I’m told it is national coffee day, so my hazelnut coffee is to be recognized, cheers! The past week and the days leading up to it have been jam-packed with activity. On a personal level I’ve had a fill of loved ones facing health struggles including a dear Uncle of mine. Last weekend we got to visit and share a few laughs as he was always that family storyteller I looked up to. Sitting in his chair or around a fire up in Harrison we were always treated to mysterious and exciting stories. His tales of Bigfoot and strange lights in the sky can be seen as an influence in my writing like ‘Lost Heart’ which sadly he will not see. He is nearing the end of this journey and soon to start a new one.
Others who have not lived the same full life are facing challenges that make us ponder our purpose and value while living our relatively short time. I’m proud that I outlasted all the slings, arrows, naysayer and doubters to do what I love to do. If my time here were to end early, I’m happy and doing what I always dreamt of doing. I work with some amazing people and I think in our own way we are helping.
The Movies
I’m not a person who puts high value to trophies and awards knowing that some are just vanity. But the awards that recognize the team work are the awards that matter most. The ‘Inspirational’ and certain individual awards to others like Josh Perry, stepping outside the limited views of society to be nominated for “Best Supporting Actor” makes my heart sing. Filmmaking is NOT an individual thing but a collective thing, hence Collective Development. Being that we’re not submitting to these festivals our distributor is, we have surprises every handful of days. Lets look at a bullet point of some of the updates.
FILM UPDATES
- Hollywoodivine International Film Festival will happen next weekend and we have (3) films MAN’S BEST FRIEND, WILD FAITH and THE CHRIST SLAYER nominated for ‘Best Film’ – two of those for ‘Best Director’ and ‘Most Inspirational’ – All three of our film’s leading men were nominated being yours truly, Shane Hagedorn and Carl Weyant – just incredible. Lauren LaStrada again for “Haddie” in ‘Wild Faith’ – Josh Perry as mentioned above ‘Best Supporting’ – All three films nominated for ‘Best Cinematography’ – two nominations for Jesse Aragon and one for Patrick Dowdle. Lastly the amazing score of ‘Wild Faith’ by Dennis Therrian.
- Wild Bunch Film Festival will be happening on the same weekend. Ben Lily, Hester Thickett and Emmett will all be in attendance with Darby Hinton, who is my ‘Best Supporting Actor’ competition from another western film. I LOVE the genre and I’m looking forward to representing the film that garnished 13 nominations including again Dennis Therrian’s score. Other nominations include Best (Film, Faith Film, Produced Film, Best Lead Actors (Shane and Lauren), Best Supporting Actors (Melissa Anschutz and I), Best Narrator Trace Adkins, Best Children Actors for both Joe and Xylia and Best Director. If we win anything or nothing it will be a good moment representing the CDI TRIBE!
- In Randolph, VT the 1st Green Mountain Christian Film Festival will take place Oct 18-19. I think all three films MBF, Wild Faith and The Christ Slayer will play. Among the nominations announced thus far I was granted a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ Nomination for ole Ben Lily in ‘Wild Faith’ – along side Burt Young from ROCKY fame who is an Oscar Nom and whom I met a handful of years ago at Norby Walter’s Night of 100 Stars. ‘The Christ Slayer’ is nominated for a ‘Most Inspirational’ with more nominations to come this week.
- LOST HEART editing is underway and we should be climbing to the 30 min mark and we’ve had some PR from Creative Motion and a few other publications. Look for PR to really hit hard 1st of the new year.
- I’ve had such powerful and heartfelt responses from those watching ‘MAN’S BEST FRIEND‘ and I cannot express how much that fills me with joy. I took a moment this week to read some of the wonderful reviews on our IMDB and Amazon page. I know that you can’t please everyone but overall I think the film is finding its audience. Thank you. The DVD is suppose to arrive this week on Amazon and once it does we’ll be sharing that with all of you.
- The book THE HORSE OF MY DREAMS by Revall/Baker Publishing is now out and you can read two of my stories in there. You can get online or at your favorite bookstore. It will make a great Christmas present. Mom no need to get one Santa might have you hooked up this year:) I might do some book store readings or some other PR we will see. I have more books coming that will feature a few of my stories.
- BUY HERE: https://www.amazon.com/Horse-My-Dreams-Stories-Horses/dp/0800727185
- We are almost done with a second abridged version of a ‘book video promo’ we did for a publisher. It has been a lot of coordination but in the end it will be worth it.
- Development talks continue as we prepare for 2020 and what CDI will produce in the years ahead. We have some collaborative meetings in the weeks ahead and we will be charting a course soon.
I’m going to wrap it up here. Again if you haven’t seen the films in our library please do take a watch. You can also look at more of the film details on http://www.cdiproductions.com
Have a great end to your weekend and a wonderful week ahead.
DJ
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September 29, 2019 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: amazon, Anthony Hornus, awards, blog, bookstores, Burt Young, Carl Weyant, cast, crew, Darby Hinton, Dennis Therrian, development, director, divine, DJ Perry, dreams, DVD, festivals, Hollywood, horses, IMDB, inspirational, Jesse Low, Joe Cipriano, Josh Ponceman Perry, Lauren Lastrada, Man's Best Friend, MBF, Melissa Anschutz, mom, Nathaniel Nose, Night of 100 Stars, nominations, Norby Walters, online, PR, producer, Rocky, Shane Hagedorn, The Christ Slayer, Trace Adkins, western, Wild Faith, Xylia Jenkins | Leave a comment
Friends,
I wanted to welcome everyone. I had some computer issues which ended up with me getting a new hard drive. I would say 90% of my files were backed up on external and flash drives and another 5-7% on email storage and I’ve been trying to look at this as a way to re-organize. I was already in that phase but now I’ve got a real clean system to rebuild. So that will be one of my activities is to rebuild but with the files I use.
Other things this week include getting two of my wisdom teeth out – fun. We finished our outdoor soccer league – fun. (No sarcasm) I got some major trimming done in the yard but the garden is next. I still have a lot of catching up to do from being gone several weeks shooting ‘Lost Heart’ and also a week long vacation to the UP of Michigan.
We just found out that WILD FAITH which we submitted to the Wild Bunch film festival was nominated for a slew of awards.
We had been recognized in a few festivals that are geared towards family and faith films but this is our first that specializes in the genre. I’m so proud of all our cast and crew and I’m just thrilled that the genre is still going strong. I really do love period pieces and that 1800’s time frame is so fun to play in. As I said before I’m humbled and appreciative for the nominations. I’m happy that the genre connected with Ben Lily and Hester played by Melissa Anschutz and I. It was one of my greatest thrills in years to sit at the back of a theater and hear the laughter. Our leads are undeniably great and I’m happy the kids were both recognized. They did a great job. Jesse Aragon’s camerawork is just awesome and Dennis Therrian’s score makes it all come to life. Trace Adkins and that voice – how could he not be nominated for his narration. Add Jesse Low’s direction and we have nods for best film faith and non-faith. As for ‘Best Produced’ that is because of our entire producing team from our Executive Producers to our Associate Producers and everyone in-between. I know that myself and a few of our folks are planning to attend.
This week we also announced the premiere showings of ‘Man’s Best Friend’ to happen Sat. Sept 14th in Owosso, MI and the NCG theaters. Two showings and both are to benefit non-profits. One non-Profit being the local shelter and the other The Red, White and Blue Project working to help our vets. People who have seen the film early are excited and I think the film will have a real voice for soldiers and dogs. We will announce as soon as tickets go up for sale.
‘Lost Heart’ is now in editing and we’ll have discussions about a first teaser trailer and BTS looks once we all get caught up. We are tweaking a new logo that will be the main logo for the film. Once we have that we will continue to release some new photos from what was an incredible shoot. The shoot is almost all cleaned up just a few more wrinkles to iron out.
I’m going to leave this all here soon and return to some arranging we are doing here at the house. We got new bookshelves and that will move some additional shelves out to the office. Last week I had some great meetings over a few projects. We’ll be making some steps on new projects soon. I’ve heard of several people from our area moving out of state. That said, I can name at least two companies in Michigan doing some great projects in the state. I love seeing that because myself and CDI are here to stay. Chasing that ideal industry can be a snipe hunt whereas building that industry can be a more exciting choice. So to my fellow producers – keep doing good business and creating. I would love to have a steady stream of features and TV series at play in Michigan. As an actor it is sometimes nice to just go perform. I’m preparing for a new push as a screenwriter also. I’ve had 5 or 6 features produced and garnished some praise and awards in the last few years. I’m going to work at bringing that skill to other companies looking for that unique and powerful story. The script is the blueprint for everything. I also think it is one of the major downfalls of many indie productions. I’ve experienced this as an actor and I know many of you have too. So 2020 will be representation taking the scripts to some major outlets. Also some great work-for-hire opportunities. I do have another script hire job ahead of me that I’ll likely do over the winter.
I want everyone to have a great week. I’m going to play catch up this week and organize. When I cannot sit in front of my computer anymore I think it will be time to bottle the GRAPE APE wine. I might make a batch of hard cider from our apple trees that are doing quite well this year. Cheers! Lastly, Happy Birthday to this guy – Finn who just turned one year old. He has brought us lots of joy:)
Until next week.
DJ
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August 25, 2019 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: actor, apple, awards, Bday, Ben Lily, blueprint, BTS, cameras, cast, CDI, computer, crew, Dennis Therrian, DJ Perry, dogs, edit, faith, family, Film Fest, Finn, genre, grapes, Hester, hunt, indie, industry, Jesse Aragon, Jesse Low, job, Joe Cipriano, Lauren Lastrada, logo, Lost Heart, Man's Best Friend, Melissa Anschutz, Michigan, music, premiere, producers, screenwriter, script, Shane Hagedorn, snipe, soccer, teaser, Trace Adkins, trailer, TV, UP, vets, westerns, Wild Bunch, wisdom teeth, Xylia Jenkins | Leave a comment
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 