Working Smart- Order of Business and CDI Updates
Tomorrow we welcome Spring, and it cannot come quick enough. The sun is shining here and that helps but it’s still bitter in Michigan. We had a few blowing snow storms pass through yesterday. I want to welcome all the new readers from the Philippines, Kenya and Poland. I’m very proud that our circle of readers is from around the world. So many things happening both in the CDI film world and in life. St. Patty’s Day came and went without the fanfare of past years. I had meetings and such which superseded any drunken ballyhoo. I did get to enjoy some corn beef and cabbage but no cheap food dyed beer for me.
Soccer season is right around the corner so I hope the weather gets warmer soon. I’ve limited most of my outdoor work to just keeping the wood going for the stove in the office. There is nothing like sitting my those flaming logs and glowing coals. We’ve had some great Harsens Island Revenge, pre-production meetings around the table. It is around that table and on those calls that amazing plans all start to come together. We’ll discuss some of those here first let’s look at how some of the other films are doing.
UPDATES
- The Easter season is upon us and because of that I’ve had several pieces of fan mail expressing their enjoyment watching the trilogy. These films can be enjoyed no matter what your path is in life. FORTY NIGHTS is part 1, CHASING THE STAR part 2 and THE CHRIST SLAYER is part 3. Have you watched them all? Have you watched them in the proper order? Amazon, Tubi, Dove and more all carry these titles. Thank you to those who have made the films a yearly watch with their families. But if you need something thought provoking and uplifting these three films might be for you.
- On the writing front, I’m proud to announce that I had one of my stories on “birds” was accepted for an upcoming national release of a collection of stories. I’ve contributed to books on cats, dogs and horses and now birds. It will be released via Baker Books. Thank you Lonnie:)
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has more home video meetings this week. The film roll out is still opening in more theatres now expanding into Minnesota and Nebraska. Again, it is because people are calling and requesting the film be booked. We are still exploring a 3rd party expanding the film into many more states. If you’ve seen the film and it moved you, please do go to our page on http://www.imdb.com and put a review. The home video will reach millions but right now the theatrical is still going with some theatres asking about Dec 2023 bookings. We have been playing theatres since our premiere Dec 9th.
- SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE– I’ve been getting some great feedback on this script and I’m doing advanced development breakdowns. If this proceed correctly this could be our next project we film in Iowa. This is an extremely powerful piece of history and we plan to bring it to the big screen.
- SHJ – I’m likely to have a call today or tomorrow to discuss progress on this upcoming supernatural thriller. Until ink and paper meet I will be a bit vague on this project but it is creeping closer to a possible green light.
- Our own Curran Jacob was in Iowa promoting our documentary film FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH. He was selling and signing DVD’s with our historian Mike Chapman. All this is the foundation for our second film in the series ‘Battlefields‘ that will explore our branches of the military using Catch techniques. It will be housed again by The Red White & Blue project, a non profit that focuses its efforts on military needs and awareness. CDI will once again be the production company. If you have an interest in donating to the non-profit to make the second film go, please reach out.
- Harsens Island Revenge – pre production is full steam ahead. This past week we announced several cast and crew (IMDB) including the additional of Terence Knox and Jim Greulich to our cast. We have requested reads start coming in and even more folks are starting to send their reels and pics for consideration. I can say we’ve seen some good prospects. Our crew is starting to fill up as we have talks with certain departments. The art/transportation departments are already hard at work doing breakdowns of props, guns, boats, cars, planes- I’m doing a new polish on the script to bring the opening scene more in line with our meetings. We start the film in WW1 and advance a handful of years with our story. We like some folks and are awaiting updates to their schedule. NUGGET OF WISDOM– Lower budget films MUST schedule around locations NOT actors. If you cannot commit, we have to consider casting someone else. We do have some castings we will be putting out to our Michigan agencies – EXAMPLE: A young girl (Italian look best) 7-10 who plays younger. So a casting call to agencies will be happening but right now we are awaiting several reads to examine this week. We will be working to fill the few remaining crew members. EXAMPLE: We are looking for an experienced wardrobe person to work under our supervisor. Next month we will have a second location scout trip to have hotel discussions and showcase the locations for schedule building. We have brought our AD team back (Nate, Michael and Ian) on board, and now we’re working on the office. These two departments work closely with our producer team.
Is that Cocaine Bear in BEST YEARS GONE after ole Gil?
WRAP UP
I could go on about more minor updates such as our sponsor hunt. We are looking at companies and brands that fit the 1920’s film we are making. I’ve reached out to a few brands close to production to give them the first chance to get involved. First right of refusal we call it. Being that it is a prohibition film we are exploring beer and liquor brands. Merchandise is being explored for several of the projects, which is always fun.
I just took a break to devour some of our eggs and 4H bacon. When I finish up here I’m going to do some work organizing and getting ready for a productive week ahead. I am looking forward to seeing my brother and few friends later today. Many have been watching the March Madness basketball but I have not. But I hear my alumni MSU had a good game and they play again today. I enjoy football over basketball but it can be fun to watch. Watching soccer is getting me excited for our season.
I hope you all have a great week ahead of you. Remember, if you are in a place you don’t like, you need to change. Change your words you speak to others and yourself. Change your mindset and your efforts. We talked about that this past week. Hard work that isn’t smart work will just drain you and not get you closer to that goal. You have to work smart. And work…that word, work. If you are having issues are you working as hard and as smart as you can? Some focus on the fun parts of a task but often that is placing a cart before the horse.
In film, I’m glad to see that fewer people are leaning into social media funding endeavors, and putting actual business plans together and presenting. Funding is hard, always. Casting is fun. Crewing up can be fun. But, I occasionally see casting and crew calls and at the end you see they’re launching some crowd funding endeavor of which 97% fail. People like to jump to starts 8, 9 and 10 before doing 1-7. Brick by brick. Layer by layer. Film projects are built by order of business. The hard part is usually the steps 1-7 while 8-10 are more fun. But if the foundation steps are not done, it’s just doing the fun stuff first and hoping the other will fall in place. Don’t waste your time or others and follow the proper order of business. Your results will be much better.
Okay, I’m back at it for a few. Be good to one another and work smart.
DJ
Attitude, Actor Tips & Appreciation
Another beautiful fall day awaits us all here in the Michigan. If you are not treated to the harvest of plants, the change of leaves and the tastes of cider – you are missing something. I’ve spent a good part of the week taking meetings while burning brush/leaves and getting things prepared for the coming winter. I’ve had a lot of time to think upon many things happening in my career, in our state and in the overall career field. I often bite my tongue on many subjects and it is one of the reasons I don’t attend too many film functions. Here are a few of my thoughts that I’ve had over the week.
APPRECIATION
Much of my retrospective thoughts are because this Friday in Kalamazoo, MI they are having a big screen showing of IN THE WOODS, the 1st feature I starred in. 15 years ago this year it was released in the US/Canada, Germany, France and the UK. At that time in MI only a few people were making movies. There were no “film schools” here. U of M and MSU had some screenwriting classes. There was the occasional audio/video class around but what you had was very passionate artists who wanted to tell story. The editing was expensive and hard and not to mention analog so you could lose quality with every generation dupe you had to do. Cameras were expensive and film was expensive to process. How many of you have worked in FILM? 8mm, 16mm, super16, 35mm, super 35? Not many of you youngin’s. Everyone did not own an HD camera & edit software on their phone. Now I went to college and graduated from MSU and cobbled together a degree that I thought could assist my efforts. The real learning was the daily grind to make progress in a field that wasn’t everywhere. Here is what I often see in Michigan – and if you fall in this description maybe it will make you rethink something.
Academic arrogance exists in higher learning. I had a wonderful business program for colleges that I worked to set up at MSU but by the time in filtered to the professors it all fell apart. There is much honor in teaching and passing info to the next generation but it is not the same as being on the front lines. It could have been a collaboration but egos don’t always work that way. I may attempt to set that up at some college as it is one of the best programs I’ve seen or heard of. I just haven’t been motivated after having it fail at my own university. President – on board. Provost – on board. Professors -bicker. NEXT.
So students are graduating and expect that they are entitled to just GET A JOB. I read where in NYC interns didn’t want to work free to learn any craft/profession. The cool part now days is you don’t have to guess what is on people’s mind because they whine and broadcast it on their social billboards. WHINE – No work. WHINE – at work. WHINE – back to no work. I’ve worked with self-taught and film school grads and while both bring pros and cons the attitude (one of THE most important traits) of the self-taught is usually more appreciative. Film students who got to sign out cameras, sign out lights, sign out edit time…tuition pays – they get out in the world and find out it is a new world. You are no longer playing with monopoly money. I see social clicks that are just an extension of the high school drama. I see popularity contests over trying to get exposure for 15 minutes of fame. I see lazy people who would rather be given fish than taught to fish. (Social funding) The danger lies in lack of any accountability. You give a guy with a food sign on an expressway exit $5 and you have no guaranty that he won’t go to the liquor store and buy booze. How are you going to fulfill the perks of some of these “awards” for giving a donation? No movie = no signed DVD. No VIP seat at premiere. It is protected fraud because it is a donation. The media in our state supports that also. I see 4-5 page spreads in media and people who donate time to kick off parties trying to raise $ for a film. Recently I saw a boatload of hype eating up my news space over a Grand Rapids Christmas movie that after a quick scan you knew (if you have film biz background) that film was never going to launch. Not the way they had it set up and not the money they were trying to raise. So instead of giving a completed film in the area the attention of a media spread they wasted space and people’s time (both reading and working events) instead. Now I’m 100% certain these folks all had the best intentions. I’m just saying as someone who has worked with film crews in many others states and countries that many here in Michigan need to readjust their thinking. I’ve produced several films here in Michigan and I will surely do more but I’ve seen many film communities with equal skill sets and much better ATTITUDES. There is that word again. Positive attitudes translates into good story telling. So this means that producers need to try to be organized and give the best “ride” on a film set as possible. Now it is making a movie – meaning I’ve been on Willie Nelson’s tour bus and while it is nice it is still a bus. It isn’t his ranch house but for on the road – it is nice. I’m saying while a film set will often lack comforts of home we try to make it easier. AND people will still complain. Those people need to get out and go work 9-5 at a tv station or post-house where they can keep their own routine. Money says they still bitch about something almost daily because it is about ATTITUDE. That is the #1 thing I look for in cast/crew/friend and associates. I pay for problem solvers not people who bitch and can point out the obvious. So adjust your attitudes, learn to communicate effectively and be that problem solver. That was my reflection for the week on our state. Now they do have degrees of this elsewhere but I guess I speak up because I do care. I think it is so very cool to see young people have opportunities here. I want you to succeed. Many are afraid to speak the truth because they are afraid their phone will stop ringing. I don’t wait for phones to ring and often I make them ring – offering this or that. So even if a handful of you read this and it changes your ATTITUDE slightly for the better – kudos.
Now the PR hit this week on the next CDI Associated project – WASTELAND. A distant toxic desert world will be our setting and I’m extremely excited. I’ve been a Sci-Fi fan since Star Wars in 1977 and I’m ready to do this. Contracts signed, flights and hotels booked and prop construction is underway in Florida. We will be shooting in Nevada at the Valley of Fire State Park. It was a great thing for Michigan when a 2nd lead was cast from our very own state. Yes. When I see strong acting reels from talent I trust to be professional (yes producers talk) and have that right ATTITUDE (there is that word again) – I can put people right under the directors nose. I did that with David Gries without him ever even knowing it. If you haven’t had someone call you out of the blue because they respect your art – it is a great feeling. No cattle calls. No casting agent favorites. No wasting your time driving all over. More or less it is “You’ve done great work and we want you to once again do that.” So if you ever desire to work on a CDI associated project get your reels together. I use them as #1 because I want to see GAME FOOTAGE at GO time. I don’t want to waste your time because I respect your time. It is easy for someone to say come on in because it doesn’t hamper them. You are a number at a certain time slot. Not with us – you are an artists. Let’s see what makes you unique. I guess I follow that TREAT OTHERS HOW YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED. So congrats to fellow statesman David Gries. I’ll be seeing you in the desert and you better come packing:)
BESTSELLER – Music work underway
ASHES OF EDEN – Coming back to Lansing after being invited to East Lansing Film Festival
THE TERRORIST – Final sound work/color correction in NYC
This Friday as noted earlier Kalamazoo is having a big screen showing of IN THE WOODS the creature feature, at the Alamo Draft House. I think we are doing a TV show Friday morning. Several of the cast will be there for this reunion of sorts and we might have some fun news about where this film can be seen following the screening at the Q&A.
Lastly, I want to again thank my manager for her work as of late. You’ve got me in front of some A projects and I’m proud of how you present me as the unique artist. It only took me 15 years to find that right representation. I appreciate you.
I’m off to enjoy the day and I hope you all do as well.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 