‘Harsens Island Revenge’ Has Roared Onto The Big Screen! (Plus other CDI Developments)
(Graham Turner showcasing one of the cast/crew mugs from our Reinert Pottery sponsor)
I woke to beautiful sunshine streaming in the window even though the outside is a touch chilly. We have flowers blooming and trees are budding and everything is starting to take on a beautiful green color. This past week I finally did my lawn mow and mulch. I finished my trimming of the apple trees and the mulberry trees might be next. I’ve loved that I can disconnect from the desk at times and go tinker on the property between business calls. I hope everyone had a nice Easter and carry that good feeling into the spring. We lost one of our hens to an illness and I buried her. The next day my lil mouse Jerry who I had been working to live trap and relocate got hung up on a sweet potato bag. When I say hung I mean just that found him dead. Poor lil dude was still warm I cut him free and tried to rub some life into him with gloves on but no dice. So another day and another burial amongst the raspberry bushes.
(The film is bringing family and friends together!)
Okay let’s talk movies! Friday up in Alpena the classic cars were out and the flapper dresses and soot suits made an appearance for the kick-off showing. Of what? Harsens Island Revenge of course. An afternoon showing for cast and crew and the public got to see the first showing Friday night! A packed house and that carried right into yesterday and I’m going to guess today. I know folks who have seen the film three times already. It plays great on on the big screen and I’m excited to see it play Owosso, MI starting on May 17th! That is the home town of the book author Karl Manke and fellow actor/producer Anthony Hornus. There will be an afterglow party there also. Lansing, Grand Rapids and Detroit bookings are underway. We will try to hit as many as we can put people need to reach out to their theaters and request it. You can see some great pics from the Alpena showings by going to the FB page of the same name. Also if you saw the film and what to talk about it you can put your review comments on http://www.imdb.com (Harsens Island Revenge)
The next film coming down the pike (funny term) is WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS. We are seeing a nice surge in viewing of the original film WILD FAITH. The sequel has a first pass on color correction and music has started as well as the opening credit sequence. This film will bring some of the favorite characters back to the big screen in November. The Season 1 that I have written might find its funding/footing we will see. I think fans of the first will really love this follow up and first time viewers will love the film. But they might be inspired to go back and watch the first film. Either way this amazing film is moving down the post process with Dennis Therrian’s music being currently created! Follow this film’s FB page for more updates.
ROM COMS MUST DIE the dark comedy about filmmaking and the first feature by Travis Hayward. On Monday we’ll watch the film on the big screen and see if we want any adjustments before we lock it. We are going to also look where we can add additional sound design. I completed my Voice Over work on Saturday so that will be laid into the picture. We’ll also discuss any tweaks to color correction and next week I should see a first trailer cut. This film is wildly unique and I think will be well received especially by artists. Follow this film’s FB page for more updates.
MISC.
- I did a VO for an MSU promo piece which was really cool because it is my alumni school!
- A new music video for SHALLOW RISING should be coming out soon!
- I sent the new Semi-Sci-Fi script THE KINGDOM CHIP to a few individuals for feedback. I’ve gotten some great feedback on the script and some input that had me tweak the dialog a bit on a few scenes and I like the flow much better. This is sitting with one of our directors and I’m awaiting their feedback.
- After ROM COMS MUST DIE (RCMD) will decided to do a few of these lower-budget films giving some new opportunities to artists. I have two scripts being evaluated and I’m working to identify directors and DP’s (Camera). While releasing these two big films it might be a good breather to do the smaller scope films for a beat. We had so much fun with RCMD.
- Last week I did a newspaper interview and two podcasts. Here is the Alpena newspaper interview– https://www.thealpenanews.com/life/2025/04/harsens-island-revenge-opens-tonight-at-sanctuary-cinema/
- Here is the ESPN podcast with 3PP – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr55Z78nMpo
- The other podcast is THE INTENSE LIFE and I will post next week once it goes live.
- Collaborations – I have a few follow up phone calls on possible collaborations. In these situations they have their own funds and want it done properly. A few of these include scripts already written and in development. In a few others it could have me writing the script. It all starts with the script.
- This week I talked about the post film work but it will be diving deeper into the development. Even typing here has helped me put everything into perspective. I think I know the direction I want to take. I’m anxious for some feedback this week that will help influence those decisions.
- Again if you have a theater near you and you want the film to travel to your back yard please contact the theater management and request the film. If you can pass on the contact info I will put that into the hands of our theatrical booker!
WRAP UP: What a week! I want to thank all the wonderful fan mail I received for the performance in Harsens as ‘Axel’ the WW1 vet who assists our lead Frankie (David Reardon) in his situation with the Purple Gang. We will try to get some more reviews done and announce some new theater dates! In the meantime the film will play in Alpena for at least the week maybe longer. A trip to Alpena would be fun and you could see a film too in that beautiful Sanctuary Cinema. Thank you to our friends there! I’m off to make a few eggs and work in the yard today. It is really looking good and soon the summer zen will be upon us. Until next week be good to one another!
Coffee Cheers!
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
Springing Ahead – Updates All Across the Board
(A moment from part 3 of The Quest Trilogy: The Christ Slayer)
Hazelnut coffee cheers on a sunny but chilly morning in Michigan. I have had a productive week that left me ready for a recharge. I started last Sunday with a wonderful VIP back stage tour of our local zoo Potter Park. I’ve been going there since I was a wee lad with my grandfather and family. It was nice to get to meet and greet some of the animals up close. Petting the rhino was probably the highlight. What an amazing animal and I truly hope we do leave it alone to survive in the wild for many, many years.
Monday was a morning of business which we’ll get into more but the afternoon was sitting in studio with ROM COMS MUST DIE editor John McGraw and Director Travis Hayward. We watched, stopped, tweaked scenes using primarily the director’s input. Once all those changes are made final we’ll be close to locking the cut. The film really is an entertaining and unique parody, dark comedy about the state of our industry. It talks about the desire of actors that can sadly dip into desperate. Filmmakers that will almost do anything to get that passion project launched. It was an all-star cast and it shows. Plus you got to see folks doing comedy which is a nice change. I was going to record some VO but had to wait. Why?
I’m now in the final stages of an implant for a tooth that cracked below the gum line. I tried to nurse it and keep it but in the end it had to go and be prepped for an implant. The post got put in and that was an easy enough process (not on the wallet) and is healing. I’m taking a week off from wearing a bottom retainer I’ve had for years that just keeps the bottom teeth from shifting. It gives me a funny voice naturally and so I wore it in ROM COMS MUST DIE. I need to wear it to do my VO (Voice over) and so we decided to wait. We also have one flashback pick up scene to film. We wanted a different season and with the snow melting we will likely film it in April. But the first few days were soft foods like soup so I had to limit my food choices. The good news is zero pain. So I’ll take it.
I had a meeting that is for a couple possible new films that got pushed to Monday. And I was back at the McGraw studio on Friday for the last meeting of the week. I’m going to pull pulling together a feature film script from all the story pieces they have. This will result in some associated CDI/McGraw films and this one will be a good one. I’m truly blessed to have a mind that easily orders a story into script format. I also had a development talk with our Harsens Island Revenge director Carl Weyant. But I’ll discuss that film soon but he has a few developing stories that he wants me to consider scripting and producing with CDI and his production partners. This week I’ve also been finally writing a script that has been sitting up in my head. I haven’t had this impulsive inspiration since the biblical trilogy.
THE QUEST TRILOGY were three films we shot in and around the desert of Yuma, AZ. I’ve said this many times that if these films represent your path of faith or parables with positive lessons they are worth watching. They are beautiful in their presentation and showcase little known parts of scripture. They can be watched on Amazon, Tubi, Encourage TV (YouTube) and more. You should watch them in order of FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. In these times of negativity and division sometimes you need a good dose of positivity. These films will do that and not in a preachy way. So for this and every Easter season or any season, watch all three. They are the type of films that you will take something new away with every watch.
Back to the script I’ve been writing last week and I’m going to look to finish this week is a follow up to these three films. I don’t want to get into it too much here but it is a unique presentation. I think people will really be drawn in by the story. I plan to finish this while I get the McGraw script loaded into my software and prepped. I have and always used Movie Magic software. Before that it was a typewriter. Go to a museum if you don’t know what that is. I think I might have mentioned that I finished last week my rewrite on the 8 shows for season one of WILD FAITH: HASTINGS. I had to rewrite to take place after our sequel script Wild Faith Christmas.
Wild Faith Christmas is in the final editing pass while our composer Dennis Therrian is reviewing and starting to sketch out some musical pieces. We have heard some of them already and it is once again incredible. Director Shane Hagedorn is evaluating color correction and the opening credit sequence. This follow up to WILD FAITH is powerful, heart warming and we had tears in the test screening.
The next big treat for audiences is about to be Harsens Island Revenge. Action. Romance. Slick storytelling that brings the 1920’s to life. The film is done. It is being prepped for delivery to home video which is looking to be 10/1/2025. But the theatrical version is done and will be tested next week and if we are all good the premiere and 1st run will be set. The film took a few weeks longer but we wanted it to be perfect. The film will start with an Alpena, MI run. We’ll be looking at other Northern cities but also bringing it down to Owosso, Lansing, GR, Detroit. After that we’ll be expanding into several states and thrilling audiences with this exciting story based on Karl Manke‘s book of the same name. So fingers crossed that we have no tech gremlins and we’ll get this party started.
MISC NEWS:
I’ve got a story I contributed to another Baker Book House collection on bird stories coming out this year. This one centers on our first experiences with raising chickens. It is nice to write for these books and I’ll be grateful to Callie Smith aka Lonnie RIP who brought me into this circle of writing. I hope to keep doing it for many years to come.
My other big task is ‘spring cleaning’ at the office. I ordered a new corner shelf to help organize many of the business assets. But that is requiring several shelves and such to move around. I’ve started to prep for it but it will be a several afternoon endeavor. But I plan to put the needle on the record and listen to jams while building, moving and re-organizing. My goal is that by next Friday the upstairs of the office we be back and much better organized. With a nice week ahead I might be able to start clean up on the property. Big plans for the new year and I’m looking forward to it. I did some wood prep for the wood stove tonight. Once past the season I have a chimney sweep going to come in and give everything a professional clean.
Lastly, the end of year movie work is almost done. K1’s are going out which report returns to investors for their taxes. The movie taxes have all been filed. My personal taxes are submitted and so that part of the filmmaking game is almost all done. We are going to be meeting (legal & accounting) and talking about how we can streamline biz moving forward. We are growing and we have to keep up with that growth. The cold weather has been perfect for these end of year tasks. I’m looking forward to working and holding some meetings from the new deck. The chickens might get some improvements and upgrades since eggs are like gold now. Looking forward to planting our veggies and herbs and I like to wildcraft collect berries from our trees. I might have to put a trim on the mulberry and apple trees. A new system for the wood chopping and storage will be coming into play. I might consider a small greenhouse. We will see said the wise man.
WRAP UP: I’m going to wrap it up here. I might get after a few of those eggs I was talking about. I might do some more yard or office prep. Movie star stuff like dog poop or stick pick up. I want to start adding some running to my work outs as soccer season is right around the corner. I need to prep for some landscaping to fill in where the old deck stairs once were. A retaining wall needs to be addressed before we do too much to the under-deck. Everything is always an evolution and I enjoy that tinkering as my grandfather use to put it. I have some of my best ideas while engaging in this puttering about. But spring is in the air and I for one am really ready. The winter was harsh and even now the cold hangs on. But the birds are returning and soon plants will start to sprout. I will be planting more clover in the yard again this year. It is good for the animals and is beyond beautiful. Until next week I hope you have an amazing week. I hope to have good news to report next week on our theatrical tests and my office organizing.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Loss, Gain and Everything In-Between – CDI Updates!
Good morning from an icy Michigan. I’m sipping on the hazelnut coffee and about to give you some of the updates. Let’s start first on the personal level. I want to send out healing wishes to CDI tribe member, actor and friend Greg Mason who had a heart attack. I spoke with him and he is doing better but has a road to recovery ahead of him. Also in your life you have women aside from your mother who are like a mother. I had three really, my real mom, my babysitter mom Marie DeFord and lastly spending three summer sin Denmark I had my Danish Mom Gerd. I won’t use her last name for respect to the family who might not want the attention as they mourn her loss. I was 16, 18 and 20 when I stayed with her and their family. It was when I played soccer overseas and was the assistant coach and the head coach. She and I would drink coffee and talk history of Denmark and places around the world. She really loved Egypt. We have stayed in touch over these last 35 years and I was shocked and saddened to hear that she passed recently. I know her large family is really feeling the loss. My heart and prayers of peace go out to them.
I’ve been nursing a head cold after not being sick for a long time. I think cold weather and long days filming finally got me. That said, I think I’m on the tail end of it today. I still allowed myself to do a lotta desk work. This week I will have more to organize but CDI has been very busy with the 3 films moving down the line. Let’s take a look shall we-
Harsens Island Revenge – This movie is truly so cool. The look, the story, the acting, the clothes and the music. The challenge is to find our place in the market being filled with schlock. We are looking at an extended roll out theatrical. The final tech touches were being done to the 4k master this weekend. Once we have that and a DCP can be created we’re looking to premiere first in Alpena. So all those folks in Alpena start your call-in campaign to the Sanctuary Cinema and ask for the film. The issue we face is good projection but small seating and they have to dance around the studio films. I had a good conversation with Dreamscape Prods who looks like we’ll partner with for the roll out. Once we have Alpena premiere done and the theatrical run underway we’ll move to Owosso, MI and the NCG theaters. From there Lansing and Grand Rapids, MI which will likely be Celebration Cinema. And Detroit, MI where we’ll explore Emagine and some of the chains there. I explored The Henry Ford Museum and I think the cost against us is too great. We need to start our recoup with theatrical not dig a hole. I need to get final confirmation this week but we’re talking about Oct. 1st (4th Q) release of DVD and buy/rent streaming in 2025. Prior to that it will be playing multiple cities across the country with this cool WW1 vs Purple Gang film based off Karl Manke’s book. It is coming and when it does it will be a wonderful thing. I think many 1920’s type parties are being planned around the premieres. We already have some event centers that wanna do dinner and viewings but that will run after the main theatrical run. Or at least towards the end after audiences have a chance to see it in the theaters which is best sound and picture. This film is beautiful and sounds great so we want that experience for our audiences first.
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS – This film is the next adventure following WILD FAITH and we’re all so excited. Having big shoes to fill due to the popularity of the original I am thrilled to say that the sequel will live up to it. The magic is back from the original and introduces so grand new elements. Our director Shane Hagedorn has been working on the trailer and it is powerful! It has moved into sound design this weekend. I know some poster art is being discussed and with such fine elements/pictures from GW Burns the poster will be great! We are looking to lock the film end of the month and move it into sound design and music with Dennis Therrian. The plan is to release it into theaters Nov 1st and play it until Easter. After that we’ll let it rest during the summer as the home video marketing team prepares for 2026 Holiday push to DVD and streaming. It all has to follow a roll out plan. But I’m so excited about this film and I think all of you will be also. For the tens of millions of fans we are bringing you another adventure.
ROM COMS MUST DIE or is it ROMCOMS MUST DIE – Hmmm…. This film is a mash up of two popular genres that is currently the trend. Romantic comedies and mindless horror – but what we created was a dark and zany film that really has a lot to say about our industry. The plight of filmmakers, actors and the uphill battle to create art. Travis Hayward has directed his first feature film for CDI in association with McGraw Multimedia. We’ve already laughed and been thrilled by raw footage played on the HUGE LED wall. This film might be ready for a premiere this October 2025 with home video being May 2026. We will have fun with the marketing of this film. It was truly written out of frustration from distributors development meetings. We all felt as though we were creating something very special. It is being edited as we speak and I believe it will move quickly down the post line.
NEXT MOVES – Okay this is the 3rd time I’ve typed this and it has disappeared. I’m already having issues with pictures. But what I was saying was that we are going to work on trying to re-master the final three films in the CDI Classic Collection (From Venus, Heaven’s Neighbors, Figure in the Forest) * On DVD the later two can be found at the http://www.cdiproductions.com STORE.
- I’m exploring a new film transfer of WICKED SPRING for a new Blu Ray.
- The Ghost Town book will be next up with CDI Literary.
- I’m exploring a Blu Ray of The Quest Trilogy. Our three biblical adventures.
- Knight Chills is now streaming on Free4All, Xumo and more emerging – Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognETSVqirEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognETSVqirE
- An Ordinary Killer is now on ROKU and might look into this film and Ghost Town to Historyfix.
WRAP UP: I thought I might have one of several script writing options locked in but nothing yet. So I plan to finish the WILD FAITH Hastings shows. I might be taking on a script for McGraw Multimedia which will be another feature film working with them. We have a few other projects in funding development as we speak. I think we’ll get a few more shot this year to release next year.
I’m very pleased with how the year has started off and I’m going to remain focused and work hard. I’m looking forward to springtime so the garden can grow and soccer season will be here again. I shared some of the teas I grew and harvested this holiday season. We have enjoyed an on-going supply of eggs which is where I’m about to go now. Nature is the great energizer and balancer of the self.
I hope all of you continue to follow your dreams. It will be a very interesting year with all these stories coming to audiences worldwide. As some of the losses last year and this year have shown, life passes so live it. Enjoy it. Don’t let fear of failure hold you back. Learn from set backs and use that to build. I’m so appreciative that you all stop through to bask in these words. Don’t hate. Create.
Until next week my friends, coffee cheers!
DJ
Hello Germany! And CDI Updates Across the Board.
(HELLO Germany!)
Good morning! I don’t know what caused the surge in views in Germany but I sure hope they hear my plea to have SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA play there. Or have a distributor open-minded enough to want to license the film. It is a WW2 (wait don’t run!) film that takes a more even look at the events. It is a based on the true story of German PW’s held here in the USA midwest. Hundreds of thousands kept here during the war. Most farmers and citizens forced to fight who surrendered versus facing sure death. It doesn’t white wash some of the “evils” but also explains how not all were involved and even Germans had much to fear if orders were not followed. I know the feelings of many Germans because we have German investors who wanted to get this story out. Our distributor has had trouble getting a German distributor to bite and trust me I understand. The USA from slavery to Native Indian treatment has its own evils. But I assure everyone the story is beautiful and unifying if nothing else. So how or why we had such a surge of German viewers is unknown. I’ve had several films released there and I have German ancestors myself. But if you read this please do seek out our WW2 drama and let me know your thoughts here. I was the screenwriter and supervising producer as well as playing the camp’s commanding officer. The film is playing TV here in the USA and is available to rent and buy on multiple platforms. It will be going to free ad based watching mid year. I hope this is a film everyone can watch and take something away.
Although it is snowy outside and cold Easter will be coming soon. In 2026 part 1: FORTY NIGHTS will be ten years old. I’m slowly working on a book that would be about the making of the trilogy. Part 2: CHASING THE STAR and Part 3: THE CHRIST SLAYER. I think the name of part 3 turned some away but I assure you it has heart and meaning. I’m also looking to see these three films packaged into a special Blu Ray box set. I have to see if the distributor plans to do anything of the sort or I will look to have it done elsewhere. I want to encourage everyone this season to go to Youtube ENCOURAGE TV and watch all three in order for free. I still love to watch if I’m having a down moment in life. There is beautiful camera work and great points to ponder.
Harsens Island Revenge had a big screen test to see if any visual tweaks needed or wanted to be fixed. It played so well on the big screen and our test group only found a few tweaks which this weekend were being corrected. And this week our director Carl Weyant and post supervisor Dennis Therrian will do the last audio review on the 5.1 mix. From there we are ready to deliver. That means 4k version rendered. I will be reviewing the home video agreement and theatrical at week’s end. We will start looking at all the premieres we want to do will following theatrical runs.
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS – At the large screen showing of Harsens Island Revenge we were treated to a first look at the rough WFXmas trailer. It was nostalgic and powerful to see the old faces and the new ones. Also the beautiful camera work and results from our hard work in November of last year. The film is looking to lock visual and move to music and sound design at the end of the month.
Speaking of that beautiful camera work in those above two films- Travis Hayward was the artist behind the camera. He has handed the camera work to John McGraw as the Director of Photography and sat firmly in the directors chair for ROM COMS MUST DIE. (RCMD) This dark comedy makes fun of both the romantic comedy and horror genres in the best way. This week we start our in-studio days and if it is anywhere as fun as the first block, excitement awaits. I’m enjoying my return to the genre and in a fun way versus the dark intensity of past films like THE 8th PLAGUE or BESTSELLER. So seek out our Facebook page and follow all the progress on this fun film.
Speaking of horror genre which so graciously gave me my start. IN THE WOODS my first creature feature is now on Blu Ray with streaming planned for later in the year. (Likely Oct) AND CDI’s first film a PG-13 slasher KNIGHT CHILLS just hit the streaming market for the first time ever. Both have books and other fun stuff that is releasing with it. Right now the snow is causing internet issues but the film is streaming on #FREE4ALL on Youtube! More platforms will come on line but I’ve watched this one. It is remastered and for a 90’s film it holds up all right. So if Dungeons and Dragons and Sword and Sorcery is your thing, take a watch. If firefighters battling monsters is your thing but the Blu Ray!
MISC OTHER: I’ve been wrapping up end-of-the-year movie tax stuff and finally have almost have my personal tax stuff ready to send in. There is a lot of things to do with small business and I’ve grown to embrace it. It is what keeps me from working a job I don’t enjoy. So I’m smiling and doing the desk work which is made easier by the freezing temps outside. Not much else to do. But we have Corp Filings and K1’s to investors forthcoming but the 1099’s are all out.
I’m looking forward to returning to script writing. I want to finish the last couple WILD FAITH HASTINGS show adjustments. I need to circle back on a few of the writing opportunities and see if any are ready to move ahead. I also have a few scripts I want to pour out of my head. But this week I’ll focus on the final days of this role. FUN FACT: Kay Burch who is DJ Burch (One of our young Wild Faith Christmas leads) mom is in our current film. When he saw me at first without the Ben Lily beard and with black hair he did not recognize me. It is fun changing from character to character.
2025 is off to a good start creatively and while I’m sure the year will have its challenges it should have its celebrations as well. We have a few projects in funding development and so if you have any interest feel free to reach out. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next. The marketplace is in flux some with Amazon changing the payout formulas and who knows what the tariffs and such may bring. We’ll just keep the ship steady and so far so good.
I’m going to wrap it up and do a little daily line study. I also need to get a few last things around for travel to the studio in the morning. The nice thing is rather than a 45 min travel like last block of shooting I have a 6 min travel. I hope all those in the cold stay warm. I’ll be stoking up a good fire in the woodstove at the office later. But first some fresh eggs and more coffee. I hope everyone has a great week. In closing I feel bad for the lives loss with the aviation accidents. Tragic events. I hope they make the improvements needed to keep things safe. So stay safe everyone!
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
CDI UPDATES – “Don’t be afraid to try or fail or to be ridiculed.”
Good morning on what will end up being a very chilly next couple days. I’m sipping the ole hazelnut coffee and I have several thoughts running through my head. First after a fun season our Detroit (MI) Lions football team will not be going to the Super Bowl. They had a great season but they played a talented team and their errors tipped the game in their opponent’s favor. How many times do we do that? Our own errors tip something against us? This awareness is called accountability. Many want to blame external factors but you have to look at the internal factors also.
I also awoke to do a brief morning scroll that has unfortunately replaced the “reading the newspaper” time with that first coffee. I saw news concerning a young actor/filmmaker that I don’t know personally but is friends of several of my Detroit area associates. He had a heart attack and died. My first thought was way too young. I also recall the postings over the years where he lamented the struggle of our business. On a positive he went out chasing his dream and even had some success. On another note, his struggle is over now just rest. A slew of RIP’s and messages of love and soon his day to day presence fades as the rest of us keep on. I was actually thinking of several friends who have passed no longer in the game of life. Another reason to enjoy it and don’t be too hard on yourself. We will all live our lives of ups and downs until there is only rest. My thoughts are with the family of this young man.
I’ve been working very hard on all the projects including the new film we are about to start filming in a week. I’ve been getting the business done on these cold days chained to the desk. I’ve been enjoying creating a new character to bring to the screen and I would say he is close to being ready. It is a comedy and I’m excited to do another one. Humor and laughter are one of the great things in life. We are down to some of the main issues being parking at a location so that is a good place to be. The project for those who have not been following along is ROM COMS MUST DIE. It is the first feature directed by Travis Hayward and a reunion working with John McGraw who was a friend from the earliest days of CDI. I have a few solid days of work still required but we are almost all ready. Let’s look at a few other projects that will release in 2025.
Harsens Island Revenge has been worked over with a “fine tooth comb” to make it the best we can. It is being evaluated for theatrical and I plan to get word tomorrow. It is being reviewed by our home video distributor and talks on finalizing that on Tuesday. I did let a sneak peek go out to an awards/event organization that we’ve been nominated by and won awards from in the past. The film has many positive values and lessons to it but wraps it in action and some historical violence. I wanted to submit it to a 3rd party unrelated to the project. I’ve never met the people or even spoken by phone with anyone at the event. They reviewed and I received a wonderful message about the film. A follow up phone call had me listening for the good part of an hour about the film and what makes CDI films stand out so much. I think it is because I don’t follow the trends or what not. We don’t jump on any bandwagons and always choose unique stories to tell. I will say that the story was well received and it has been nominated for BEST PICTURE. I’m sure there will be some other nominations but I’m just happy that the story connected with outside parties. I’m thrilled for the nomination because it represents ALL the artists. I will release more on this when the event announces more. But it was very encouraging to hear the feedback. I think all the films are special but they are our “children” so to speak. But we are creeping closer to setting up the premiere runs. I’m very proud of director.editor Carl Weyant’s first feature film collaboration with CDI.
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS is done with the first pass on editing and has been in the polishing pass for several days. I plan to see the film this week and soon we’ll lock it up and get it to Dennis Therrian to start dialog, music and sound work. Shane Hagedorn the director is very happy and said it is full of gems. By gems we mean scenes with moments of strong emotion. I know that a trailer and official director’s poster are in the works. We hope to have this film playing in theaters for this 2025 holiday season (Nov 1st) so we are moving along nicely to hit that goal.
MISC UPDATES:
- KNIGHT CHILLS, our 1st CDI film from 1998 is preparing to release on streaming on 1/31/2025 on several platforms. Amazon, Tubi, Roku, Xumo and more!
- HERE is a fun round table Indie Film Cafe review on KNIGHT CHILLS – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlAe0Gbnzrs
- Also IN THE WOODS my 1st starring role Creature Feature got the 25th anniversary Blu Ray treatment and here is a cool interview with the director Lynn Drzick – https://fb.watch/xcQnN7O1jE/
- There is talk of appearing at a few conventions in the state to promote the horror film properties. We will see but one being discussed is in April in Muskegon, MI.
- AN ORDINARY KILLER is released on The Roku Channel now! It has been remaster and looks beautiful. Furthermore the watch now benefits veterans and their families being managed by a non-profit.
- We are going to be doing some remastered tests with the final 3 films in the CDI Classic Collection starting with FIGURE IN THE FOREST. This film was the first starring role for Dean Teaster. He has been creating some great characters in our recent films and you can see the talent right from the start.
- I’m going to be working to prep a few more of the books based on CDI films to become available. Music and soundtracks would be nice we will see what we can do this year. Merchandise is up on the STORE http://www.cdiproductions.com site. Let us know what you would like and we’ll try to make it available.
- CDI Highlight Reel and a few personal actor reels need to be cut. I will work towards that end when I clear some of this end of year stuff off my desk.
- Development on a few new projects is underway so if you have some interest in seeing some films being made and want to get involved you can always reach out and see what we have cooking. I know we have two projects in active funding as we speak. It is a cycle of develop, produce and release. We have a great group of backers and we’re appreciative to them all.
- SPONSORS. If you have a company that wants to align your company with other great brands like PEPSI, SMITHFIELD FOODS, HERSHEYS, HORMEL, TRU-HILTON and more…reach out. We are accepting sponsors on our current film right now!
WRAP UP: I’m going to eat a bran muffin and refill the coffee cup. I’m going to send some communications out to our art team on the next film. After I might gather up a few more props and work a few lines. I have company this eve at the office/fort so I’m going to get the fire kicking! I’m appreciative of the journey I’m on. The great support of family and friends in and out of the business of film. I’m happy for the challenges as they force me to grow. One day I too will breath no more, be concerned no more and just be at peace. But until that day I’m going to keep doing what the young boy in me always dreamt of doing. I hope each of you keep chasing your own dreams. Don’t be afraid to try or fail or to be ridiculed. I recall those distant days and while hurtful those folks were motivators. But you must motivate yourself. I hope my actions alone motivates others. Until next week-
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Using the 10% Success to Create Momentum
(2025 is underway and CDI is preparing to shoot our first feature of the new year)
Hazelnut coffee cheers on a beautiful white snowy Sunday. The air is bitter and crisp as we venture into our new year. I’ve been moving things right along in with end-of-the year things I’ve got to do. Business tax wise I just have a few things to get over to the accountants. I have yet to tally the data for my own personal taxes. I use to dread or at least look upon these tasks semi-negatively but have adjusted that to just be a thing. Just another TO DO that has to be checked off to keep everything moving. I thanked the great team I have around me last week. That makes it easier and enjoyable. I’m really appreciative of the relationships I have with people.
(Pre-production during a MI snowstorm)
Before we get to deep on the exciting developments I do want to say how heavy my heart has been watching these LA fires. I’ve spent lots of time there in my early years of getting established. We use to take 2-3 week-long business trips out there to set up distribution, launch projects and network. I’m not a big city person but always preferred LA over NYC. I’m not a person who likes crowds. You won’t find me at too many giant concerts, festivals or sporting events. I don’t like traffic which exists in all big cities. I do like the dry heat versus humid heat. But I did/do enjoy my visits to LA. Mainly because of the friends and the long tradition of our film business there. I have been concerned for many years about their increasing wildfire breakouts and decreasing water supplies/levels. It’s just hard to watch people who have lost everything. What do you grab or take in such an emergency. The landscape of LA/Hollywood will be forever changed. How it will effect the movie business I do not know. But many in that industry will be focused on rebuilding their lives. Again my sincere thoughts are with all the people there. The air, water and more now toxic- and their hearts heavy with loss.
(Adam Towner enjoying the synergy)
Longtime labeled the “backwoods’ here in Michigan when it comes to our industry. But I can say for many years that this has been the foundation to build upon not a temporary stepping stone. I don’t and haven’t ever been one who longed for a Beverly Hills address or to work tethered to the west coast studios. I’ve been creating, growing and enjoying the artists I’ve been blessed to work with. 2024 was a great year of doing and prepping and now 2025 will see the manifestation of many of these projects. Other new endeavors will begin to flourish in 2026. This past year saw some of the older films remastered and brought to market. Book division launched. New merchandise store launched. We will continue to grow these fun extra divisions also. Let’s look at some of the exciting things coming.
- Harsens Island Revenge – as with any of the films where we build a “world” or in this case a time period. We’ve combed through to fix anything that is out of that time period. Like any of the films produced by us or others you can and will find misses. Like we say, if you are just looking for misses and not engaged in the characters and stories we did not do our job with you. But for some that is something they like to look for usually after the 1st watch. Our film is done. We found in the last proof a pair of glitches and a pair of format issues with end credits. That is fixed. We found a few out of period, hard to notice “misses”. We fixed what was fixable without adding great expense of time and/or money. Most will never see anything since movie making is like the magician, a master of misdirection. But there might be 1-2 “time travelers” or there might not be. Maybe I just want to encourage you to watch the film several times. WHAT IS NEXT? Our theatrical rep and our home video distributor have had the screening review link. We’ll circle back this week and look to put pen to paper on our deals. Once that is locked we’ll set of premieres because in most cases we want to premiere to be the launch of a theatrical run. The questions are a platform (all same release date) or a roll out (different release dates) and do we push for one weekend or week only to create urgency or allow the film to play in a territory as long as it will justify screening. We’ll also look at a small group of festival showings which we will coordinate with our director. I know many are eager to see the film and trust me when I say we are eager to show it. We just have to follow an order of business but the film is exciting and it is coming! We just wanted the best product possible!
- Talking about releases we have a tight post schedule if we want to get WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS onto movie screens Nov 1st, 2025. I’m proud to report that our director Shane Hagedorn has only 4 scenes left to edit. That was as of yesterday and so even as I type that number may be less. Shane has an awesome level of discipline and has been getting up early 5am almost daily to edit for a few hours. That got us here as quickly as it has. Once the 1st cut is done he’ll work a second pass polishing and working on transitions. A good secret to a smooth flowing film is to pay attention to transitions as a writer, while filming and in editing. It can be with visuals or dialog. EXAMPLE: A teapot blowing steam transitions to plumes of smoke billowing from a train engines smoke stack. Transitions can make a film stronger.
- As of Friday our next film ROM COMS MUST DIE passed the point of no return. All paperwork signed and all funds collected. The account will be opened on Monday and that will also be the day our final schedule and agreements will start to get sent around to cast and crew. This is going to be the first feature length film directed by our friend Travis Hayward. Travis started his journey sometime around FORTY NIGHTS, the first in our biblical trilogy filmed in Yuma, AZ. He was the 2nd AC and I recall him struggling a bit from his sinus allergies and working into a full size crew. The first DP gig was when I put him on a concept film WASTELAND we shot in The Valley of Fire, outside Las Vegas. As he worked his way into performing as a director of photography on several CDI projects he was also directing short format projects. The first for us was the OFF TO THE RACES music video for the winner of the Battle of the Band (Vertical Bridge) for BEST YEARS GONE motion picture. Now reunited with CDI’s John McGraw who will take on the DP/editor duties on RCMD, Travis will sit in the director’s chair and we’re all very proud of Travis and his journey. Cameras roll towards the end of the month. It is also our first test of partnering with McGraw Multimedia shooting some of the film on location and some in-studio. LIGHTS. CAMERA. ACTION!
- Talking of early CDI beginnings, the first feature film we did was KNIGHT CHILLS. Shot in 1998 it was a beta cam film about folks playing a Dungeons and Dragons like game. The 25th anniversary Blu Ray was released and can be bought full of extras. But for the 1st time ever the film will be streaming as of 1/31/2025. The film was remastered and remixed and we even just re-released the book on Amazon. If you want to see the humble beginnings of CDI we encourage you to take a look.
- Two of CDI’s past films DEAN TEASTER’S GHOST TOWN and AN ORDINARY KILLER (AOK) can be watched streaming now thanks to Ammo Content. The 1st being our Smoky Mountain western available on Tubi and other platforms. The GHOST TOWN IN THE SKY theme park DVD can be purchased at the EBAY STORE website on the http://www.cdiproductions.com website. AOK is on The Roku Channel and will expand to more in time. That film was remastered to help The Red White and Blue Project, a non-profit that benefits veterans and their families.
- Following this trend we are going to have our friends at McGraw Multimedia see what they can do to help in the restoration of the remaining CDI Classic Collection. Those remaining three being FROM VENUS, HEAVEN’S NEIGHBORS and FIGURE IN THE FOREST. These three films were directed by CDI partner Jeff Kennedy. The last two can be purchased as a double feature DVD at the CDI store mentioned above. All three need to have work done to counteract the film look filter from all those years ago before they are uprezed. Fingers crossed and we might have these three back into marketed enhanced by year’s end.
- We have two films in active development to possibly shoot if we can get all the funding pieces in play. One is A CHRISTMAS SEANCE and the other the biopic on turn of the century Catch-Can wrestling champion GOTCH. We have also had some discussions on HOT ROD LOVE, our 70’s racing film that we had some traction but not enough. It happens. A film will often launch when the time is right. I have just two more WILD FAITH HASTINGS TV shows to adapt over to taking place after our sequel film. I think once the promo starts heating up on that film we’ll make a go at launching the TV series to film ideally in 2026.
(Travis Hayward has climbed the CDI ladder and is about to direct his first feature film)
WRAP UP: I’m going to wrap this up as my coffee cup is getting low. I’m going to go prepare some eggs for breakfast. I’m happy to say our hens have been producing well. I’m looking to have a strong kick off to the week. As noted opening our account on the new film with some rehearsal work to follow. We’ve been gathering up props which is always fun. I don’t know what else to add except maybe review those 2025 goals again. You made your list if you followed my instructions a few blogs ago. Start to look at a plan or a series of short goals to get you to your larger goals. Everything starts by taking steps. I conversation from this week just came to me.
(Some of the prep team for the next CDI feature in association with McGraw Multimedia)
Stay focused. Have patience. And again keep hitting those small goals. Stop looking for quick short cuts. Focus on the small wins as they all add up. Pretty soon you look back and see your half way there. Don’t quit. Don’t get impatient with progress going slower than YOU wanted it to. STAY THE COURSE. Persistence is a quality that gets many things accomplished. The field of dreams gets smaller as people get discouraged and give up. I’ve said it before, much of what I’ve done has been built off 90% rejection and 10% success. The key is perspective of looking at the forward movement/momentum. Shane Hagedorn sent something to me this week that again reinforced these values. If you dwell on the rejection your momentum slows and may stop. Stay excited by the 10% success and that % may increase or accumulate at least. Another saying that has been in our industry a long time was “if it was easy, everyone would do it”. I’m here to tell you it is never easy. Being that it is the arts it is actually harder. But the reward is so much sweeter. The friendships. The journey. The long fasting fruits of the labor. It is not for everyone but if you have no choice, start leaning into that 10% success and build. Coffee’s gone. Meeting over. Until next week my friends!
Keep on keeping on.
DJ
Bitter Michigan Cold – Finishing 2024 and Prepping for 2025
(GW Burns capturing the cast and crew in action on Wild Faith Christmas)
Brrrrr…today is bitter cold in Michigan! The crunchy snow beneath your feet and the cold bite on exposed skin. I was letting the chickens out this morning and they were even unsure of this arctic weather. I’ve been thankful for the eggs they are kicking out and that has been a warm nutritious start to each day. We are just days before Christmas and we draw even closer to the end of the year. I enjoy giving gifts throughout the year as I find treasures. I’ve been preparing for the coming of Father Christmas with some love gifts this year. We have a few different Christmas gatherings and thankfully they are spread out. It is hard when you try to cram them all into a day. I feel very blessed in that I have most all of what I need and I have few wants. I do want to keep creating these wonderful stories with my fellow artists and sharing them with the world.
(Tickets went on sale Dec 20th for our run from Dec 23-26th in Lansing, MI)
2024 has had some great developments that I’ve been recapping in many of my updates. I had a busy week prepping and sending out checks to our investors. The indie film scene can be hard as there are many places you can invest funds that might make bigger and faster returns. But few investments have the impact that the films do. First is allows artists to be artists and create. It allows a story or a piece of history to be recorded and not forgotten. The power of the storytelling can put a thought, smile or light into a viewers life. I watched a great Tyler Perry WW2 drama based on true events much like our SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. Our film has the same emotional power but was made for a small fraction of what that film was made for. I bet our film was close to their catering budget. I will work steadily forward to try and grow our budgets but as I’ve noted it is hard work. I’m so thankful to our supporters both those who fund, sponsor and watch our films. We move slow and steady forward and that is a good thing. I cannot take big risks that could bring big rewards but can also bring things to a halt. I would like to do a least one really big budget adventure at sometime in my lifetime. I’m sure it will be so. I will treat it with the same care I do the smaller budgets. But as I stated I feel blessed to be able to do what I do. The next phase of work will be the end-of-year taxes for the films. Again this is the work that keeps the wheels turning. This year we might make some moves to streamline some of the process so I can focus more on my strengths of writing, developing and managing production. Oh, yeah and acting.
(Tickets went on sale Dec 20th for our run from Dec 23-26th in Grandville, MI)
Acting-wise I have two great roles about to be presented to audiences. I recently had several people reach out to express their love and appreciation of other characters I’ve brought to life. As of yesterday I had some compliments on ole’ Gil Gilles (Best Years Gone). Other great fan (e)mail and even a phone call to congratulate me again for Col. Lodell (Silent Night in Algona). I love bringing these characters off the page. Coming up this year people will meet WW1 veteran AXEL in Harsens Island Revenge and get to spend time again with Ben Lily in Wild Faith Christmas. But to be able to create these roles a team of people put in a lot of work. I’m in development right now on Amos Edison “Edison” the frustrated filmmaker. The position of the character is known by many. The few that get to direct one feature film but they have a hard time getting that second one off the ground. It is going to be a funny insightful movie.
(Harsens Island Revenge – coming in 2025!)
Random Updates!
- The above mentioned WW2 drama SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA played a few theaters in Iowa and now will play my home town Lansing, MI and Grandville (GR), MI December 23-26th. It is a newly remastered version from the original theatrical run. I’m looking to step out Monday (Dec 23rd) to sneak into a theaters and enjoy the film on the big screen at Celebration Cinemas. I’m looking at the 11:55 showing and there is also a 3:20 in Lansing. Look on their website for Grandville, MI times and for the other days. You can also buy/rent the film on Amazon now but if you can experience the big screen do so.
- Harsens Island Revenge is undergoing final polishing of color correction and combing through looking for anything that could cause issue in QC (quality control). Filmmakers know what I mean. We are taking these last few days of 2024 to do just that as no desk business will happen but our director is using the time to polish. We have a deal memo for our home video deal and we’ll be discussing the size of the theatrical run in the first days of 2025. What is coming is an epic piece of historic fiction!
- WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS is right about at the hour mark in the edit. I figure it will be completed at the start of the new year for review. After notes there will be a second edit pass and moving to lock picture and start post sound/music work in February. This steady forward is so we can look to have the film hit theaters Nov 1st, 2025. The team knew we once again had something special and from the edit, we do.
- I’ve got no less than three possible script writing gigs lining up and they could all lead to production work as well. We’ll see which ones develop into solid deals. I’m still working on the Wild Faith TV series adjustments writing the 8 shows to take place now after the second film. I do have a few personal scripts I’m also working on and one of them is a really powerful story that has me excited.
- Thank you to David Gries who has been doing some updates to our http://www.cdiproductions.com website. Fans can also follow our IMDB, Facebook and Instagram page #tribecdi as we try to keep ways for fans to follow along. Also this blog. Feel free to share it with others. The EBAY store where CDI merchandise will be made available is also up now on the website. Hit STORE!
- I am going to try and get some updated acting reels and we will have a new CDI highlight reel coming early in 2024. I often neglect my own acting materials for the CDI materials and I’m good with that but once and a while I need to update. Thank you to GW Burns for the snap new headshots! He is the man to go to for capturing that personal essence.
- All the CDI films make good family watching from the biblical trilogy FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER to LOST HEART, MBF and even BEST YEARS GONE. I invite you to watch them all. If you enjoy one of them pass that note along to family and friends. When it is cold nothing like watching a good story with family and friends.
(Merry Christmas from the entire CDI Tribe!)
WRAP UP: The Lions play football today and I’ll likely multitask and use that time to organize some personal end-of-year tax stuff. I’m going to see my brother and a few friends later this eve and tomorrow might go see Silent Night in Algona at the Celebration Cinemas. I have to try and set dates on our next film in Jan/Feb 2025 which I also might try to do today/tomorrow. I want to again say how appreciative I am that all of you keep checking back in here weekly. I hope each and everyone of you have a good Christmas. We have one more of these visits in 2024 before we transition to 2025. I’m ready for the new year and ready for the new challenges, success and moments. Happy Holiday season. Time to go refill the coffee cup and make some eggs!
Cheers!
DJ
Starting to Feel A LOT Like Christmas! CDI Updates! December 15th, 2024
Christmas 2024
Hazelnut coffee cheers to all of you my friends! December 15th and we have a handful of days to go before Christmas but really it is the entire season not one day. I enjoyed shopping with a buddy of mine which included a stop for hot tea and appetizers at a Thai place. I’m not against a good glass of red wine with a good piece of meat but I just don’t drink alcohol much these days. My last might have been a tequila toast to our friend who passed away a few weeks ago. Man do I not miss hangovers. I cannot handle that and also I’m on such a good sleep schedule. I go to bed at a reasonable time and I’m up early with fresh batteries. Is that old? Responsible? I’m not sure what it is but it works for me. I would not change any of my days of ‘priming’ before going into bars. Edward 40 hands, 3- Man, quarter bounce, beat the clock Jack at the Sleazy D, $1 pitchers at Ricks and I could go on and on. I have lots of great stories to reflect upon and amuse myself well into old age. My shopping buddy was one of my Viking drinking buddies and here we were drinking tea. Drinking heavy is a young man’s game. I’m not sure if it is as popular as it once was but I suspect on many college campus’s the tradition lives on. I still do enjoy making a run of beer and wine each year and it makes for a special occasion. Do be careful if you are still in the game. Have fun and be safe. Running the streets is never 100% safe that is part of the adventure.
(The most recent CDI adventure – Alpena, MI)
Filmmaking also has dangers from mild to severe. The only safe way is to not do anything. What is the saying, boats are safe in the harbor but that is not what boats are meant to do. So preventative becomes the main goal when we go on filmmaking adventures. You want to limit dangers to a small finger cut, a stomach bug or a nagging cold. Anytime you bring a large amount of people together for an extended time you increase your risks. But you have to go on the adventure to get the gold. In our analogy the GOLD is the footage. I’m a bit of a Bilbo Baggins if left to my own devises. I like to ticker and putter around the property enjoying nature and put some order to my surroundings. But thanks to filmmaking I’ve gone on many adventures to distant places. I’ve met and shared with good people from different lands. We’ve captured gold with amazing backdrops for our stories.
The adventure of filmmaking – photo by GW Burns
I had a very good week of working to wrap up end of the year action items and prepare for the new year. I’ve said before how much easier it would be if it was just SHOW, SHOW, SHOW but it also includes BIZ, BIZ, BIZ. I’m awaiting breakdowns from legal to write out checks to investors. I’m preparing to enter end-of-year taxes which includes more work for projects shot this year. I have to deal with all the aspects of running these projects. I have a great team behind me including our bankers, accountants and of course our producers. We were having some good talks about the future of CDI and growth. We’ve come so far from a few friends playing with a camcorder. I hope all of you are having a great season and enjoying some time with family and friends. Let’s look at some of the updates from the week.
- KNIGHT CHILLS, CDI’s 1st feature film fulfilled something on a bucket list last night. It played in Brooklyn, NY at the Spectacle Theater as a midnight movie! When we use to go see HEAVY METAL (My fav) or ERIK THE VIKING at our midnight theater I dreamed of having a film play to a rowdy late-night audience sipping on 40’s or paperboy wrapped whiskey pulls. Last night that went down. They have one more 10pm showing on Tuesday. You can buy the book and Blu Ray on Amazon and on 1/31/25 the film starts streaming! Ride on Sir. Kallio!
- Staying with theatrical our WW2 Holiday drama SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has been playing theaters in Iowa. It just finished an extended run in Algona, Iowa and next up is a one night event in Boone, Iowa on December 16th at 7pm. Our theatrical partners at Dreamscape Productions have been doing a great job of getting it out there. Follow our FB page for this and all the CDI films to see new showings and updates. Also INVITE your friends to follow the pages so we can increase our reach.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE is getting close to being finished. The film is being polished up looking for any technical tweaks and to fine-tune the mix and color. I have meetings next week over theatrical and home video. We are planning a series of premieres and a few event showings. We’ve had a few offers to show the film in event rooms with large but not theatrical screens and surely not theatrical audio. After the theatrical run we will do some of these but not until audiences can experience the film in the best format. We have to do everything in an order of business so please have patience as the film is coming and it will be worth the wait. It truly is epic and I’m excited for Karl Manke to see his book come alive. The Purple Gang is large and in charge and a small group of WW1 veterans make a stand. Action, drama and romance await!
- WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS – Shane Hagedorn has been assembling daily the puzzle pieces from our shoot. Here is at 41 minutes solid and working towards that 45 min/half way point. In the new year we plan to have a teaser poster and first teaser trailer. I’m also happy to say that the new film has created a lot of interest in the original film. For some it is a re-watch after several years and others it is finding it for the first time. The film is among the most popular of the CDI films. It is a truly beautiful film and this follow up with also be another of the same quality. I’m also working on polishing up the 5th of 8 shows in the proposed TV series.
- AN ORDINARY KILLER is suppose to go live on The ROKU CHANNEL and XUMO today. I’ll be keeping a look out this week and next week will provide links. If you see it appear anywhere else please do send it over. This based on a true event was the 5th CDI film directed by Anthony Hornus and Jeff Kennedy. It details the hard work of several generations of detectives to solve this cold case.
- I mentioned that the Knight Chills book is now available on Amazon. I’m going to be writing a new intro for the re-release of the Ghost Town book. It is the novelized story to go with the movie DEAN TEASTER’S GHOST TOWN now playing with Ammo Content on several platforms including TUBI.
- Going to the CCC or Classic CDI Collection you can buy the FIGURE IN THE FOREST and HEAVEN’S NEIGHBORS DVD plus various other merchandise. Look for more to keep adding to the EBAY site. HERE: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=356365913024&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=collectivedevelopmentinc
- On the upcoming ROM COMS MUST DIE a comedy we’ve cast two more actors almost rounding out our cast. We need to look at shoot dates for Jan/Feb and get a few more things lined up but it will be a cool experimental feature using one of these new LED walls for part of the shoot.
- We will be doing a few updates to the CDI website (www.cdiproductions.com) and adding a new page for HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE and adding the new Ebay link on there. I started a CDI instagram page #tribecdi so you can follow along there as well.
- DEVELOPMENT – I have Carl Weyant reading a script for a possible shoot this year after ROM COMS MUST DIE. Also we have a new battle plan coming together for Curran Jacob‘s GOTCH project. We were looking to film in Iowa but the cost there for us is higher with transportation and lodging so we might film a bulk of it here in Michigan and just do some final pick ups in Iowa. We tried to engage the community there associated with Gotch but they’ve had community issues with flooding. We just could not get the support there we needed but we’re adjusting and already have some funding commitments to film here in Michigan.
WRAP UP: I’m very proud of the accomplishments we’ve had in 2024 and 2025 could be even better. I know some in the community have been concerned over the New Multimedia Jobs Act in Michigan to try and fire up the film scene. The first round of incentives did not really benefit us and the one project ran under it was messy to be kind. I’m about outside projects being attracted because it gives cast and crew some experience even if it appears Michigan folks get the crumbs. Vendors and support businesses can really benefit from them. I like more of the internal film grants for longtime residents of the state. We’ll be making films incentives or not. Just like when they had the big election this year. We’ll still keep making films in either environment.
Off topic – I do find all this UFO/UAP/Drone stuff interesting. I’ve enjoyed all the ‘unknown mysteries’ since I could read. NOTE our film BIGFOOT, UFO’S and JESUS streaming now! The fact that they have government committees investigating and the FBI is asking for tips…mighty strange. I enjoy watching it all unfold. What use to be elementary school playground talk is now mainstream news- crazy. We’ll boldly step into 2025 and see what the new year brings. I do know it will bring a few of our movies to all of you.
(Part 3 of CDI’s The Quest Trilogy – The Christ Slayer. Part 1 is Forty Nights, Part 2 Chasing the Star)
Back on topic– I think I mentioned on my FB social media that I had my first ever paid offer to star in a stage play in another state. I humbly passed as it is happening in a busy month and during one set aside for ROM COMS MUST DIE. I’m in the process of becoming Amos Edison, filmmaker. But I thought that was a cool first and again I appreciate the offer but filmed narrative is my medium. I did finish voice over narration for my last book in an audio book series. That has been fun to do so thank you Ronnie Lee. I’m going to finish up here and get some breakfast on with some fresh eggs. We went from bitter cold to a melt down today. We’ll see if the cold kicks up again or not. I’m going to play elf and do some wrapping of presents. I’ve been enjoying the season and you have to take those moments to be grateful for the people in your life. I’m grateful for all of you readers too. Many that I’ve never met but I still appreciate your time. I hope you can take some gems of info from these writings. I’m excited to talk this week about a new CDI Highlights Reel also. Who knows I might even get around to updating a few acting reels. Last week we discussed my tech handicap when it comes to certain things. The coffee cup is low so I’m going to coffee cheers you with the last sip and go make some breakfast. Have a great Sunday and a wonderful week ahead of you.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
THE RETURN FROM FILMING – CDI Updates!
(Pre-Production photo and now we move into post-production)
I’m sitting at my desk sipping the hazelnut java and Scooby Doo of all things is playing on the TV. Hey it’s for the dogs right:) I’m mostly unpacked from our most recent adventure save my suitcase which is my clothes. I have 80% clean to 20% dirty due to our wonderful stay in an AirBNB. Laundry and the home vibe makes the journey easier versus hotels. Full kitchen and a living space that housed the office with a view that was to die for. I also loved the sound of the crashing waves from the big lake. We put the Wild Faith sequel Wild Faith Christmas production together in a few months off my sequel script. I knew that if we did a sequel it would have to be powerful and it was. I’m so dang proud of the CDI team and thankful to our Dreamscape Productions partners who joined us. This was the second movie in the Alpena area and it made things run so smooth. We had such a positive, enthusiastic cast and crew that it made each day a joy. We finished early every day save day one which finished on time but we moved a scene to day two. Getting settled into the Besser Museum and getting up to speed cost us a little. But in no time we were humming along knocking down great scenes daily. Wagons, horses, carriages, children and extras did not slow us down. We worked to improve processes and communication lines daily but we were still getting out early so it was for improved efficiency. BIG kudos to Shane Hagedorn for not only giving the world Emmett Murphy again but directing this installment. Travis Hayward once again showed us his amazing eye for the cinematic. Every crew member refined their process and our new artists worked out very well. They could see the magic going on in front of the camera and that is always inspiring. The project is being organized with audio and video being married so editing can start on Monday! We want to move right along to try and have this ready for theatrical on November 1st. That would be my ideal release date.
(Melissa in a very different role versus Hester in Wild Faith/Wild Faith Christmas)
I can’t tell you how cool it was to step into the buckskins again and ride the trail with Hester Ann Thickett (Melissa Anschutz). Everyday was such a joy to create moments with these two beloved characters. I’ve enjoyed the fan mail over the years and I’m positive that those who love those characters and the world of Wild Faith will love this story. It really gave some wonderful acting opportunities to create powerful moments. I did not kill the entire beard yet but I did get rid of the neck beard which felt like I had two squirrels living on my neck. I’ve played some challenging and emotionally draining characters like MBF’s Paul Landings but Ben Lily was a pure joy. And Shane Hagedorn gave wonderful direction to help shape and mold the performance.
(Always a joy to spend time with friends on set!)
I loved seeing so many of my friends and for two weeks or so we played, laughed and created. This film may very well help launch the WILD FAITH HASTINGS TV show. I’m going to finish my revamp of season 1 to take place after the second film. If it is meant to be it will but this holiday story will be enjoyed by many for years to come. Thank you to the entire Alpena community. Thank you to all our investors, sponsors and artists who gave so much to make this special story happen. Giddy up!
DOUBLE BARREL!
I just got a broad report on post production on Harsens Island Revenge that it is going fantastic. We are setting up a producers watch in the next two weeks. This film has so much action, romance, intrigue and style. Carl Weyant has directed an amazing story again using Travis Hayward‘s cinematic vision. We will be starting to look at premieres for the film in 2025. I even have a possible “in” to the theater at the Henry Ford Museum which would be perfect for our Detroit premiere. We’ll also be doing premiere showings in Alpena, Owosso and Lansing. We are also putting together our theatrical deal in the wake of another great CDI film.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is a powerful WW2 story based on true events. It has been playing on Amazon Prime and many transactional rent/buy platforms and even broadcast TV. It is in demand to play some theaters including Algona at Fridley’s 12/6-12/12 I’m told. Dreamscape Productions will be repping the film theatrically and we have plans to get it out to military bases around the world. Next year 2025 it will also release to ad-based video on demand (free w/ ads) mid year. If you have not seen this movie treat yourself. If you have seen it, I hope it becomes part of your traditional yearly watch. And if it plays at a theater near you enjoy it on the big screen!
THE QUEST TRILOGY (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) is another great trilogy of films to watch during the holiday season. These stories highlight some of the best attributes of mankind without being overly preachy. Watch them in order and they tell a greater story. The role of Jesus is another one that was difficult and emotionally draining. Filming in the desert was a trial unto itself. I love these three films.
OTHER UPDATES
- Dec 2nd my contributions to a new Baker book on bird stories releases. I’ve done several and I’m proud to have my stories included. More details as soon as I get them.
- KNIGHT CHILLS novel is releasing. I saw the proof and it looks great! Just in time for Christmas. The Blu Ray is also available and it will stream in Q1 of 2025 with Deskpop on FREE4ALL channel.
- IN THE WOODS, Making of book, novel, Pandemonium prequel script and the movie itself on Blu Ray are all available talk about some great gifts!
- December 15th will be the streaming release of AN ORDINARY KILLER HD with Ammo Content! The book will re-release in 2025 too along with the collectors HD DVD!
- The CDI EBAY store should go live in December in time for the holidays. I will let everyone know when that happens.
- New artwork coming for LOST HEART for the new 2025 marketing. New campaigns for several of the films. Look at your CDI checklist of films and see what you’ve been missing.
- End of year film dispersement followed by end of year taxes. And we’re also going to be looking at the 2025 production slate.
WRAP UP: I know that I’ve likely missed a few updates but I still have some office stuff to take care of and my suitcase to unpack. I’m looking forward to seeing my brother and a few friends tonight. My fur babies were excited to see their daddy home. This week I need to put some work into the yard that is covered in leaves like a forest floor. I got to watch Mike Tyson fight after so many years and it was fun to watch. Everyone has an opinion on it but I took it for what it was. As someone who still actively plays a sport it was enjoyable. We are now back to a Sunday blog schedule and I want to thank you all again for stopping by for a read. I’m feeling accomplished after WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS is filmed and Harsens Island Revenge soon to release. Have a great week ahead! Coffee cheers-
DJ
FINAL FOUR DAYS OF FILMING – Updates From Set
(This next week we’ll be filming at the mine set)
Hello friends! Once again I’m doing our blog on a Sat versus Sunday since this is my off day from shooting on WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS. We have had an incredible week of capturing scenes for the new sequel to WILD FAITH. Our week was a productive and efficient one finishing each day early save day one which we called right at the end of our day. We had one scene that first day that we did not get but picked it up day two and still had an early day. The energy has been good with everyone excited to be telling the next installment of this franchise. Most of the heavy lifting by way of extras is now all done. All but one of the young leads are wrapped. We have only four more days to film before we have all our pieces. We went and secured a great restaurant for our wrap which looks like an old ship inside. We ate there last night when speaking with management and let’s just say this seafood lover was very happy.
(The prep and planning really paid off in a smooth film shoot)
Even with making all our days and getting quality footage we still always look at how we as producers and each department could be even more organized. It is usually communication and organization which really have been strong. We are always in process of developing our crews and adjusting the line up. But the number one common underlying characteristic has to be a good positive attitude. If you don’t want to be on a film set don’t be. Without a doubt there are more cushy short, commercial jobs for individuals. But for those who want to create something long-lasting and memorable feature film is hard to beat. Minor issues are the only things we’ve had on set last week. Basically by challenging individuals to better themselves in their time management, communication and anticipation. But overall I was happy with how everything ran. Minor issues give you a chance to test your crew like a fire drill and our team passed with flying colors.
(A pic from ‘The Christ Slayer’)
Acting-wise it was a very fulfilling week with me bring back the first character since I played Jesus is parts 1 and 3 of THE QUEST TRILOGY. If you are fans of this blog and haven’t checked the films out you should. FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. With a sequel you are wondering if the magic will be there stepping into the moccasins and buckskins again. I can say that it was a pure joy to once again playing the trapper Ben Lily with a heart of gold. It was awesome to get to work with Melissa Anschutz (Hester), Shane Hagedorn (Emmett), Dean Teaster (Edmond) as well as next week Christine Marie (Albena). Those are the actors I got to work with from the first film plus a slew of awesome new actors. I greatly appreciate the kind words from many of the cast about the script and their participation in the film.
In a while I’m going reach out to our Harsens Island Revenge director and get updates on how the mixing is coming. The excitement here for the film is strong. I also made some contacts that might help with the Detroit premiere which I want at the Henry Ford Museum theater. We will have one in Alpena, Owosso and Lansing. Maybe a special event screening outside Grand Rapids. But that film is going to be a thrill ride full of drama and action. Get ready!
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is continuing its home video run but will be going back into some theaters for special event screenings thanks to a new distribution partnership with Dreamscape Productions. In our discussions we are also going to really try and get the film playing in theaters on military bases around the world. This film is really finding a great audience and it could become a yearly watching tradition for many families. If you have not seen this film please do. If you have not seen it on the big screen you might have a chance very soon.
A few rapid updates-
- An Ordinary Killer streaming and HD DVD Release in December.
- Knight Chills Blu Ray released now and streaming in Jan 2025
- Knight Chills book releasing soon on amazon
- CDI Merchandise site looking to release December 2025
- IN THE WOODS Blu Ray available now
I know I’m missing a few updates but need to switch gears to getting ready for tomorrow. I’m first scene up with means early to bed and have to be ready to rock! We had a good day tooling about Alpena for an hour or so. I tried a coffee made from mushroom and bought a few homemade items from another store. Alpena has a lot of Michigan charm and again we’re proud to be shooting here. I should be back on a normal schedule next week having wrapped and returned home. I hope everyone is doing well and preparing for the holidays with loved ones. I was chatting with my mom today about Christmas plans so the season is upon us. Until we all speak again next week be good to one another.
DJ
Hello ALPENA Again! Finishing One Film and Starting Another.
(Travel Day Pre-Meeting with 1st AD Ian Griffin)
Greeting my friends from chilly Alpena, Michigan. A beautiful drive North with a small stop at a quint German restaurant took us back again. Back to the waterside, historic town where we previously filmed Harsens Island Revenge. The experience and the hospitality is very much like many of the wonderful communities that hosted and doubled for our fictional locations. But as noted upon arrival it was considerable more cold that Lansing, Michigan. Months of prep work has led us to our pre-production team arriving. Tonight is our schedule talk through with department heads. This is where we look ahead at any possible issues. Advance solutions are discussed and questions answered. It is much easier with everyone in the same room. Even with Teams, Zoom, Skype or many face to face technologies it is truly not the same. Getting everyone communicating is the key. New information going to the right departments.
Good example of a miss – so our advance schedule has our locations and days locked in but as we get closer and weather and other things factor into the scene order. Our advanced schedule just had a default call time in the software. When these were shared with transportation department it wasn’t noted to move in confidence with the days but keep the daily call time open as fine tuning was being done. Here a remembered three sentence note to the department head would have saved some effort of going back to the horses, wagons and giving the actual call times.
I like thew illustrate things like this because I try to always respect people’s time and work. But movies have so many moving parts we have like a 3% error each day. You hope the hard fought 97% buys you some grace from the missed 3%. Good respectful communication of speaking to others as you would like to be spoken too. And be grateful for the opportunity to come together in artistic fellowship and create a story that will live beyond our lifetime. DEAN TEASTER’S GHOST TOWN a smoky mountain western from around 2006/7 has been remastered and re-released to streaming. But close to a dozen of the cast/crew have passed away. These adventures are special and the people we create with are special. Embrace that.
(Tony Hornus and I at the start of yet another adventure – Wild Faith Christmas)
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is booking special Winter screenings into select theaters. We’re close to the final theatrical deal. It will also be the template for Harsens Island Revenge once it starts its theatrical run 1st Q 2025. DVD’s are still be purchased on Amazon and such. Also the film is streaming for rent or purchase. The German meal above I mentioned traveling into Alpena with Anthony Hornus had us discussing our WW2 German POW film. Take a watch it is a holiday themed film for certain.
Harsens Island Revenge music is done and last Thursday Director Carl Weyant and composer Dennis Therrian listened and tweaked the score. Next week they will start to mix the entire film. Scene by scene mixing dialog, sound effects and music into the perfect blend and creating a 5.1 stereo mix. This movie is going to be so exciting and we all can’t wait to show the world.
KNIGHT CHILLS streaming is close to being all delivered and so that means soon I’ll be given a release date. The proof on the novel looks good and we should have that up for sale before Christmas. AN ORDINARY KILLER is also prepping to release to select platforms on December 15th.
WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS – If you want to be up to speed on the entire storyline and characters please do go back and watch WILD FAITH that was 5 years earlier in our storyline. This is a great side adventure that is a heartfelt Holiday story with orphans being a theme. If you haven’t watched the original watch it and if you have rewatch it. We’re excited to tell this next story.
WRAP UP: We’re getting to a good place or finishing a film and the quiet before we start the new one. I love seeing everyone and as I’ve said before it’s great to end the year with an adventure like this. In three weeks we’ll be back with our families for the start of the holidays. But here in the know we’re about to tell a tale. I’ll be presenting more photos and such as you can get more info on the Wild Faith Christmas on IMDB.com and our FB page. I’m going to tag and post this and we have a 4:00 pre-production meeting. Wish us a good voyage.
DJ
October in Full Effect! CDI Updates 2024
Coffee cheers from a cool damp Michigan. Welcome new readers from Portugal and Romania and more. October has been beautiful but a bit dry. I haven’t had to mow in quite some time which is fine. I’ve harvested most of the herbs and I’ve been cutting wood getting ready for the coming cold. I might even polish up the stove and have a first fire tonight. The new younger chickens have been accepted into the big coop and so that is a positive. The older girls are molting and slowing on their egg laying. But the young ones might be getting ready to start. I’m looking forward to steak (venison) and eggs after I finish this. Also we have two more local flea markets one this morning ands one next week. Just in time before we travel up North for our WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS prep. My beard I’ve got to bring ole Ben Lily back to the screen has me wearing a bit of every meal. But I’m feeling ready to ride. I found the last few prop pieces for ‘Ben’ and so that should be good to go.
Staying on topic with WFXmas we’ve been having some great meetings. I’ve got all but one of the investor checks deposited and just a few more sponsors to collect on. The charge on sponsors is being led by PEPSI and had a great meeting with our rep there. I’m awaiting thermal mugs from our friends at the Michigan Community College Association. We have a few more great sponsors to speak with. We are enjoying the partnerships on production sponsors and are starting to explore release sponsors which is for our theatrical runs. If you want to align your company with WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS about to go into production or Harsens Island Revenge about to release in 1st Q 2025 please get in touch!
Harsens Island Revenge team was working to have a special pre-release screening on November 1st in Alpena, MI but to do so would disrupt on final post flow. Additionally the film would not be our final best film but a rushed version. Rush means mistakes and rush would have meant incomplete. We are still going to do a great premiere in Alpena, Owosso, Lansing and likely Detroit and Grand Rapids. We are in discussions over the theatrical and I have some paperwork to review this week. More on this amazing story very soon! If you cannot wait search up the title online and buy the book!
KNIGHT CHILLS – CDI’s first feature film from the late 90’s has now been delivered for streaming. I’ll be awaiting a release date but I also got some great news about a December theatrical play in Brooklyn, NY. More on that deal as I receive it. AN ORDINARY KILLER is still on track for a December 15th streaming and the HD DVD is also coming soon! I’m also excited for the special podcast that features the film coming from TWO AVERAGE JOES MEDIA. Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town smoky mountain western is streaming and the special edition DVD from the Ghost Town in the Sky theme park will be available soon. All CDI merchandise will be charity driven with a % of the revenue going to military veterans and/or animals. We will even have some movie props and wardrobe that people can bid or purchase. More on all that soon!
We are enjoying rounding the corner into the last Q of 2024. It has been a productive year and we are looking forward to 2025. Nov/Dec will be some prep for ROM COMS MUST DIE the feature film debut of Travis Hayward with CDI. We are exploring a few theatrical plays of SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA for the holidays. This movie continues to play on TV and available to rent/buy digital or DVD. Next year it will move to ad-based free with ads. We are also starting to push some of the other Fall/holiday titles like THE QUEST TRILOGY. Part 1 FORTY NIGHTS surpassed 2.5 million views on Encourage TV. If you have not watched these three films give them a go. I promise they are not your typical biblical adventures but have a unique perspective to each of them. There is a good change of a few more of those type films making it on our production slate.
BREAKFAST BREAK and WRAP UP!
I have to note I took a break during that last paragraph and ate my eggs and venison steak – so good. The key to venison is prep. Our fresh eggs are also splendid but there is a lot of work involved with chickens. This week will include insurance, communication devices, prop gun pick up, more craft service goods, hard drives and starting to pack personal stuff to be gone 3 weeks. I’ve already been swapping out my warm weather for cold weather clothes and gear.
I’m going to go get dressed and go walk around this flea market. See if any last minute props or wardrobe stuff jumps out at me. I found a great period derby hat that might end up on our antagonist. I hope you all are enjoying the turn of season as we enter that darker phase. As noted earlier I think I’m going to polish up the wood stove and get that ready for a first fire of the season. I’ve had several outdoor fires but there is something about crackling wood in an old stove.
Until we chat again next week have a productive week and be kind to one another.
DJ
Persistence Against Resistance – Happy July!
Hazelnut cheers! I want to welcome our new readers this week with several from the US but also from Denmark and also a first, from an unknown country. I’m not quite sure what that means but maybe aliens? My blog has gone interplanetary:) I want to start by saying I’m so happy the air quality has gotten back to a good place. It was really bad for a few days and you could see it and feel it if you remained outside too long. I was happy actually that they rescheduled our soccer match on Thursday. I took a spoonful of honey and did salt nasal spray daily to help keep away any of the various symptoms I heard from many people. We also got some much needed rain which I hope helps Canada and their wild fires. The rain here really helped our lawn and all our plants. As noted last week our berries have been in full effect and the chickens LOVE all the fallen mulberries. The raspberries and rhubarb have been also popping and some will get the freeze for future wine runs. The ROCKING RHUBARB has been bubbling away and I might have one other secret add before going to bottles. My Mexican-style Chili Beer has been getting rave reviews and I have to admit it came out really good. Maybe a few more people will get a try over the next few days.
Before getting into talking about our films I’ll talk about someone else’s film. I remember my first screening of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. My buddy John from 1st grade on had been one of my main movie buddies. We had seen Star Wars so many times, fibbing to our parents about going to see a different film but going to see Star Wars again. John’s mom was dropping us off at the theater as John and I wondered if the film was about Noah’s ark or this other ark also from the Bible. Well, we knew it had our beloved ‘Han Solo’ playing the lead. To this day the original ‘Raiders’ is one of my favorite films in my lifetime. Yesterday I got to watch the end cap to that spring of movie stories. I know my buddy John has tickets to go see it today. We will enjoy a good post-film talk after just like we did in our youth. I’m glad in a world where so many of our music and movie heroes have passed, Harrison Ford is still with us. I’m going to just say that I really enjoyed the film and leave it at that for now. I also hope I can still be making movies at his age. He can still carry a film as a leading man.
FILM UPDATES:
- I had a good meeting with a high school buddy who has done well for himself with a distillery. We discussed a CDI Collection of bottled booze. A special label and type picked out for each film. Also from each one we might assign a % to a cause. A great way to celebrate CDI’s long history and help some various causes.
- We are starting to land some product partners and sponsors for our next film Harsens Island Revenge. We are in the process of inking these deals but we’ll have some great ones riding with us on this next story. If you have a product or service or just want to support the film, please do reach out. Also I’ve had several cast and crew asking for our schedule. Our draft 4 is under review this weekend and we hope to lock it start of the week. It is lagging a bit from my timeline but we want it to be as tight as we can get it. Aside from that I’ve been enjoying working on my upcoming role and hope to bring you a cool character.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is going back into the Algona State 5 Fridley theatre for their Founders celebration July 6-9. Times can be gotten directly from their website. Our post production folks are working with BMG on the last few adjustments for our home video roll out. I hope to get that resolved soon so I can bring you exact dates for DVD, streaming, broadcast and more.
- Thanks to my CDI team – I’ve been prepping the information to report to our backers and cut them checks. It’s a major process with many checks written but I also enjoy the process. It beats the old days of chasing around dishonest distributors. So I will be doing some of that in the forthcoming week.
- We’ve been getting ready to launch a new CDI back up system that will house the CDI library in a way that can be easily accessed by our editors. This will aid in promotional work and in providing footage to talent. We should have this up and running by September.
- I’m excited that many of the films are finding wider and wider audiences. Man’s Best Friend is on the way to 2 million with Encourage TV. Take a watch or watch it again and help us get to that new goal.
- I’m really excited about a deal coming together that will put a few CDI properties into motion as a video game and/or animated endeavor. Many merchandise and spin off properties being worked on and I’m excited to see them come develop.
- Development on TV/film projects continues and the next couple of weeks should help move pieces on the board forward.
WRAP UP: I could be missing a few updates but I will take a moment to state again that these projects are not easy to launch. I’ve had numerous people compliment on the steady flow of creative endeavors but they all happen brick by brick. Meeting by meeting. Deal points to agreements followed by action. I too deal with patience issues at times. I often apologize for my pushing upon people to keep moving things forward. Often we advance more rapidly or consistently because while others rest or play we are working it. Succeeding where so many fail makes me feel good. Not for their failure but for our persistence against resistance.
Keep at your dreams and do something daily and brick by brick you can build it. And to die in pursuit of your dreams is better than the regret of never even trying. I want to thank those who have sent messages or left their reviews on our stories. To be credited as an inspiration to keep after your creative endeavors is priceless. I smell bacon cooking which reminds me that later this month we have our 4H fair we attend. Also the chickens have been kicking out the eggs while feasting on those mulberries I mentioned earlier. So I’m going to say good day and get after some amazing smelling breakfast. I hope you all have a relaxing and SAFE holiday. Our fur babies are not fans of the fireworks so we usually lie in with some loud movie playing. My days of exploding hoot-n-nanny is over and I have the memories and luckily all my fingers and both eyes. So let’s all make this month of JULY a great one!
Coffee Cheers!
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
Third of Five CDI Releases Rolls Out – NEW Festival & Film Updates!
Good morning readers! Welcome to our new readers from Bangladesh, Bosnia and more. I love seeing the worldwide circle of readers. I’ve had another extremely busy week and I’ll try to update you on some of those endeavors. While much of the country has been baking under extreme heat, Michigan has been darn near perfect. Low humid, warm and slight breeze. So Monday morning my brother had texted that a friend of ours had passed away in a freak accident. Saturday when we had storms this friend was celebrating his birthday bar hopping. At one place they had a storage container turned into a patio bar. That wind hit sending umbrellas flying and while one friend braved the rain and tried to secure an umbrella, the others watched likely amused. But the wind caught one of the big steel doors and crushed our friend between the door and bar. He never woke back up I’m told. This story was on the news even made national – but just so sad. He had been a beloved teacher and just a bright light of a person. It really cast a light on appreciating your circle.
To my knowledge I’ve not ever had Covid but we had some family catch it and thankfully everyone seems to be on the mend. It is always scary because we have a few family and friends who were not so lucky. So this all played in the background last week. We had a fun soccer match this week and a few CDI meetings were done over the throwing of bean bags playing corn hole. I got to visit this week with a few friends I haven’t seen in a while, grilling and chilling. Venison steaks, pork chops and baked potatoes were on the menu. I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it. We got our 4H pig and so the freezer is restocked. I’ve told many folks before that the secret to venison is to marinate and/or rub herbs in advance of grilling.
How about we move on to some movie updates. Let’s see –
- SMOKE & MIRRORS – Yesterday afternoon at the Motor City Nightmare convention in Novi, Michigan, our film played to fans of the genre. I was unable to attend and have yet to receive word on how it was received. It is a cool, slick short film that gives a great look at what the feature film would be like. Thank you so much to the convention festival for inviting us to play and I hope your audience enjoyed it. We are waiting to see if it is accepted into the Hell 1/2 Mile festival which I would plan to attend.
- Staying on the subject of festivals – BEST YEARS GONE that is now released will be playing in Ohio at The 27th Indie Gathering International Film Festival. I think our director Shane Hagedorn will be attending and I might try to, we’ll see.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH still hopes to have a festival premiere in Toronto but either way we’re looking at an Oct 1st premiere in Owosso, MI where our director Curran Jacobs is from. On 10/4 the DVD and streaming options will be in full effect. This is one that I’ll be happy to have on my shelf. Our distributor DESKPOP ENTERTAINMENT, has been working on a new poster art design. This will be our 4th release this year and it’s very rewarded to have this films finish and come to market.
- The last release of the year will be the theatrical premiere of SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA in Algona, Iowa. We hope to kick off multiple theater chain runs from there for several weeks. We will likely do a theatrical premiere again in Owosso, MI – the home of director Anthony Hornus. Owosso sure has some talented people in that area, maybe it’s in the water. We released the theatrical poster last week and many have responded positively to it and even asking for posters to purchase. We will get to that but right now it is that the last tweaks in editing before onto music and sound design. That will also include cutting a theatrical trailer for the film which will also start next week.
- BESTSELLER, our tense thriller will be getting a few new reviews as we continue to move this film out to world audiences. Have you seen it? If you scare easy you might not want to watch it alone.
- Another great Summer watch is BIGFOOT, UFOS and JESUS also known as LOST HEART. I had a friend say that they started watching the film opening again and got sucked in – it is a great blend of humor and heart. Another to watch as part of your own family watch night.
- WILD FAITH: HASTINGS, the TV series spin off, has had more pieces fall into place. It’s been hard work but I know it will all be worth it in the end. Have you watched the pilot feature film? Millions have so pop some popcorn and watch with your family.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE, the next collaboration with Curwood Publishing is moving forward. The writer of the book was very happy with my adaptation from book to script. The plan is to film in the back half of 2023. Always development…I’m very excited about this film.
- Sticking with the writing – I’m on the cusp of finalizing my next screenwriting project. It’s an exciting true history story that will be an awesome undertaking. It might be our biggest project yet and will likely film in 2024 once I have the script and development done. I will wait to announce anything until the ink is dry but we are getting closer.
- HOT ROD LOVE – Just to illustrate that we might make developing and finance look easy, it is not. Funding is the hardest part for many filmmakers. Our 70’s drag racing comedy has a handful of weeks to try to put the final financial pieces in order or it will have to be a push. My fear is that 2023 is already shaping up to be a busy year. But like all stories, if the time is now, it will happen. If not we will have just completed one of the busiest release seasons we’ve ever had. But we’ve got many pieced in play so we will just have to see.
We started this week’s blog talking about a tragedy. The greater tragedy in life can be not going after your dreams. You won’t always succeed, but you will grow from trying. Not trying at all can leave you with a hole in your soul. So if you really want to try and do something don’t let fear hold you back.
I’m about to go cook a few eggs to go with a left over pork chop. A few tasks around the yard and tonight I’m looking forward to spending time with my brother and a few amigos. I have a few biz calls and might get a jump on some start of the week’s business. I love to use my Sundays and this blog to recap and help put together my TO DO for the forthcoming week. I hope to hear a few responses from folks who attended the Motor City Nightmares and watched SMOKE & MIRRORS.
We also might get some word this week on a few festivals we thought would be a nice fit on a couple of films. I hope you all have a great end to your weekend and an amazing start to your week. Thank you again to all of you for stopping through and sharing a few moments of your day. If you haven’t watched all the CDI films please do. We make them for audiences to enjoy. Until next week be good to one another and keep climbing!
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
2021 Hiring Advice – Casting Updates, Film Progress – Development
I’ve awaken to the foggy chill rolling over a Michigan morning but have the hazelnut hot coffee to combat the cold. I see that many more circles of people are suffering losses from the Covid. Again the toll that it’s taking on all fronts will cement this year into the minds of many. I hope the that year ahead brings comfort and better fortune to many who suffered. But the losses of family and friends gone will be more apparent. Businesses that collapsed will have to be re-tooled and for many that means starting over. I hope we can get politics to disappear into the rear-view mirror as the energy between parties and people has been downright shameful. But for the many times whereas I turned off any news and turned on music = JOY. I’ve rediscovered or introduced myself to lots of new music. I’ve pulled myself away from the world of digital text/email communication and enjoyed phone calls again. That has effected my personal and professional relationships in a very positive way. I hope that what we all bring forward is a deeper appreciation for one another. Kinder communication is needed and will enhance all endeavors.
One form of communication that has become popular is grandstanding and lobbying. If a person gets an answer they don’t like or that goes against their desired result they are in essence a poor loser. Now I know the example that leaps into many people’s mind. Accepting that our efforts or the acceptance of our ideas has fallen short is hard for many to take. Often these people might seek to vent their issues to others to gain sympathy and in some cases empathy. I use to marvel in Hollywood at the number of artists flocked together in the cheapest drink joint to loudly complain about all the external forces keeping them from their dreams. Seldom did I hear about sub-par materials, motivational issues and the blame always seemed to fall on someone else. To someone not in this ‘trap’ it feels like you’re standing on the banks of a river watching people swirl hapless and pinball down the river. Who walked into the river? Why? Did someone say it was a shortcut? Get out. Dry yourself off. Get your direction straight and set off towards your goals.
I wanted to think of other examples to help folks. I recently read a huge rant from a crew person in our industry. It proclaimed their willingness to work without pay with people or projects they found fun because of friendship. They also ridiculed someone who had offered them a low paying gig. And it was grandstanding at its finest and it worked to grab attention. Did it get the desired result? The friends of this person who had this person often work free were in agreement. But they did not see themselves as part of the problem. The venter also did not see the issue. A person has so many days a year they can earn. Giving up an unhealthy amount of those days can create a financial strain. This frustration stems from giving too much to an unpaid source (friends?) and creates a desperation when bills come. Now said associate(s) come with a paid offer that doesn’t meet the expectations of individual because of their poor time managing. AND so they are basically saying they cannot manage their work to recreational time. And they like to blame others. And they’ll loudly vent their self made frustrations to anyone who will listen. Usually the only ones who will comfort these people are the non-paying friends. And those with resources to pay realize they don’t want to buy that person at any price. They don’t take accountability and they poorly manage their lives – is that what you want to bring onto a project? But people truly think they are doing something positive by claiming justice and righteousness but really they are saying DO NOT HIRE ME. Don’t be one of those people. I’ve seen so many just take themselves out of the game. Maybe that is what they wanted all the time. They believe they need an excuse to bow out making it someone else’s fault. The reasoning is someone gathering funds to pay cast and crew, standing accountable to investors, is gonna evolve and grow faster than a bunch of friends playing. That has always seemed obvious to me but the logic utilized by many people is very strange.
We live in a melting pot of beautiful people in this world. All biologically more or less the same but wrapped with different customs, food, dress, culture, beliefs and music. With most projects or artistic endeavors – the artists involved are from all ends of the spectrum and therefore cannot be rendered into one group. They can be inspired to focus on one story but still all have various backgrounds to be respected. One of the best respectful practices one can give is to listen. Real listening allows real dialog. This becomes healthy communication. In all walks of life and in all endeavors I hope that in 2021 healthy communication becomes a practice. Good storytelling is not condescending, preachy or judgmental and when done proper is one of the most powerful forms of communication. I will continue to practice this form of communication because I believe it most effective and leading by example is best in my opinion. Maybe a year of less talk more action will influence others and the world can shift. Shift to a place of beautifully differences but none-the-less all the same.
Much of this stems from the masses of people wanting 2021 to be very different. Some things are outside your control but are you doing your best with what you can control? I certainly would get an A for effort. Now by the nature of who I am and what I do I’m a self starter. Others are learning this as they are forced to work from home. Work when you decide to work and relax when you decide to relax. Know thyself. Learn to shift gears cleaning. At rest be at rest do not let the mind spin with regret of the past or anxiety of the future – relax. In the present get the recharge and rebalance you need and with a new day adventure forth. You cannot stop age and death but you can control what you do on your journey. Appreciate yourself, others and this life adventure. I try to remain modest in the light of success and view loss and setback as a learning experience. I know of some fighting battles to stay on this journey of life – do not take it lightly. Think through your stresses and remove their hold on you and watch certain binds disappear with a thought. We can imprison or set ourselves free. We have that ability. 2021 set yourself free and be the best you.
OK – enough of the deep ramble… I’ve refilled the coffee cup and the smell of bacon fills the house so let’s get on with this. Onto the movies and other endeavors-
Let’s talk about THE QUEST TRILOGY. The three stories are unique because of the glimpse into how these important and overlooked events in films 1-3 effected or were effected by angels fallen and faithful. Because they are the thread between all three stories and time, space and dimension are powerful aspects of existence slowly being revealed to us, the stories go from PRESENT (Forty Nights) to the PAST (Chasing the Star) and land in the FUTURE (The Christ Slayer). As the new campaign rolls out for the holidays I had to enlighten parties to the fact that the lack on linear was intentional and part of the greater story. So many little nuisances to discover. I had a fan last week talk about with each viewing they discover a new gem. Something they missed prior and so I’m thankful that some are studying the trilogy. If you have not seen these three films please do in the proper order and leave a review for THE QUEST TRILOGY as a whole. I look forward to seeing those reviews so peel the onion and enjoy.
MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND
Available on many platforms – on ENCOURAGE TV we’ve topped 700k viewers with millions overall watching. Now you can watch FREE with ads.
WILD FAITH – As this film makes its way around the world it’s always interesting to see how other countries view a story. Humor is different from place to place as is the general acceptance or sex or violence and just “grasping” the story as a whole. It is interesting because the ‘Civil War’ was the American Civil War although several countries were involved. Here is a pretty good review from the UK that I enjoyed.
Also funding and distribution talks on HASTINGS the spin-off TV show is underway. Season one is written and the budgeting and production flow is being examined. The first round of proposed directors are looking at the scripts for assignment. I have several more talks to have but this next endeavor is coming together and what a win it would be for Michigan. I think we’ll be starting a Hastings FB development site. Also I think my clean face is going away as I let Ben Lily slowly start to creep forward.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA The end of 2021 will include the filming of CDI’s 1st WW2 era film. We are gathering our commits before forming the business entity in early 2021. We have almost all our funders in line. We had additional funders jump on board last week and the final few should be on board by year’s end. In the new year we’ll also be talking with various sponsors to travel with us on the film. Right now we’re looking at German or German-speaking actors as several of the leads are German POW’s. If you fit the bill feel free to reach out with a reel on the http://www.cdiproductions.com website (Subscribe to the Tribe) or right here.
SMOKE & MIRRORS – the final VFX work is underway and we’re taking our time and we’ll hit some festivals and a special showing at the Dodge Turner once this virus passes. The full feature is in development with me revisiting the feature script. This is a great turn of the century based story that will star David Gries from the CDI tribe.
FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – this project has completed some early filming but is now preparing to go full steam ahead into 2021 with a series of interviews. We will premiere this later in 2021 another great thing to look forward to.
LOST HEART – This film is like a lighthouse casting its positive light out into the darkness giving laughter and hope to many out there. This is a feel good, thought-proving film and audiences are responding in kind. I’ve been just elated by some of the wonderful pieces of fan mail. What makes its even more exciting is when it comes from peers I’ve never met. I had a nice note from an actress who has watched it twice after it was referred to them by a friend who illustrates for the Jim Henson company. I’ve said it before, I think this is the closest to a feel good Spielberg movie that CDI has done. I’ve gotten lots of compliments on the script but I want to say that without the great performances the writing would not be enough. If you are in need of a smile, laugh and uplift please do watch the film. It is available on most platforms!
I might have missed something but I think it’s time I get on with my day. I have a week of investor dispersement ahead and more development work. Plus each day playing elf wrapping up some love presents. I will end with this tidbit from Nathaniel Nose who is editing BEST YEARS GONE. He reached out one day after reviewing all the footage and complimented me and the cast on performances. He was excited to see me doing comedy (Mike Deeney:) and he thought this was the best performance of my career. Okay that is subjective but it still made me feel good. I left it all on the table as Gil Gilles and I’ve brought some wonderful characters to life (Jesus, Ben Lily, Paul Landings, Stan Reed, Buddy Colt, Lynn Kendall…) so I’ll just take it for what it is – it tells me that if you’ve enjoyed my other roles you might enjoy this one. He also gave very high marks to my co-star Erika Hoveland and that is part of the key. Having great artists to co-exist with and create so thank you Erika/Sylvia.
Have a great week. Lead by example. Seek accountability. Control what you can. Be good to others.
DJ
The Weekly Round Up – Who is Ready to See ‘Lost Heart’ ?????
Flea Market Finds!!!
I’m fresh back from one of the local flea markets. I love to find past treasures that often end up as props either for a film set or a character. Not just for me but for others also. I’ve been just on cloud nine with the soon-to-release LOST HEART. I was really happy with the writing blend and even more on how Jesse Low and the cast and crew all performed and captured the story. I was heavily influenced by Spielberg when I was growing up. I think LOST HEART has a good mixture of humor and adventure and leaves you with a ‘feel good’ vibe. A film like MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND could not do that and keep the message strong. WILD FAITH had that uplifting ending as did FORTY NIGHTS and even THE CHRIST SLAYER. But CHASING THE STAR was written as the ‘Empire Strikes Back‘ of the biblical adventure trilogy. I’m excited that for this holiday window (Thanksgiving to Easter) they will be pushing the trilogy as a whole. They are best when seen all together. A new TRILOGY trailer will be edited by our distributor.
Back to LOST HEART you say! As I told our team – the film is done. The film is delivered to the distributor. It will be seen by millions around the world. So good job to our team. But we are now fighting for the icing on the cake. The theatrical events and premiere be in drive-in, theatrical or yes, even online. We are exploring a one night online premiere that would allow EVERYONE to participate in the event. The idea we have is a good one and would be DIFFERENT, but could be powerful. Its would include filming the pre and post party and broadcasting that with the premiere showing. The film will also be going to various networks to evaluate for ‘exclusive release’ or a period of time where the film can only be seen at this channel for a month or two. I would enjoy seeing it play on TV a while before the whole home-video release. We will see as talks continue this week. I don’t care how you all see the film we’re just looking forward to it being seen.
This month will be some investor dispersement as several of the films are earning steadily along. There is a fair amount of bookkeeping work that happens so that end-of-the year accounting goes smoothly. Watching the films and leaving reviews is a couple ways you can help small business. Many of you have been supporting us as shown by the numbers and the fan mail and we cannot thank you enough. You are why we tell these stories and we will continue to entertain you for many years to come.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE TRIBE at http://www.cdiproductions.com
OTHER TIDBITS
- More talks on the WILD FAITH TV series ‘Hastings’ including with possible partners in a western studio. I’m excited to see the on-going adventures.
- Putting presentation materials together on the new WW2 film slated for 2021.
- NEW poster art and setting up first interviews with our Catch-Can documentary.
- NEW poster art underway and audio evaluation with SMOKE & MIRRORS dir and post-audio.
- Announced make-up department for upcoming BEST YEARS GONE the ladies from Gals and Ghouls.
- Soon to announce some of the first sponsors working with us on the BEST YEARS GONE movie.
- Worked final edits on my new book contribution with editor on ‘Second-Chance Cats’ book and signing deal on the next book contribution which is a book featuring dogs. My story is about my Luke Brown who was my inspiration in the MBF film.
- This and a few other opportunities has me thinking about literary representation again.
- LOST HEART BTS is forthcoming – just wrapping up some paperwork.
Is it MSU football time yet?
I’m going to sign off and do a few things around the homestead and the office. This past week I got to peel off a day and go to a couple of lakes with family. I’ve been getting things around for the beer and wine making and I’m going to get one or both of those going. We have new fall crop in the garden and we’ve started taking tomatoes. We had a few days that reminded us of fall coming. I know that wood stove and chill will soon be in the air. I hope everyone keeps the course and try to have patience with one another. Coffee toast – we’ll talk again next week.
DJ
Week B4 Location Pre-Production, MBF and More…
Good morning to everyone out there. The week has been a busy one for sure. Where to start? Before doing this I was working down my list of TO DO’s nearly 20 items deep trying to get a jump on tomorrow. We are very close to on-set pre-production on LOST HEART. We’ve been meeting on cast, crew and various vendors and sponsors. Tomorrow we’ll be announcing two of other female actresses joining the cast. One is an amazing musician/actress and the other a SNL alumni, so stay tuned for that tomorrow. You can follow our FB site for LOST HEART at
https://www.facebook.com/lostheartmovie/
We’ll also be announcing another major sponsor this week – which I can say enough how much that helps independent filmmakers. Some of our sponsors are already listed on the FB site and see http://www.cdiproductions.com where another LOST HEART page will be going up. Friends old and new will be coming together to tell a Michigan story.
WILD FAITH – I’ve started getting some fantastic emails from people who have watched and enjoyed the film. It is now for DIGITAL RENTAL on Amazon Prime and many platforms. On July 2nd it will release to DVD. Thank you to those who have pre-ordered. We’ll look at the TV series or sequels once the worldwide audience has spoken. I would love to do a Michigan based TV series. It would provide some great opportunities to showcase the talent here. Rent/Buy but I would love to read your reviews either on here or better yet posted to amazon.com, IMDB.com or wherever you have rented/purchased it. Giddy up!
MBF: Man’s Best Friend – We’ve been quietly prepping this film for distribution 1st to theaters with home video to follow. I had the pleasure to watch the film through this past week and I was just amazed at the powerful performances made stronger but the score by “Tricky T” 🙂 We’ll have a premiere after we get done filming LOST HEART. It will likely be in the Owosso, MI area where our director hails from. The themes of military vets and adoption dogs will touch the heart’s of many. Get ready for another wonderful Michigan story brought to you by the tribe at CDI.
The Quest Trilogy ( Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer) – If you are enjoying CDI films and want to watch a trilogy of adventure films set in the biblical times- The Quest Trilogy. Take a watch and join the viewers from around the world experiencing these stories.
I am not going to wax on about any subjects today simply because I have a long TO DO list as noted that I want to chip away at. The garden is growing nicely and this week we had a new roof put on. It took about 3 hours and I admired their work flow. The roofers and the clean up support staff. EAGLE EYE ROOFING in Mason which was recommended after they just did a roof job for fellow CDI producer Anthony Hornus. OK. I hope you all have a wonderful week. When I write next week I will be preparing to leave for on-location pre-production for a week before cameras roll.
Have a great day!
DJ
LOST HEART – Scout Trip and More
Happy Father’s Day! It is a rainy, cold Michigan day. I am lucky that I got to spend some time with my daddy this morning. I enjoyed a little breakfast of cornbeef hash and eggs. Today I feel pretty good having just returned from a whirlwind scout up North with our advanced scout team for LOST HEART. That is our next CDI film that will start filming in July. I’m excited about some of the beautiful locations we discovered and new friends we’ve met. Yesterday I was a touch under the weather due to multiple conditions but I didn’t get my full sleep due to a cabin loft bed that seemed more fun when I was 12 years old. Add in second day of soccer sore, less sleep and perhaps the sip of peach brandy and I was just tired.
A Northern location scout – the team seen here with actress Kim Harsch (2nd from left) who co-stars in MBF. Also from left to right Anthony Hornus, Shane Hagedorn, Melissa Anschutz, Me and director Jesse Low.
As I’ve stated before, getting our daily filmed footage is only one of my goals. The other goal/priority is creating a memorable experience for the cast and crew. I think the latter will help us get the best footage. The cast and crew on Lost Heart should be very happy when they see where they will be housed. Lots to do in their down time also but we’ll be announcing more on that later.
I wanted to announce Mr. Don Most will PR this week but we’re combining that announcement with another exciting one. That is the additional of Josh “Ponceman” Perry to the cast of LOST HEART. If you saw THE CHRIST SLAYER you got to see what an amazing talent he is. I’m looking forward to our time on and off screen. We also announced a young actress Cassie Dean who will be working with us for the first time. We will work to make her feel welcome.
Our cast and crew is lining up and we think this might be one of our best productions yet. The story/script has gotten some great reviews and I look forward to having it brought to life. We always are trying to make the best story with our limited budgets. Many people don’t have any idea how hard it is to raise production funds. I’m sure some of my fellow filmmakers understand that plight. It’s why most all film projects fail to launch. CDI is not some big faceless corporation it’s actually a small Michigan-based production company trying to tell some good stories. I appreciate the artists and it is one of the traits we look at in our hires, appreciation.
This week is going to be working to get the final funds into the account. Getting the commitment and getting the actual money can be a task in itself. Many investors don’t always understand our timelines and that can hurt a production. We will also be announcing a few exciting new sponsors. We’ve been targeting Michigan-based companies and we’re proud to align with them.
MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND – This film is now being mixed with a few final audio tweaks being done. We will deliver the film on June 30th and they are already gearing up the theatrical marketing. This week is putting the end credits together and soon we will have another completed film.
WILD FAITH – Our western is building its home video release. The digital rental on Amazon and other retailers will be June 24th. July 2nd is the official DVD release but some faith retailers were given a slight advance on the release. If you’ve seen the film please do leave us a review on IMDB.com or Amazon.com
I’ve gotten word the the legendary Lana Wood will be joining Darby Hinton at the HAPPY TRAILS VA STYLE film event in October I believe it is. I will keep updating everyone as I get more information.
A few of the discussions as of late have been about the WILD FAITH TV series. Once the film fully gets out there we’ll see if the characters in the film are a hit with audiences. If so we’ll be looking at bringing you a full season of the WILD FAITH story.
THE QUEST TRILOGY keeps adding audiences worldwide and I have enjoyed a handful of fans recognizing me from those films. Again if you haven’t enjoyed these films check out FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER on Amazon and other fine retailers.
This rain and cold is causing a postponement of my nephew’s Bday party and I too might have to reconsider a get together I was going to have for my birthday. Thunderstorms are not good for outside yard parties. But we did get the garden in and I also worked in some grass seed where needed. The rain is good for that. So this week will be more cast and crew agreements and working to lock locations. And…learn my lines. Yes. Even when you write the script you still need to work your lines although it is a touch easier.
I will let this end here and I’m going to organize my work from the scout trip so I can start Monday off right. Be good to one another and keep chasing your dreams.
DJ
Persistence eventually wears down failure.
Good morning! Usually in the morning I’m treated to sunshine but with the rain/wind storm rolling through and the time change, springing ahead, it is darker. I’m sipping my (enter sponsor coffee here) * yes I’m still looking:) and I’m going to share some of the updates from a very busy week. But before that let’s see if I can pull any lessons from the past week to share with you all.
CASTING
(Talented artists – surround your pictures with them)
I will comment on something that I’ve commented on before – casting. I’m reviewing close to our final cut of MBF: Man’s Best Friend and I’m just so damn proud of all the actors. It takes good words, scenes, story and interweaving to allow such performance. I do want to work in other people’s worlds and stories. But it is always a task because a good strong blueprint/script is required. I’ve noted before of hearing filmmakers brag about ‘no script’ or ‘winging it’ and it always SHOWS. I recently read a script that I was considering involvement with and I asked about the campy humor. I was embarrassed slightly when the response was that it wasn’t humorous it was 100% straight and meant to be intense and gritty. Um…okay. It was a pass on my part. I’ve been there. Done that. Got the tee-shirt. Spend 99 cents and watch it on Amazon Prime with my 1st starring role in a feature film. IN THE WOODS is a fun film and cult junkies love it even playing drinking games to it. But it was meant to be like ALIEN and the monsters when shown in the light, we thought a novel idea, come off…watch it:)
(Note my costar Jim G who can also be seen in upcoming ‘MBF’ )
IN THE WOODS link
Back to casting. I’m reviewing MBF and so proud of the performances by so many of my peers are excellent. And to the crew who worked so hard and harmoniously, you will be proud to be associated with this Collective Development Inc. film. I’ve been enjoying watching new reels. We consider all our past performers who brought great performances and were not any sort of issue. You cannot tolerate nonsense when doing something as hard as making a feature and trying to keep quality at a certain level. But every film only allows us a few players.
(Greg Mason on set MBF with Duncan from Animal Planet)
To finish the MBF update, this week dialog work will begin once the picture is officially locked.
THE CHRIST SLAYER – The DVD is becoming available at more places. Amazon had some glitch for a few days. It seems like that happens quite often. I saw that we were moving units nicely. I still like the DVD/Blu-Ray format. Digital can disappear, it happens. The April 19th Easter event screenings in theaters will be exciting.
Speaking on that as we start the run up to myCinema‘s WILD FAITH theatrical. I’ve fielded hundreds of requests for what states? What theaters? I hope to have answers soon. This is my first run with these films and this theatrical outfit. I see others who like to overstate news but with so many set backs over the decades I almost always take the modest path. If we show in more than 2 states and 8-10 screens I will see it as progress. Now the myCinema is in 1000+ screens but I don’t want to get myself too excited or disappointed. It is a beautiful story as many of our story’s are and we just want to entertain. So I hope we do capture a large audience with these releases. I do hope to have info for everyone this coming week.
Also some of you were treated to a DOVE family review and some new artwork. You can read about it here.
PR RELEASE WITH DOVE REVIEW:
https://www.prlog.org/12758326-wild-faith-reveals-new-artwork-for-theatrical-and-dvd-release.html
If you have enjoyed any of these films please do leave a review on amazon, imdb or any social media sites that would apply. I know a few reviews that are in the works as we speak.
(Mr. Robert Bradley on set ‘MBF’ with our Brown Boy)
LOST HEART
We’ve been moving right along on bringing on investors, scouting locations, finalizing the shoot script and such. We’ve been announcing some of the players and this week we’ll announce a few more. Mr. Robert Bradley and Mr. Anthony Hornus will be playing roles and assisting with production.
This week we’ll be sending the new script around to some of the team. We’re also talking to many sponsors to participate in our Northern Michigan telling. If your company service or goods wants to consider sponsorship with us please reach out to perrydj@aol.com and I’ll discuss with you. We’ve had many companies participate and love adding to that family.
Misc Final Biz
I had a few great meetings with filmmakers this past week. We discussed some collaborations on a few films. If you are bringing something from the outside in most likely you will also have to bring the money. Our CDI funds are being directed at in-house projects that have distribution blessings. The idea of not spending the time, energy and money shopping is really nice. I’ve had other interested studios discussing possible production/distribution of non-family/faith material. As I noted to a friend recently the secret is ‘One step in front of the other. Balance. Focus. Persistence eventually wears down failure.’ Choose your associates and collaborators carefully or you’ll always be off-balance and having your focus pulled away from you. And the final product will reflect all those issues.
Have a great Sunday!
DJ
LOST HEART Advance News and more…
Well, well, well last week’s blog entry made a large impact. We had maybe the most readers from around the world. It was crazy to see all the countries represented. It was a great week and I’ll speak on some of that. I’ll also give a few open spoilers before released in PR next week. But I want to sincerely thank all the people who joined me this past week. I’ve got the hot hazelnut coffee here by my side and I’m going to get into some updates. I will note on a few things I noticed this week.
We had our 3rd film in THE QUEST TRILOGY – The Christ Slayer release to amazon, google play, Christian Cinema digitally. This film is unusual as it is available on home video (DVD will be March 4th) and will be releasing into theaters for Easter on April 19th. I had a big conference call meeting with the VP of BMG and 8 executives/employees from the theatrical company. I’ve never been in on a call quite like that as we’ve never had national releases. The call also touched upon WILD FAITH that releases into theaters March 23rd and will roll to home video after the platform release. I’m so happy that these films that do play great on the big screen due to the strong production values brought by our artists. I’ll be getting lists of where the films will play city and theater chains. I’m hearing that we have in MI early interest from Emagine, Celebration and Goodrich who carried the film before. Canada is being considered for theatrical and I hear that a deal in Brazil could be close. I was just proud to have all these talented people focused on our films.
I had a goal of making a trilogy of biblical adventures that would appeal to a broad audience like the Chuck Heston films of old. I’ve noticed that beyond the normal trolling that films with a religious topic or theme also get attacked. If you’ve watched The Christ Slayer and enjoyed it I encourage you to vote and share your thoughts. When you see a two sentence slam on a film versus an intelligent write-up/review it’s pretty easy to make up your mind on which review is more accurate. I’ve noticed on past films like Chasing the Star, that people don’t know their history. They complained that the film was dark. Ummm…King Herod’s reign was dark. They called it unGodly because it focused on a different religion with the Magi. Ummm…this is accurate and Christianity wasn’t close to being a religion. I don’t mind if someone doesn’t like something but when they claim something isn’t accurate is silly when only their education is what isn’t accurate. Lot of viewpoints are subjective but that doesn’t make it wrong. It just tells me that films like these were badly needed. So feel free to watch all three films now on Amazon but if The Christ Slayer plays near you in April please do check it out on the big screen.
Wild Faith should roll out new artwork and we should start to see more PR on this wonderful film. There are also some few things in play with the distributor that could lead to our TV series. We had good talks over this film which I think will play great all across this country. I hope my Canadian friends and fans get a chance to see this film on the big screen. But I learned that in Canada they have different ratings boards for each territory. So you could have to pay for multiple ratings but they still might elect to do just that. I’m excited to see this again on the big screen. We’ve remastered the film for the new release and added a great new addition to the film with a surprise story narrator.
MBF: Man’s Best Friend will have a first edit end of this week. We’ll spend two weeks refining the cut before moving it along to Dennis Therrian for music and sound design. The theatrical company has an early interest in the film and with a good amount of lead time we’ll be able to do some great marketing. We’ll also start work on a new trailer in April cut from the edited film. I’m excited that while we deal with all this new release business this film is right behind it.
And right behind that film is our newly announced movie LOST HEART. Our FB social media and IMDB pages are now active.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/lostheartmovie/?modal=admin_todo_tour
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9640414/reference
We will start announcing cast this week as we move forward. Also you will hear it here first but CDI will once again be teaming with director Jesse Low (Forty Nights, Wild Faith) on LOST HEART. We met with several talented directors and some of them could end up working with CDI in the future. But for this next journey we’ll be working with Mr. Low. Also we’ll be announcing Melissa Anschutz, who will be playing the title role of ‘Hannah’ in the film. A big congrats to them both and we’re looking at April/May timeframe to shoot. The film will again be distributed under a deal CDI has with BMG.
I’ve also been working hard on the end-of-the-year tax work for the films. On a personal level I’ve been in talks over finding the right literary agent to do work for hire writing and to sell a few scripts I don’t plan to produce. I’ve got a few outside CDI films I’m looking at for acting but we will see. Even if paid I don’t like working hard on films that never get finished. I have a few of those lingering in my past. But I believe I will be directed towards the right projects. I will be playing a fun supporting role in Lost Heart but you’ll have to wait to hear more on that.
Yesterday I spent some time cutting up firewood for the office stove. I’m going to work on finishing a few other business items today and get a jump on things for next week. Again I was just so happy to see the HUGE spike in readers and from so many countries. Keep following your dreams and telling those stories and creating that art. We’ll talk next week. Feel free to check out http://www.cdiproductions.com for other film updates. We will have a few holes in our casting that we’ll be looking for soon.
Have a great Sunday!
DJ
The Christ Slayer Cometh and More…
The great melt is underway here in Michigan. After record setting cold we are now getting an influx of warm air and the white world is giving way to browns and greens. The squirrels are out and about and I’m looking to see if one of the injured in the neighborhood survived the arctic blast. Something had attached it and it was visible injured but he was getting by. He was in a nearby tree as the worst of the snow blast hit us. We even but a box out with cloth and some food but he seems to have made it back to his hidden hole. I’m cheering for him to survive. I want to thank our new readers from Ireland. Let’s take a sip of coffee and see what happened this past week.
THE CHRIST SLAYER – we’ve entered into the season of The Christ Slayer and I could not be happier. We had a delay by a day with our digital purchase site on Amazon. The upload failed during the storms but is now up minus the artwork.
Amazon rent/buy digital:
For those who love to collect like myself – the DVD pre-order link:
https://www.amazon.com/Christ-Slayer-Josh-Perry/dp/B07MG14J9H
On Christian Cinema:
s://www.christiancinema.com/digital/movie/the-christ-slayer
DOVE REVIEW
https://dove.org/review/15069-the-christ-slayer/
One of my favorite reviewers is Matt Page out of the UK
BIBLE BLOG REVIEW
https://biblefilms.blogspot.com/search/label/Quest%20Trilogy
If you want the film to play theatrically in your area please contact
https://mycinema.live/contact?subject=I%20would%20like%20to%20book%20%27THE%20CHRIST%20SLAYER%27
Stay tune for more info as this movie keeps rolling out.
WILD FAITH
We’ll be moving into more promotion on this wonderful film starting with the movie going back into theaters. Shane Hagedorn just did a great podcast that we’ll be sharing along with new reviews.
The theatrical set up is underway and soon I hope to have what cities it will play in soon. Same thing on The Christ Slayer for the Easter event screenings.
MBF: Man’s Best Friend – It sounds as if we are about done with a first cut. They are adding some transitional drone shots and tweaking it. I hope to see the cut by the 15th of Feb so we can lock up the picture and move into music and sound design.
DEVELOPMENT:
We’ve had several talks/meetings with possible directors on our next film LOST HEART. We’ve also been casting for several months and we’ll start to announce some of those talents. We’re targeting to shoot in April in Northern Michigan. It all depends on how fast the business can all be pulled together. That said, the LOI to distribute is in place and we already have some financial commits.
It is serious work to try and match the right project up with the right director. It is also a creative marriage between individuals for several years. So it is not something we take lightly. And sometimes we discover people that might not direct our next film but could be in line for something else in the future.
In a meeting Saturday if was said that the Michigan film community is small and everyone knows one another. I disagreed as when I first started the film community in Michigan was SMALL, SMALL, SMALL and you did know almost everyone. The Michigan community now is actually MUCH larger and I can say that I don’t know that many people in our community. I know some but not all and I don’t have time to meet everyone. I’m friends with film makers worldwide and I guess I know who I know. I don’t have the time to knock around the state at every mixer or function. I have an endless TO DO list but I guess being busy is a good thing. But I believe we meet the people we are meant to meet. I’ve noted before I’m open to select collaboration and work on projects as talent if the project is solid and has funding.
Aside from all this I have been doing the business taxes for the end of the year. What fun all that is:) It is part of the whole so I’ve been smiling and making my way through it. It keeps making the ship more organized and we’ll take that forward into the future.
Have a wonderful day and keep working hard to achieve your goals and dreams.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 