‘Harsens Island Revenge’ One Week In the Can! And Other CDI Updates!
Good afternoon from beautiful Alpena, MI where we are shooting our newest motion picture HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE. We had a strong start to our week finishing early every day but it is not a sprint but a marathon. We have some new department members that are getting their first taste of set life. You need to keep your mind clear and your body healthy. We’ve had a swing of temps from chilly to warm and back to nighttime chilly. My sinus have felt it on some days but that is part of the game. We’ve had wonderful views every day and each new and exciting locations. It is always exciting to see new actors arrive or new vehicles make their appearance. It gives a look into the revolutionizing of the world as we moved from horse and buggies to horseless carriages. From speakeasy’s to lighthouses we have been capturing just amazing footage. And we are making some new friends which is always a joy.
Co-Producer Tony with our sound team Travis and Cody
Tomorrow we are back at it filming at some rustic cottages from the 20’s. That is the amazing thing about the town is that many of the buildings are from that time period and new owners are just to restore them to their former glory or just preserve them as they were. We hear stories here from everyone about the Purple Gangs involvement. This is the same coast as Harsens and has the same rugged look and channels. We’ve heard of hitman living the low life here amongst the townspeople. This area was mainly lumber trade. And the performances have been just on point. That is something that our crew has been really happy with. The organization and the performances adding in all the locations and props.
DP Travis Hayward with Shane Hagedorn on screen
This doesn’t happen by accident. It is the hard work of our producing team and keys. Today is our day off but we were working up until 4:00 and Tony Hornus is still in the office lining up extras. He takes such care in the faces he brings to the screen and works hard to bring them into the story. It’s not policy but when I can I like to write paychecks out on the off day. I was really quite exhausted last night after filming but got up early to write cast and crew payroll. Today we also gave away a pottery piece from Reinert Pottery, one of our sponsors with the checks.
Me with Don Most and director Carl Weyant
We have two more weeks to go but we are getting into a groove. Folks have to get some sleep and take their vitamins today and let’s get after it.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA– I cannot recall if we talked about winning Best Screenplay and Best Film at the Red Letter Awards. We know have our home video release date of Dec 1st and I was told we’ll be one of four films highlighted at AFM in a few weeks. We are so excited to share this film with folks from around the world.
KNIGHT CHILLS which was CDI’s 1st feature film has been released on Blu-Ray and the special 1000 piece slip cover version sold out in a week. The classic edition can be still purchased at Vinegar Syndromes website. On Oct 30th several online retailers will start carrying it. We are in talks about some merchandise. Also discussions are underway to give FROM VENUS the same treatment.
WRAP UP:
My alumni MSU is not having a good game today I hear. I hope the Lions can kick it into high gear. I’m looking forward to capturing all the pieces of this film. And we’ll release SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA for the holidays. I’m going to lie low for a while and go to bed early for a 7am call time. I saw Randy Spence (My daddy in BEST YEARS GONE) a while ago and we have Garry Nation and Terence Knox in Alpena for the week ahead. It is nice to see these amazing artists. Melissa Anschutz is also on camera tomorrow bringing scenes to life. I will be excited to watch them work. Until next Sat! Coffee Cheers- yes coffee can be had at all hours on a movie set.
DJ
Discussions on Compensation and Advanced Release Dates
Good morning and welcome including our new readers from Bahrain. It is a peaceful morning with hazelnut coffee and a sleeping puppy. Michigan is foggy but without snow currently. I’ve been balancing all my post work, development work and family activities. First I will comment on a request for insight on a work question in-state (Michigan) in regards to compensation.
The symbol of the KNIGHT CHILLS franchise.
The first film CDI did KNIGHT CHILLS was unpaid cast and crew with us spending money on gear, food, props, FX (we crashed and blew up a car). Everyone was in the same boat. We were not even sure if we could shoot a feature film but intended to give our best effort. In the beginning a group of people with little or no resume experience may group together to take that first step.
On our second film we started paying cast and crew. Not extras and not PA’s but everyone else was paid what the budget could support. I will tell you that paying artists cast and crew is one of my favorite things to do. I remember an actor crying in a van when I handed out the first week paychecks. For this person and many it was the first paycheck these people had every received for their art. The act of paying was more important than the numbers scribbled on it. It was giving artists hope, pride and dignity after countless rejections in our business. In 1999 the film scene (Ha!) was much different. The opportunities many have now just did not exist. The only benefit I saw from the tax incentives was the acceptance of the “Film Business” in Michigan as a legit careeer path.
To this day we pay all our cast and crew but not PA’s and Extras. We feed and take great care with the extras and that’s where we meet many future cast mates. We create tiers for keys and department crew. We also have a two tier pay for union and non-union talent. Our feature rates are lower versus commercial rates. As I noted last week I believe one is an investment and one is a service. We’ve had a few outspoken crew people spoiled on a few good commercial payouts complain about rates. To these people – just pass. Don’t torpedo your ship because you can’t make a rate work for you. These people might have debt, high cost of living (beyond your means) or any other reason why they need to say no. But that’s not everyone. Also the positions on feature film sets are earned early on and crews often grow with the company. Those people who say “I’ll catch up later when you have larger budgets” often won’t. Because loyalty does mean something. If you’ve been the Director of Photography when they had nothing they will likely want to keep that DP as they move into larger budgets. Often if a crew gets out of line there are hundreds that would jump at the opportunity. But you have to be a company that finishes and releases films. People grow tired of putting blood, sweat and tears into a project that never finishes. I’ve got a couple of films I’ve been paid for but they never finished. A waste.
I like to say we will be defined by what we say NO to. I say NO a lot but politely as some people are just not where I would like them to be creatively. I know other companies and producers who do things very differently. Attacking them isn’t going to help and until you’ve raised funds and been responsible for millions of dollars – your opinion is pretty weak. That said, if you want to make your projects better, paying experience up front will keep you from paying for mistakes. Experienced actor means more options in editing versus that’s our one good take. Out of focus camera. Things left on set because art department last looks didn’t see something. Lack of hair or clothes continuity – all lack of experience.
My goals aside from making our days and getting our puzzle pieces (scenes) – I want every artists to 1) Have a lifetime experience that they will fondly recall like going to Summer Camp. 2) Become more effective in their craft and/or communication 3) Have pride in the final art
I’m not following anyone else’s business model but what we’ve developed over two decades seems to work well. I do think that audition notices should discuss compensation up front. Artists should not waste valuable time reading scripts, memorizing lines and putting down reads for something they will not participate in because of no pay. I will not work for free. I have a few times in the beginning because I wanted to get the experience and I wasn’t bringing the experience. But now I bring experience and distribution opportunities for any film I’m in. Like many of us I have life bills so I no longer work without compensation. I also like when a project is compensating everyone because the quality is almost always higher. I don’t really want to act with someone’s Uncle Phil that they threw in because he had the day off.
Like many in today’s society it’s easier to cast stones. I often see condescending messages back and forth that really is just strutting for an audience. If you don’t like the way things are done be the change. Raise the funds and do it right. Lead by example not by running your social media mouth. Bad producers will quickly get a bad reputation and when nobody wants to work with them, they disappear. I know many in this state that if they disappeared from the scene things might be better. Some bad eggs have already left the state because they burnt all their bridges and need new grounds to BS. If your experience is beyond a production not paying, just give a PASS. This allows a new talent/crew an opportunity to step up and learn. But people do pay dues. No certificate from a film school or program is going to automatically get you in a key position. Doing a great job will certificate or not. Now they have many great programs so the students come out with experience. But they too might have to work free or discounted to get the experience needed to move forward. OK. Enough on that subject.
BULLET POINT UPDATES AT COLLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT INC.
- Visit us at http://www.cdiproductions.com
- MBF: Man’s Best Friend is closing in on a 1st rough cut of the film. The first trailer was well received and the distributor is already talking theatrical.
- We are planning to release a BTS for MBF on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day as a thank you to our cast and crew.
- WILD FAITH will have a PR announcement later this week. We will be announcing a new wider theatrical release – they’ve been working on creating the short marketing trailers. The film will release into theater’s starting March 1st I’m told. More info here soon.
- WILD FAITH poster art is being worked on by the distributor. TV/Broadcast release will start 4/1/19
- WILD FAITH digital purchase 5/6/19 on Amazon and other platforms
- WILD FAITH DVD sales will be 5/27/19
- WILD FAITH digital rental with be 6/24/19 * day after my bday:)
- Streaming Networks SVOD (Netflix) and AVOD (Hulu) in early 2020
Part 3 of The Quest Trilogy – THE CHRIST SLAYER was announced with release dates. Here is the PR release from this past week. Read about it here.
https://www.prlog.org/12744411-the-christ-slayer-poster-and-release-dates-announced.html
Our distributor also released the poster art.
The film is looking and sounding amazing. It is one of the largest production value films we’ve tackled. The music honestly is some of the very best I’ve heard in our projects. But Dennis Therrian our long time composer is growing like all of us at CDI. We’ve just about got all the dialog and sound design completed. Here is me in the studio fixing a few lines.
This past week has also been development. We’ve got a few 2019 projects coming together. LOST HEART is being prepped for a Spring shoot. Talks on finally shooting KNIGHT CHILLS 2 have advanced. Also a few other exciting scripts that are being polished to possibly be put in the production line. Some exciting news about all this in the new year.
I’m going to go make some breakfast and go explore a bit with the new furry son Finn. Luke would have been very proud of this little gremlin:)
Have a great Sunday and a productive week ahead.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 