am excited and pumped up for the new year. This is the time to create your goal lists for the incoming year and to see where you fell on your last years goals. I actually did quite well with my 2020 TO DO list and having all that extra time not meeting in person allowed me to get a LOT done. That said, I’m reading to be meeting at the ole fort again to plan new adventures. So use this time to wrap up 2020 and prepare for the year ahead. Write it down. Visualize it. Plan short goals on the way to greater goals. DON’T be afraid to fail because even failure will give you much needed experience.
SOME OF MY 2021 GOALS
- Do a 2021 select/fest run for LOST HEART and perhaps MBF who’s fest run got Covid squashed.
- BEST YEARS GONE is scheduled to be completed in June but we’re on schedule with about an hour edited. By the end of the year we hope to have a rough cut and locked cut by end of Jan. What I saw was amazing and I am beyond happy with what I’m seeing.
- This has to do with BEST YEARS GONE but I think we’re going to do a virtual Battle of the Bands that will end up seeing a song go on the soundtrack with a music video created by CDI. I have some interest from a few legit judges that will help in the process of deciding.
- CDI Merchandise Division will launch in earnest in 2021 pushing out with new BEST YEARS GONE swag. Try this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/DVD-DOUBLE-FEATURE-Figure-in-the-Forest-2002-Heavens-Neighbors-2005-movie-/363016656566
- I plan to get WILD FAITH‘s TV series HASTINGS launched. Ideal filming would be 1st half of 2021 but if our timing is off we’ll swing it around to Spring 2022.
- We also plan to film SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA back half of 2021. Casting for our German-speaking actors is underway. We will announce heavily once we assign the last few units. I’m working on the writer/director script with Tony Hornus (MBF).
- Smoke & Mirrors short will be finished and we’ll take it on festival circuit for fun. But I’ve started my new work on Code Name: ASH the feature film version from which the short was taken. I’ve loved all the research for the new feature script.
- We are preparing to do the final filming on FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH documentary film. I’ll be putting the paperwork together for our next phase.
- I’m excited that we’re streamlining and updating our dispersement process at CDI. That’s a good thing because we’re getting larger and I still write every check by hand. This might not always be the case and I might invest in a few stampers but I still love it. On BEST YEARS GONE, I again had the pleasure of giving an actor their first paycheck ever. It’s a big thing to actors, a milestone and I remember it well. To get paid for your art gives hope. Hope that a path could be what was meant for you. The “shells and beads” is just a way of expressing appreciation for ones work and contribution.
- Writing- During the lock down I wrote the first season of Hastings allowing us to start development work such as assign directors, casting and some scouting. A few of my goals with writing in 2021 is to finish CODE NAME: ASH and my first real Sci Fi endeavor SEAWITCH is what I’m calling it as a working title. I know that development work for 2022 will also be underway. Development works at several levels and can take a few years to many years pending fate and filmmaking.
I’m staying with my existing battle plan. BEST EFFORTS. I would love to participate in a few outside projects should I connect with the material and schedule works. Let’s talk about that POSTING CASTINGS. I see postings from people just asking for actors within an age but they say nothing about the character, the story or the creative team. And you get desperate actors excited sight-unseen to a project listing. Now to be fair in a few cases the previous work is known which can be a positive and a negative pending quality. I understand the keeping a story somewhat private but you have to give the talent something. I would rather work on development or earning from the existing library versus participating in bad work. To get the best actors you need to get the talent exciting. If you think you have the next best thing have talent sign NDA (Non Disclosure agreement) and let them read the script. I would not participate in too many projects if they withheld the script save maybe a major studio film and even then…come on. So one of my helpful hints to get better talent is take some time in the description of the story. List the director and DP and if you like a talent let them read the script. It’s a two way interview and while it might be a great step for a talent, the production NEEDS to find that great talent to succeed with any quality.
Okay. I’ve talked a bit about my goals for producing with CDI, also myself as a writer and actor going into 2021. I hope we have a soccer season this year. I am stepping up and expanding some of the martial arts training preparing for X project or if I just need to unleash any Kung Fu fury. I might wrap things up here to go eat a little breakfast and go chop some wood. The house is in good shape with no real company but we still managed to create a small holiday mess. But as the new little gifts find their new place I’m grateful for what we have. I’ve got an abundance of the homemade beer and wine. Some great sipping gifts and as things lighten up I’m looking forward to clinking a few glasses and making plans.
Enjoy your new year safely. Cheers to a healthy mind, body and spirit. Think positive and kindness expelling any negative toxins and the spirit will soar. Replace repetitive news with music. Replace hate with create – and lead by example versus condensing communications. Actions are louder than words. All to often when some speak they “feel” empowered but their other actions dismiss their credibility labeling them a hypocrite. But actions are what actions are – a truth. If you give vs talk of giving that is powerful. Practice “green earth” vs just talking about climate change. Practice respectful communication in the spirit of unity.
Unity was the theme of last weeks blog. I had such a great response to my blog last week that I want to incorporate it into an upcoming press release. At CDI the spark of storytelling is a constant and will survive all circumstance until mankind is no more. It is greater than our daily priorities that others try to use and put us in a box of A or B when I am a Z:) It comes down to doing the right thing even if it puts a little loss on the sheets. From A CHRISTMAS CAROL and the heart-opening message of the business minded to CHRISTMAS VACATION whereas the employee bonus check doesn’t arrive. I think we can all look at where we can take less so we can enjoy the benefits that come with the spirit of giving to others. YOU CANNOT take it with you. Another lesson this year was – YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU HAVE MORE TIME (Thank you Steven Anschutz) so follow your passions be it as a hobby, part-time or full-time. Gift yourself that time dancing with your own fires of passion. Write, Read, Watch, Sing, Play, Create…do what you need to do. But spend that time to stoke the fire and it will make you a better person. You will share that feel-good fire with others and they will also pass it along. When faced with two-sided news always give the positive first. It puts someone in a more positive, receptive state-of-mind and allows them to better receive any off news. That “off” now becomes something to work on as we all must continue to do. So MUCH growth has happened in 2020 and while it was a challenge many old models were broken. New ideas, thoughts, processes and appreciations were born in 2020. Let’s put everything we learned into practice in 2021! I will see everyone next year.
Happy New Year!
DJ
Father’s Day and Cusp of a Birthday – Updates!
Good morning my friends. Welcome new readers from Serbia, Israel and coffee cheers to you all. I want to also take this moment to thank all of you Father’s out there. Thanks to all the men who take on father roles and give guidance. I’m so grateful to have my father who was kind, strict, generous and taught us much by his actions. I still am amazed by everything he ‘balanced’ while dealing with marriage at a young age and raising two boys. His dream and his goal was to have a family. My goals have included the building of a film family. I also have been so lucky to have the family life I’ve had. I’ve loved my furry family as much as I would have any human child. I value all life and nurture where I can. I’m also on the cusp of a milestone birthday. This week I’ll add another mark on the number of times I’ve gone around the sun. So I have much to be thankful for. I’ve also watched my brother follow in my dad’s footsteps and become a wonderful dad. So to all of you out there – Happy Father’s Day.
Let me see – we had a producers ‘meeting of the minds’ this past week over our next CDI film BEST YEARS GONE. So much great pre-production has been underway including the announcement of Erika Hoveland who will be playing opposite me in the film. Our tribe of talent gets a little wider with each film. Our restrictions due to the virus are getting slightly better as small productions start to creep out for commercial day shoots and such. Any of these shoots where you see them just ‘going for it’ with no precautions is a good example of again hobby shooting. If you have no accountability to investors, cast/crew safety, state/union/insurance guidelines we are not playing the same game. It’s a lot to balance but we have a great game plan forming up by great people.
Having filmed for so many years where many of our families deal with our strange storytelling habit I have always made a point to try and be wrapped for the year by Thanksgiving. I don’t like to be filming between Thanksgiving and New Year save a few exceptions. That said, we’ve chosen the furthest shoot window possible. So our onset pre-production week will be end of Oct into early November. And the shoot will be 15 days in November wrapping out a handful of days before Thanksgiving. We’ll make the few needed story adjustments and the hope is we will be further down the road from these virus restrictions. We’ll also start some B-roll, beauty and VFX shots in advance. I’m so very excited to get shooting but you want to be smart when you do it.
LOST HEART is being mixed together. The musical score, sound design and dialog. We have started as a group to discuss how we will premiere the movie. We might have an outside big screen premiere much akin to a premiere we did for DEADLY RENOVATIONS in AZ. A band, food and the ability to have people spread out some. Following that a run in theaters and drive in’s would be the ideal situation. This funny and heart warming movie will be just the needed thing for many out there.
MAN’S BEST FRIEND might play a few more festivals this year but the audience keeps building. Thank you to all the fans of the movie who have reached out. I can say the same for WILD FAITH and the development work on the TV series continues. I also had some people reach out to express their joy in finding The Quest Trilogy (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) I think it is helping that people are realizing that there is three films that have interconnecting pieces. I had People ask if CDI will be doing more biblical adventures. I would like to when the timing is right.
I’m excited to announce that a new deal has been made with ITN Distribution to get three of the CDI associated films back out into the marketplace. The previously mentioned Deadly Renovations, Donors and Darkest Night. More as that develops and they have new art and new release destinations.
I’ve been two weeks without my Movie Magic software because of my computer update to Catalina but it has now been fixed. So I can continue my weekly writing and I’m very happy about that. The yard has never looked better and we just added flowers and got more plants for the garden. I seeded a few lawn spots due to tree-cutting and behold it is filling in. Daily entertainment from all the birds and critters which we’ve been feeding has kept smiles upon our faces. I hope you all have a productive week and I look forward to speaking with you all next week. Keep your chin up if you’re facing hardship and just keep moving forward.
Be good to one another.
DJ
INSIGHTS FROM THE QUIET PLACE and film updates;)
The Horse of My Dreams out now!
Good morning! I’ve got my hazelnut coffee here beside me as I sit down to update everyone on our artistic endeavors and to chat about the state of things. Every day I’ve been spending the time organizing and catching up on personal and business calls. Many of the personal calls also reflect upcoming business. I’ve been using every one of these days to get organized. I had totes full of old paperwork some were 20 year old receipts that had faded into unreadable. Some were projects that had died or scripts that were submitted for acting roles and never launched. Either way I’ve kept the office wood stove burning. I’ve also found little bits of CDI history. A forgotten set picture or a lost story treatment – gems. What I did notice is that in the early days the efforts were more spread out and now they are more focused. Also so much paper – which I still remain a fan of in some ways. That said, every cash move was reported on Cash Distribution Forms sent to the office to be recorded to our software. That aspect has gone digital as many things have. I had 6 boxes of 35mm film for one of the movies and so I’ve been rearranging.
Out in Sept 2020 – more contributed writing
Also I’ve been just enjoying all the great music I’m exploring and re-exploring. I watch news 2 maybe 3 times a day. Morning, maybe lunch and dinner and every night I end with a book. I’m always reading about a dozen titles at once but get that phone away and out of your hands. The phone is YOUR tool. It works for YOU. You do not work for IT. Work with it on YOUR time. I’ve helped a few people break this mindset and I think they are living healthier.
This time in our history has the obvious viral and economical set backs but I’ve seen many positive results also. I’ve seen fathers take time to dance with their daughters. I’ve seen family take time to craft up birthday signs for a drive way wishing. I’ve seen people revalue, reprioritize, reexamine their wants, needs, time management, appreciate relationships or lack of, their beliefs, their habits, their forgotten goals and dreams. Many are taking a deep breath and feeling thankful if they can still pull in unhindered air. They are looking behind them and seeing where they’ve been and what they’ve been through. What were the rewards? What were the sacrifice? Wisdom is in the pondering of the past reflection and applying that to decisions and direction moving forward.
Honestly I’ve never been so proud to be a storyteller. In the best of times our stories are just one of many distractions. Occasionally seen and embraced and acknowledged for the experience given. I always have said that if we make a bad scenes or have a moment of disconnect nobody dies on a table. But the power of a story is mighty. Whoever wrote the pen is mightier then the sword was right. Storytelling at its best offers you a near religious experience. People were losing their ability to listen. To really listen to a story – not mental armchair how you could one up some filmmaker. I had a major breakthrough in my thinking a while ago. I always felt this and acted on this but I really understood it once I spoke it.
Should I be more advanced in a medium like motion picture – it doesn’t make me anymore an artist than anyone else. We could love a medium we are not particularly skilled at. By experience that skill can and will improve. But I never see anything less than an artist. We both will have mediums we currently excel at and other mediums we’re passionately working hard to hone. I will judge, as we all do by display of character, actions especially when done quietly and… can’t give all my secrets:)
I look forward to meeting and working with more artists. In the past I’ve observed a lot of ‘flim flam’ artists building paper walls of ego, craving attention more than art. The same ego that drives many to lose their financial integrity versus perceiving the investment to be seen as a war chest used to get this story to the world. I know many projects started and never finished. Sad. But true.
But like the emerging butterfly you can come out of artistic hibernation as a more organized, more self aware, goal defined you. No email boxes should be littered with junk. Folders on the computer. Streamline. Many fail because they truly are not ready when opportunity presents itself. Some love to work tirelessly, looking for that opportunity but once they actually find it they are afraid. We all get scared inside with new situations and I always go back to John Wayne, Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. Something like that, but I think it’s accurate.
This is a time where life has slowed and children are at home. We’ve been excited because many family, friends and fans of past work have been meaning to watch this or that CDI film. The great part is that people have been taking the time. Hundreds of thousands of new viewers and growing on ad sites like TUBI and PLUTO TV that pay us via advertisers so that you may watch for free. Other like Amazon Prime are showing the films. So if you are at home take the time to watch the collection. The Quest Trilogy might be getting some Easter promo with a new trailer and some cool promo gifs. FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR, THE CHRIST SLAYER – I’ve had some great fan mail from these films. Thank you. It’s a fresh not overly sanitized look at these little known biblical moments and told in a cinematic heroic style epic involving angels and mankind. We’re talking about setting WATCH PARTIES and having our actors and crew do Q&A after. We’re looking into that and we hope to announce a few sessions.
Here is one of the CDI collaborations with Thunder Toad Animation. If you love the OZ stories this is for you. Beloved characters animated from original sketches and voiced by some talented actor folks including yours truly as…can you listen and guess? From children to grandmothers who doesn’t love OZ. This is the first animated venture by CDI but I will state here now that CDI is exploring the animated division now. THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ also has an incredible music score. One of my favorites – please take a watch and enjoy…
LOST HEART – So everyone is working in their solitary and communications continue. I had talks with our distributor and so we’ll be announcing new updates as we get closer. We deliver the film in June so music, sound, VFX and color correction is all underway. Tally HO!
BEST YEARS GONE – I’m excited to announce that our WASTELAND DP Travis Hayward will be serving as director of photography. Travis has worked several times inside the CDI Tribe and has been developing his reputation for capturing amazing images worldwide. This is an exciting thing for me as an actor having enjoyed my previous working experience with him. He has a good feel for kinetic action and that will play nicely into this story. The ship is continuing to pull everything together. I cannot say when we will sail but we plan to be one of the first sailing once the storm has passed.
DEVELOPMENT
I have to say that with all the downtime at home for people I’ve been having productive and enjoyable conversations on all kinds of business. Become the change my friends.
DJ
Experience Education, Spirit Excellence Awards…Looking to 2020!
Welcome back my friends. I hope each and everyone of you had a good Christmas time with family and friends. I’ve had a wonderful week of just eating, drinking, laughing with our family. We had several celebrations and I’ve had a nice time touching base with people. I’ll be spending time with some family and friends this eve which has me missing a really cool event. On Christmas Eve I received notice that I was selected to be recognized for ‘Producer of the Year‘ for the 2nd Annual SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE Media Mingle. Also ‘MBF: Man’s Best Friend‘ is being recognized for Feature Film of the Year. I’m beyond grateful for the recognition and I wish I could have attended. I did take the time to film two acceptance speeches and sent those over. I wish I could have been there in person but I need more than a week notice especially during this busy holiday season. But I am humbled and ever so appreciative to SOE and Skeeter Murray for this honor. Speaking of MBF…
MBF: Man’s Best Friend will also be playing Bedias, Texas Feb 9 at the Christian Film Festival. A film that plays awesome on the big screen.
One of my 2020 goals is to be a bit more out-going on attending events/film functions. I am going to be in-person Jan 11 at 1:00-3:00 in Grand Rapids at Baker Book House event. I will give address next week but I’ll be reading one of the two stories I have in the book THE HORSE OF MY DREAMS. Come out and buy a book and I’ll sign it. I’ve had others ask and yes, bring any other ‘DJ Perry’ swag DVD, poster and I will be happy to sign that also.
So again I want to thank Skeeter Murray who does a great job highlighting mid-west talent. Congrats to all the recognized artists and I’m truly sorry to miss the ‘media strut‘ – gotta love it! When I saw the awesome awards poster I had to laugh because they chose a pic from our “Wild Bunch” film fest adventure in AZ. Of course I’m the only one on the poster with sunglasses on. It’s my Snoopy “Joe Cool” tribute. (See pic at the TOP)
But seriously, being from the middle of the state I don’t keep up with the social film scenes in Detroit or the Grand Rapids area. This being a Detroit area event means even more to me. We are all Michigan. We’ve pulled a lot of great talent from the Detroit and Grand Rapids areas, so I know the talent here. Happily, I’ve watched the artistic communities grow in Michigan, from the UP of Michigan to the small remote towns around the state, all due to technologic advances. To be given recognition with a Lansing zip code is a great honor. Making it happen in the LA (Lansing Area) was our joke back in the day.
FILM FUTURE
I had an unpopular opinion of the film incentives only from a filmmaker stance. Those giant studio films can drive up rental expectations to the smaller outfits. More Michigan artists opportunities needed to be present vs the import of casts and crews. A film grant fund would be my choice. Qualified companies who have a track record of existing in the state for several years, eliminating the rush of new companies wanting to bite on the fund. Plus make the filmmakers come pitch their projects to a committee vs all this social begging. Help them learn to exist in real business environments vs seeking the short cut or easy path. As we know, those who use short cuts or take the easier path usually rob themselves of their experience education. Don’t shy away from the hard work you will need that grit later in your career. I HAVE SPOKEN. Guess who got Disney Plus for Christmas?
Did anyone watch all 6 of these films this holiday season? I had a steady stream of beautiful fan mail from many of you over the holidays. I had many contact me over the biblical adventure trilogy to thank us and tell how their family really enjoyed the stories. I had Ben Lily fans reach out and number one question was about the TV series. And of course ‘Paul’ from MBF has a growing fan club out there. I enjoyed hearing from so many veterans and their families. The pleasure and honor is all ours.
I had one rather amusing communication that a fan of one of my actor/producers was supporting them. She had watched several of the CDI films and she saw I was also into film. She recommended a few films I should watch made in OUR state. One was WILD FAITH and the other MBF, both feature great actors she said. I decided to have some fun and asked her about her favorite scenes. She replied that she loved all the rich characters in ‘Wild Faith’. In MBF she loved ‘Paul,’ especially the “bar scene” and thought the female prosecuting attorney was a real b@%$!. Yes, Melissa Anschutz, did bring it as the prosecutor.
Overall it was fun to have someone recommend our films and give a few of her favorite scenes. I don’t always get such open and honest feedback. She tickled me when she replied she’ll stop telling her favorite scenes so she did not ruin these two great movies for me:) If I come across that communication again, I will have to let her off the hook. But she did make me smile. So during these winter months, please do take the time to watch our films and share your thoughts with me. I hope we make some of you smile.
Talking about smiling – LOST HEART – We’re closing in on what will likely be our locked picture cut. We had a good meeting over the work flow to post sound just before the holidays hit. It will be really exciting to see music and sound sweetening begin. I’m extremely happy with the progress of this film. The story is dramatic with humor set within being told by a great group of quirky characters.
Onward to 2020!
I talked about development quite a bit last week. Things haven’t changed much on that front. We’re going to have fun evaluating some new projects. My screen writing assignment will continue as I close in on the first 1/3 of the script. So much great work to be done in 2020. I’ve been organizing everything here and prepping for the next wave of stories to be told. This is when you make those goals. Write them down. Look at what you achieved and what fell short. Look again at how you spend your time. Whom you spend your time with. Keep those toxic elements afar. Don’t be distracted by shiny objects. You would be surprised what even one day full of focused work, not scrolling FB, can create. Remember it is the journey not just the destination my friends. Be brave. One foot ahead of the other. As you encounter one another – Be good to one another. I’ll see you all next year!
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 