Youth, Experience, Wisdom and Loss
(Finn waiting for his buddy Jake to race)
Hazelnut coffee cheers from your artist friend DJ Perry enjoying a cool non-humid morning. My furry boy woke me early to go do his races with his buddy Jake. A lady walks her dog daily and they meet at the fence and do a series of “bop and go” runs. That is one barks GO! And they both bop the fence with their snout and run down and back along the fence line. I was proud of him because he hates fireworks, even the word. But even after a morning barrage set by some young yahoos likely not even to bed yet, he still returned to run. Usually it was one BOOM and he’s done. Let’s follow this conversation with yahoos.
I was once a yahoo which is a young foolish, self-centered, invincible-acting youth. We use to have a massive 4th party at my buddies house whereas so many fireworks were set off. This was not a country house but in a neighborhood and I can’t imagine the amount of distress we caused homeowners pets. And now I live in the karma. Also since last Monday my week has had a sad background to it all. Dear friends of mine that I actually introduced and who celebrated 30 years together recently lost their son. I knew this young man since he was a baby on up. He was like a nephew before I had a nephew. He had a ultra loving home and he was a well mannered, kind and humorous soul. But much like myself and many other’s he occasionally sought a BUZZ to be more social. Not all buzz’s lead down a dark place and for many it is just a phase. For some it can lead to a tragic ending and that is what happened here. This new generation seems to have much more dangerous substances too readily available. I’m not saying alcohol isn’t destructive because it surely can be. It can cost friendships, marriages, health and life either in bad decisions or eating your vitality. I will mourn this loss for a lifetime because it came way too soon.
I use to drink too much in my younger days but it was by choice, boredom and to deal with some of the early setbacks and failures of trying to get ahead in the film industry. I see the battles many young actors and filmmakers are going through. I feel for them because their passion is like a disease. It can be devastating to believe you are meant to do something without the means to do it. But keeping a clear head and trying different avenues is slowly revealing a path to success. After several wrong turns through the maze you start to gain ground. Experience teaches you and prepares your emotions for rejection. I told someone recently, you know me for my 30-40% of success but not of my 60-70% of setbacks. I’ve been dealing with those setbacks even now. I get something in place and it unravels. I put a piece in place and another falls off. But that is the way.
My belated birthday trip to Greenfield Village on Friday gave me many of the same inspirational insights to success only after many failures. Henry Ford didn’t fall into success. Nor did Thomas Edison, Walt Disney or Milton Hershey. Poverty. Fires. Bankruptcy. Ridicule. The greats all faced it unless handed down the money and those individuals were usually a pale version of the visionary who suffered to create. I’m thankful to be alive with the opportunity to try to climb the mountains.
I’m ready to get back to work tomorrow and try to get the new projects on better ground. We have some amazing wins this year already but I’m trying to prepare to do that again next year. We are fighting to film more stories this year and do it proper. Let’s look at some film updates-
- The first Harsens Island Revenge trailer is almost done. I’m awaiting the final version so I can upload to CDI Films Youtube site and we can premiere it. It is really good and only a reflection of the powerful film but it will be a great teaser to get folks ready. I wanted to release it on my birthday (June 23rd) but we were waiting on new voice over. And I wanted to try and have it released by week’s end or even today/now but the full audio was being remixed with the new narration. We have artists who deeply care about the story and final product and it shows. I would not be surprised to see if come across my desk today sometime and if it does we’ll all have a glorious Monday kick off! Additional trailers and poster art will follow!
- This week I’ll also be sending the new HD trailer of KNIGHT CHILLS, CDI’s 1st feature film, to a few distributors. Adam Towner did a bang up edit job and it is such a joy to see the work from all those years ago being presented again. And with the popularity again of Dungeons and Dragons and fantasy role playing games I believe it will be a hit. The Blu Ray sales on the special edition were wonderful. Now we want to bring it right into people’s homes. Follow the film on Facebook for all the new updates including the new trailer!
- AN ORDINARY KILLER sales link for the special edition HD DVD is still being put together. The streaming deal on this dramatic and touching film will be signed this week. It will stream in December! Now that Adam Towner has finished the new Knight Chills trailer the AOK streaming trailer might be next on deck.
- Dean Teaster’s GHOST TOWN is now streaming and kudos to Brett Frame for his trailer for the new release. Go to TUBI to watch free with ads and it should start appearing some other platforms also.
- Work on “De-Noise” and Up-Rez on the other classic CDI films is underway. I want to get a sales site up for the double feature DVD’s of HEAVEN’S NEIGHBORS and FIGURE IN THE FOREST. FROM VENUS artwork is being worked on and I’ll be having more talks on that film also.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH the documentary on Catch-Can wrestling and the world champion Frank Gotch is being developed as a feature film biopic. We are making some ground there with UFC champion Randy Couture attached to play the famous trainer Farmer Burns, ironically related to our production designer GW Burns. We are working hard to try and align the financing on this story.
- Also in development is ROM COMS MUST DIE, a parody on the state of art in this day and age. Also the much awaited and anticipated sequel to WILD FAITH is aligning its financial pieces. It is a Christmas adventure with many of your favorite characters. If all goes as planned we’ll film in November of this year.
WRAP UP: I’m sure there are a few more updates I’m missing. But with the weather so nice and cool I have a list of things I want to get down on the property. I’ve been harvesting berries, mint, sage, red clover and more. I was given as a gift a beautiful metal owl that blows in the wind. I think I’ll attach a picture of it on here. The chickens have been gifting us eggs and they’re still a joy to watch strut around looking for food.
(Bubo the Owl)
I think I have an interviewer for a book coming to the fort/office tomorrow to discuss a past project. So I’ll go do a bit of straightening up there also. As noted above, this has been a hard week for many people who knew the young man who passed away. Our time here is limited and so make the most of it. Chase dreams and help others. You unfortunately can’t help everyone but that is why I love our stories. They reach tens of millions of people and spread that positive good energy. I’ll wrap this up here but I’ll look forward to chatting again with you next week. It will be the 4th of July weekend ahead so please do be safe. Until next time we meet, coffee cheers!
DJ
(Wright Brother’s homestead – true dreamers)
Deceleration Into Home Life- Basking in the Afterglow of Filming
Greetings to everyone out there. I’m really feeling good. I’ve come home to a true fall festival. The final harvests are underway. Rainy and cold I’ve already had several fires in the wood stove. I’ve had several wonderful conversations with cast, crew, sponsors, location owners and random folks associated with our last film Harsens Island Revenge around that fire. I feel like a bunch of returning vikings that sailed off across the sea on a wonderful adventure. Some are in the desert, some the jungle, the mountain and the rugged shores of Thunder Bay. I do miss the sound of the crashing waves and seabirds. The community was amazing like many have had the pleasure to call home for a while when filming. Yuma, Algona, White Hall, Hastings…we energize and bring communities to life via storytelling. I’ve seen the artistic fires ignite and burn bright with people we’ve met. The #CDItribe keeps growing!
Tony Hornus with our new sound team Travis and Cody!
Our set problems encountered were few due to great prep work by the team leaders and the reward was great with each day’s footage being the gold. I saw so many crew members inspired by the performances and the actors were inspired by the world created by the hard working crew. Debriefing is and has always been fun. We as producers debrief daily on set, sharing issues or victories of the day, prepping for upcoming needs and wants. Daily issues are discussed and via order of business tasks are handled. Port-a-johns, pontoon boat, military base clearance and the ‘to do’ list goes on. Hundreds of things happening behind the scenes and the goal always is to TCB (Like Elvis) in a non-distracting way. Aside from trouble shooting there is just the flow -Prepping payroll, paying payroll and accounting payroll: show+biz = motion picture production
Don Most takes his third journey with CDI. Quality talent continues to be drawn to our stories and I love the range and diversity that talent can showcase. I can promise you that this man in the middle brings a powerful performance to the film. It reminds me of when Rance Howard was excited about playing the Devil in the three biblical films. He was often cast as the good this or the good that so to play ‘the bad guy’ was a great thrill. Also it was great fun for the Howard clan who had not seen Rance with a beard in many years. I’m proud of all the performances and I think every actor will be proud to have participated in this movie. Follow our movie Facebook page as we are rolling cool pics out daily. Kind of inspired by trading cards of old we’ll be rolling them out. BTS, Officials, black and whites, intro to the militia and Purple Gang. Fun stuff! Check us out. Also we’ll be end of year updating the http://www.cdiproductions.com website. There is lots of cool stuff on our site about our creative group and our endeavors.
I have worked to settle back in until we take the next CDI adventure. That means props and craft service stuff goes back into storage. I think we are close to being at a stage or acquiring an enclosed trailer to store all the CDI stuff like tables, chairs, coffee makers, tents. Now with a growing transportation department I think we might be able to grow that. I’m very excited about this last production because we ran about 95% efficiency. It is hard to control that final 5% variable you can just react to it. But even next to Algona it was an easier shoot. But Algona was much winder and colder. That alone drains a cast and crew and putting up lights and flags in heavy winds becomes problematic. But the weather really was perfect with the cold front hitting on the last night showing us what we had missed. We’re just so excited about what we captured in Alpena. We will continue that tradition of great stories.
Today Marv Chickering who runs the Nativity Scene Museum in Algona, was gifted the beautiful RED LETTER AWARDS that the film received for best screenplay and best film. They will hang the pair of awards in the museum. SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA was made to showcase that towns beautiful story from 1944. That story can be seen by everyone on Dec 1st 2023 on Amazon Prime, Encourage TV and many other streaming platforms. Once I get a list I’ll announce that. Again follow our Facebook site for a lot of great updates on this beautiful film. I look forward to hearing the feedback which if matches the theatrical it will be well received.
I see that several thousand of you have watched THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ – thank you!
KNIGHT CHILLS– While organizing in the office I got to truly enjoy the HD version of the film. I could see the cracks of a 10k production budget and 10k post production budget in the 90’s. I enjoyed the documentary about the films place in the history of horror films. I love the editing they did around the interviews. Overall just a real joy. I’ll be reaching out to the distributor next week. We’re talking some expansion merchandise. I want to again say how much I love the Tom Miller fan art.
Knight Chills Blu Ray can be bought on many major outlets starting Oct 30th, 2023. If role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons is your jam, check it out. CDI first feature released 22 years ago and filmed 25 years ago. Lots going on with this franchise.
DEVELOPMENT – Lots of development thoughts and talks underway. We discussed this last week and I’m not going to go deep on this topic yet. We have several projects in development and we’ll see what synergy is created. I love the fall/winter as a time to birth ideas and new stories from my imagination.
(Axel, wardrobe test)
END OF WEEK THOUGHTS– My mind has already plotted out all the additional steps we need to take in post and once our clean up is completed we’ll be single focused on the post process. Many are feeling that deceleration sickness of riding on that artistic high for weeks traveling with so many and suddenly being solo and returning back to the quiet. I’m looking forward to my many meetings next week. Past, present and future all mixed into the journey. Proud of where I’ve been and what I’ve done and of now I’m doing. And always looking forward to what we will do in the years ahead. Plans have to be made ahead of time as these movies don’t always move fast. But we have many awaiting to see what the new stories and adventures will be. So am I. So I’ll keep on moving forward and we’ll see what happens. It has been nice to put Harsens Island Revenge’s Axel out to the island. I lived with him for quite some time and I love how he came out. I’m a happier person than Axel and so I’m happy to be back to 100% me. It is funny that I really don’t feel the urge to dress up and become on Halloween anymore. I get my fill of that with my acting roles. I don’t know what is next and that too is kind of exciting. Until next week!
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
The Train Keeps Rolling and Picking Up Steam. Enjoy your Journey!
Happy Sunday to all of you out there. I’m sipping at the Michigan Cherry coffee and trying to recall some of my events of the past week. I ended up sleeping in a touch this morning. This week I did lots of yard clean up after the long winter. We’re shortening the garden, moving the outside chimera pit and stabilizing the floor on the garden shed. The last one included driving some 12 inch spikes in various places through multiple blocks of wood with a sledge-hammer. I did have an amigo over to trade-off with the hammering. I felt like John Henry the story on the man who hammered his way through the mountain beating the machine before expiring. Yesterday, the second day after I was SORE! I worked my core, front and back to the max. It is funny how I am use to swinging the axe but the hammer was a new addition. But that is what keeps the ole body strong. Filling bird feeders, gathering wood and I still have a list of things to do this week. After being chained to the desk for several hours there is nothing like a good work in the yard. But I’m sure you did not come here to hear about yard work. But once you do the work and put it out there to the universe it is a good way to not watch the pot waiting for a boil. A good fire outside or in the wood stove along with some hardy ‘viking work’ is good for mind. Last night I watched my Spartans play in the Final Four. They lost a hard-fought battle, playing hard to the end. I would be happy if I had one of the top four films in the country. I think the only time we did that was with Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town we were the #1 western rental in the US for 7 weeks. (Rentrak) and stayed in the top ten for 17 weeks. Let’s talk movies.
Staying on the subject of westerns – WILD FAITH. Our Grand Rapids, MI run was extended. I have to see this week if we are still in Mississippi. I was told we are rolling into West VA but I will wait to see. There is a large push in the theatrical world for variety in films shown as seen in a recent VARIETY article. I think that Wild Faith is a powerful and entertaining film with a broad appeal. MyCinema is out there booking it across the country and we’ll see what communities it pops up in. I’m happy for anyone who gets to see it on the big screen as it plays great. I’m excited about the streaming and DVD release in May. I also hear tale that Walmart and other retailers will get it in June/July. I hope it makes it into Meijer like BOOK OF RUTH. Only because they have 1500 stores or so and it is one of my favorites. So if you get a chance to see it on the big screen, please do, you won’t be disappointed. I think you can pre-order DVD’s now on Christian Cinema and it should start appearing at more locations like Amazon, Target, Family Video… If you’ve seen the film hop over to IMDB.com and leave your review. I had a few great development discussions this past week which included talk on the Wild Faith TV series. Giddy Up.
THE QUEST TRILOGY – I had talks this past week that might also result in CDI doing another biblical trilogy. I’ve had one in development for a while with three great stories told from a unique point of view. Part 3 of the series THE CHRIST SLAYER is available on DVD and streaming now. If you contact your local theater and ask them to book via myCinema they can put it on the big screen. We might do a special screening here in Lansing, MI on the big screen. My AZ friends please do reach out to Harkins Theaters and request it. MyCinema books through there all the time and our Yuma, AZ friends deserve to see this on the big screen. I’m anxious to see where it appears this Easter season but I’m even more excited to see where all three travel in the years to come.
Here is a great Behind the Scenes of The Christ Slayer
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg5R9FHdETw
MBF: Man’s Best Friend – This week I plan to get an update on where we’re at with the dialog mix on the film. Our director is doing a sound design cue sheet and I cannot wait for music. The film is in that quiet phase while the other films do their thing but soon it will have its time. It is due to be delivered to our distributor on June 30th which is part of the decision for the next announcement.
LOST HEART – is the next film for us. It is a charming and beautiful story of going home. Of finding oneself and examining the mysteries of life. We’re still in talks on the last few investment units on this film. Next week the account will be opened and we have the first checks rolling in. We’ve got a few sponsorship opportunities underway with some great businesses. If you have an interest in getting involved on that end please reach out to me directly. Casting and Crewing is all through the CDI site. http://www.cdiproductions.com and we do have a few castings to go. I’m extremely excited to move into pre-production on this film and with a few more small pushes we will be there. We are targeting rolling cameras in July!
DEVELOPMENT – As was mentioned above we have several projects in development. I’m excited about the stories we’ve told and the stories yet to be told. With the nice weather ahead I look forward to days working on the patio. I will not ramble on with these plans as that’s a little early.
This week I am going to try to step out to our local film festival’s opening night gala and support all the artists pushing to have their vision seen. I don’t feel like a MACK trunk hit me today so that is good. I might do a bit more work in the yard – maybe the June Bday party/CDI gathering might happen. It was postponed last year because my furry boy Luke was near the end of his journey. Our new addition Finn has brought immense joy into our lives and for that we are thankful.
Have a great day and week ahead.
DJ
New “40 Nights” Website and more…
For the first time in many moons I have missed my Saturday blog. We are filming “40 Nights” a biblical era drama in Yuma, AZ. It has been a wonderful shoot but also a taxing one to my body. Shooting up in the mountains on uneven ground wearing sandals. Temps that peak around 90 degrees mid day and lots of dialogue to put forth in character. I’ve been behind on PR releases that are prepared and ready to roll out. I’ve had day after day of great scenes working with friends old and new. Here is the new .com website for the film
http://www.40nightsthemovie.com
We will be announcing the distribution for this film very soon. We had multi companies wanting this movie and we settled on the deal we wanted. We’re excited about everything surrounding the project. The movie is slated for a 2015 release.
The post on BESTSELLER is finishing up for its May premiere. It looks as if we’re going to have additional ASHES OF EDEN theatrical showings in AZ before the national home video release in May.
Lots of new developments on releases and upcoming projects but I have to wait for the PR releases to fully announce. So I’m going to hop off here and jump onto those releases. One more week to go on this project with lots of talented artists participating.
Keep clawing your way to the middle:)
DJ
Theatrical News & Talking CDI Updates
As I sit here sipping a bit more hazelnut coffee I ponder all the things we could touch upon this week. I also want to take a moment and thank all my readers from different countries. We are all cut from the same cloth just different mountains, trees and grasses. I just returned from running around this morning that included a stop at SEARS. I was stopped by someone I didn’t know smiling and pointing before asking my name. ASHES OF EDEN bringing in new fans and I love it. I know many friends, family and fans who went to (some are there now) in the theaters watching the film. It has been fun having one of the films play in our hometown/state. Let’s talk about that a touch…
In 2002 we shot AN ORDINARY KILLER and the only HD digital projectors were in California and traveling with the National auto show. We encoded for it and rented one of those traveling projectors for just under a week. We had the best theatrical run with 3,400 people in 5 days with 12 sold out showings and one still over 200 seats sold. We took those numbers to LA and at that time it would be a transfer to film and creating film prints. Shipping on those things was big $ and so P&A money would have to be spent. The thing is that we beat Harry Potter in that theater run but the cost of a theatrical was beyond us.
In 2006 we shot our smokey mountain western “Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town” and we ran it an entire summer in conjunction with a theme park. We sold steady but in a limited area but for many, many weeks. I would have loved to play more theaters but we refused to go back to DVD/BlueRay projection. The HD projectors by this time 2007/8 were only between 500-1000 in the USA and that was reserved for studio films billing the new Digital as they would IMAX or THX – bottom line too expensive still.
Now it is 2014 and I’m happy to report most all modern theaters are digital and we now have an in-demand film. This run is a partnership run not a four wall (rent out) and we are able to supply content. The cost is more in line and now theatrical could be part of our revenue stream. We will be opening CDI Theatrical and looking back into the CDI library to do some special screenings.
I will be going with some friends tonight to watch what could be one of the last showings at Celebration Cinema. Remark that I said at Celebration Cinemas:) Also we will be playing the film in the Detroit area and beyond but you have to wait for the official word on all that. We also had yet another distribution deal step forward that includes some possible foreign. I’m just happy that we are at a level where we can bring high quality content in the same format as the studios. Stay tuned for much more CDI action to grace the big screen!
“Bestseller” pick ups are about all set. By the end of this next week we will be locked up. Now my one pet peeve of the week. Insurance which we’ve always carried from film 1 at CDI. First you need to acquire high end gear not the small cameras and so these vendors require this. Next – we carry protection for our cast/crews because this is the right thing to do. Now again because we try to do everything right, note I said TRY, it costs. I was taken back because a one day pick up quote was near the same rate as our 18 day shoot prior. Because a new policy has to be started versus reactivating one. Anyway, we will do what we must but again I would bet a slew of filmmakers out there are running without insurance. It’s all good until something happens and it will, eventually. So stepping up is just part of playing as a professional I say but to the many who want to call themselves professional – actions speak louder.
“Supermodel Showdown, Costa Rican Adventure” was suppose to start streaming on Indieflix.com yesterday. I would love to hear from anyone who subscribes and watches the 1st three shows. www.indieflix.com
I had some good development talks this week and a few more investors interested in this project or that. So once I get past this final pick up on “Bestseller” I’ll be ready to look at some new projects. I’ve been picking berries for an upcoming wine batch. We shared some good homebrew and wine with my mother and friends at her belated Bday gathering. We smoked a pair of pork shoulders for 8 hours and that turned out great. Okay. Now I’m hungry.
Have a great week ahead!
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 