A DOZEN UPDATES JUST FOR YOU!
(Springtime is arriving!)
My coffee cheers on a sunny yet still a tad chilly Sunday! I want to again welcome all of you here to sit a spell and discuss life, art and everything in between. It has been a very full week but one that I found to be very productive. I welcome some of our new readers from Germany, Canada and Iraq. The last being a great land of art and traditions. Every land has its storytellers. If you are one of them preserving stories and helping humanity to think of the greater good and our interlinking web of life, kudos. Mother Nature was at it this past week with storms and even an earthquake on the US East Coast. I feel for the Asian quake that caused immense damage and recovery efforts are still ongoing. We have to try and live in harmony with nature because that is the only way. I recall an old saying “He who goes against the way meets an early end.” That is why in all business we should factor in the safety of our air, water and food supply as it extends and effects us all. Transitioning into new energy will take time and not be perfect but the striving must continue. I live in a place cold for a good part of the year and I don’t want an electric car that will have issues charging and keeping a charge but that doesn’t mean to stop pushing. I think once energy is easily made and utilized at low/no cost to customers it will free up money to be spent and gathered in other ways by companies. Imagine if cars just ran and gas was not required because the cars were powered by the magnetic field around the earth. Houses had multiple year generators that ran everything. Roads that gather kinetic energy are in the works. I am curious to see where technology takes us in the coming decades. We’ve talked about AI on here and I think for another 10 years it will be a great tool for the arts. After that will it replace many spheres are art? I don’t know. People already enjoy animation since Walt Disney and others starting animating pictures. Billions have falling in love with characters created around human performance voices. The day may come where it is all created and we’ll just have to bravely see what that world is. In the meantime, we’ll continue to tell our stories. Let’s look and discuss some of those updates.
(Producing up some updates at CDI)
UPDATES-
- The audience for SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is going strong and soon it will be releasing to UP FAMILY & FAITH TV in a month or two. We’re setting up a few interviews and stories to help widen the awareness of this powerful film. I was happy to hear that Randy Couture (Former UFC Champ) whom was involved with our doc film FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH really enjoyed it. He too was unaware that we had German PW’s here in the midwest during WW2. If you haven’t seen SNIA or the doc for that matter please do so. Just google either of them up and take a watch.
- Harsens Island Revenge is now in post-production and we’re about to watch the 2nd edit of the film. It will have the new pick up footage inserted and have the film tightened down around the voice over. We are close to a picture lock which is what we do before starting music, VFX and sound design. The VFX meeting happened last week and there is 61 VFX shots to be included in the film. We are all excited to see this project move to the next step.
- The Making of Harsens Island Revenge– This first peek into what went into the making of the project and some first seen footage is done. The CDI logo is being put on the front and the plan is to release that tomorrow. This was done by Adam Towner who worked as cast and crew on the film and he captures the joy of filmmaking. Stay TUNED! Next up will be work on a theatrical poster and a trailer.
- KNIGHT CHILLS was CDI’s first film and was released last Oct on Blu Ray and soon we’ll be licensing it out to several select platforms for streaming. A new trailer is going to be cut and a new poster is in the works. It is fun to return to where it all began. We might take the newly remastered film and see how it does when uprezed to a full 4k.
- AN ORDINARY KILLER was a superb movie when we shot it in like 2001 and released in I believe in 2003. We just passed the 20 year anniversary of the release and the film. At its peek it played on ABC and was the longest cold case file solved after 28 years, solved by DNA. The case has new interest with new facts coming to light. It was recently featured on a UK TV show with writer and co-director Anthony Hornus interviewed. And even more recently the film’s subject matter is the topic of several podcasts by Two Average Joes. A special presentation of the making of will be released with the podcast this week and we’ll be sure to alert you. The film’s lead detective played by yours truly is an ex Vietnam veteran. That also plays into the story and this led to a great idea for the film. A great military non-profit The Red, White and Blue Project has helped many military families with projects like OUTSIDE THE WIRE, The Forgotten Children of Afghanistan and STANDING POST. Now AN ORDINARY KILLER is going to be part of a series of donation driven screenings. This will give a second life to the film to be seen once again and also help many good military folks in need. The investor who has since passed away, will have his son be the spokesperson to gift the non-profit donations to the causes and individuals chosen. It is a beautiful way to give a second life to an old CDI film that has just been sitting on the shelf so to speak. I will say that the film has undergone an uprez to HD 4k and looks just incredible. It looks like it could have been shot last week and the performances and product values show that CDI has been doing quality work for sometime.
- HOT ROD LOVE – This fun and meaningful story showcases a time in the 70’s when women were thought to be unable to handle/drive drag racing cars. This was proven to be inaccurate and our story showcases that period of time. We had new steps this past week on securing our funding and might be able to finish it up in a couple of weeks with a little hardworking. Pepsi is again onboard as a sponsor and we’ve got some great retro and tie in marketing planned. I’m looking forward to a location scout late this month or early next month.
- WILD FAITH Hastings, GOTCH, SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE are all in development with moving pieces. Also a new untitled project is being packaged for submission to an interested funding source and if we get the green light on that I’ll be very happy. It is a great acting piece for all involved! We have some amazing stories ahead for our fans worldwide. For those developing projects you MUST do something everyday to advance your development. Many sit by the phone waiting for someone to ring with their interest. While that does happen on occasion it is usually off the success of something prior. Artwork. Proof of Concept. Great script. Network. It all is required and some quit when success is right around the corner.
- LITERARY CDI projects are also about to launch. Several bound scripts and making of’s and also novelizations. I had a good meeting over that on Friday and we’ll be launch into some of those soon. Once I’ve inked that deal we will give you a better idea of what projects. What scripts would you like packaged with other production info? The Quest Trilogy book will be one of them I can assure you.
- CDI MUSIC VIDEOS/Commercial – we’ve done a few and have another due out this month. I will await for the band management to announce and release. But once it’s done we’ll be sure you all get to see it. We have two more music videos planned ahead of us and a couple of pilot shows for a different endeavor.
- I’ve got the next book in Ronnie Lee’s book/audio book series FOR GENERATIONS TO COME (Google it up) to narrate this month. If it wasn’t for all the heavy construction in the nearby park I might have already finished it.
- I’ve got my new acting agent looking over some photos that GW Burns snapped off on our recent pick up shoot. Once they pick their choice ones that put my face up there for you to consider me so I can consider you and if we all consider it a good fit- we might collaborate on something.
- This week I’ve got some meetings, banking, birthday parties, studio previews, dentist and a short trip out-of-state. The trip is to support my amigo Shane Hagedorn as his plus one at a charity screening of his new western WAS ONCE A HERO. I will get to see some old friends Darby Hinton, Rebecca Holden and some past acquaintances like Dan Searles, John Carter Cash and Robert Carradine. This week is also the kick off party for the CCFF in my town. It is at the RE Olds Museum and I want to attend but it is the night before we depart out of state. I might take the time instead to pack and spend time at home before an early start the next day. I might try to do a short visit to give my support. They do a great job so if you like movies look to attend!
(I look forward to soon being able to work from the patio)
I’ve had my eggs and ham from our chickens and 4H pig. Yes we’re part time farmers over here. Okay not really but we do try to stay away from processed foods and stay natural. I was building a trellis for the raspberry plants yesterday but it was still a tad chilly. I might go do a few things outside today but I’ll still need to build a fire in the wood stove. I’m sure I missed a few updates as my weeks stay crazy busy but that is enough for you to chew on. I am enjoying seeing the trees start to bud and colorful flowers bursting forth. Almost mushroom season too. I went with a buddy to a farm market and bought some mushroom jerky which I still have yet to try. I hope you all have a safe week. Don’t look right at the eclipse. Organize your dream TO DO’s and give your best efforts this week. I might be doing a video update next week from the premiere event or on the nine hour trip home. I will arrive home just in time to attend a family gathering next Sunday. So I have again a very full week but I’m sure it will open many new doors. Thank you all for stopping by (Coffee Cheers) I’ll stop in next week to say hello and give you any new updates.
Be good to one another!
DJ
An ‘Official Wrap’ on Harsens Island Revenge and More Updates!
Good morning new readers from Portugal, India, Philippines, Denmark and the UK. Maybe my Indian friends can help me – what is the S. Indian coffee secret? I had that brought to my room every morning in India when filming KARMA. I want to seek it out here and see if I can find some. Yes. It rivals my hazelnut coffee I’m so fond of. So this morning I am well rested but yesterday eve I was pretty exhausted. Why?
For several weeks I’ve been prepping for what would be about 3 min on the screen but it was worth it. After watch the first cut of the film we knew we needed the close up shoots of our pilot and lead attacking some ‘Purple Gang’ property. The 1927 plane was far from Alpena where we filmed and so we needed close ups to match with our other footage of the flight. Movie magic in full effect starting at noon on Friday had us capturing our sequence and establishing shot of the plane that will be seen outside the hanger scene we shot at the Alpena Air Force base. Our crew had to travel in a snow storm but all arrived safe and we had such generous hosts that helped us get what we needed in a 2.5 hour period.
After the plane shoot it was traveling downstate to some beautiful property belonging to our transport captain Dane DeFord. This was the sit for our opening scene to the entire movie. It takes place in WW1 whereas a group of German soldiers are awaiting mechanics to come fix their tank. When I wrote the scene I always envisioned a cold miserable day where the poor soldiers are trying to stay warm. Our film’s hero is sent to deal with these Germans in hopes of capturing a tank. Let’s just say that after several temps of 60’s+ degrees that threatened to give us a very different day we ended up getting exactly what we wanted! Beautiful falling snow that just made the scene so cinematic.
These snowy conditions look great on camera but are hard on cast and crews. But with our scaled down team we got the perfect scene. And we had such a great time all together filming it. Great re-enactors to bring our German’s to life with Mark E. Holmes (Silent Night in Algona) playing our lead German. Mark Balko and his Pepsi team really came through with catering and craft services. Thank you Mangos from Alpena! We had campfires going in the woods and we were storytelling again. The magic of it all and after weeks of hard work it was all worth it.
I want to thank everyone involved. GW Burns our production designer was in from Florida and got a wake up call on Michigan snow. After nine hours trucking through heavy snow I was beat at midnight when I finally started my trek home. I had 4 deer run in front of me, 1 beside my car racing me and 1 huge buck who almost came in front of me but decided against it. I see why Dane who likes to hunt lives there, deer city. I had a restless night because my body felt beat up like after a soccer game and I drank too much coffee later at night. My furry son Finn had been under the weather with upset stomach and was restless and so that night gave me little sleep.
Up and more coffee before off to the sound studio with David Reardon our young lead. With Dennis Therrian and our director Carl we got all our narration. I even laid down a line of two for Axel on the phone in the film. A stop to drop off our rented US “doughboy” uniform and I was home. My Finn was doing better and last night was a peaceful sleep. Again none of this is easy and at CDI we work hard. There is no half ass here as my dad would say. So we need to enact a refund on one hotel in Jackson that did not live up to its pictures and a few expenses to report but the film is now an official WRAP. All the pieces of the puzzle are complete. We’ll have a few weeks to tweak and add these shots into the film but soon it will be locked and music and sound design will start. Adam Towner should be finishing up the Behind the Scenes and we are now working on a theatrical poster and first trailer to likely release end of April.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA– Curran Jacobs is going to be doing a meet-n-greet in Algona and the film is an official selection at the upcoming ICFF. We have our own Cassie Dean, Shane Hagedorn and Dennis Therrian up for honors. The film will start playing on UP FAMILY & FAITH this Summer which is exciting. The DVD’s are still selling and streaming is giving many a peek at the film.
THE QUEST TRILOGY – With Easter right around the corner I’m asking our fans to enjoy a watch of our biblical three films. It is a good time to stop and reflect on family and life. TRAILER HERE: https://youtu.be/HOiLSFiL9es?si=LfwGuUoncew5UktH
HOT ROD LOVE – I just did a fresh read on our Summer film HOT ROD LOVE. We picked up another investment piece this week bringing us to about 35% financed and climbing. With this pick up shoot in the rearview mirror I can devote even more energy to the next film. So starting Monday more sponsor and investor talks. We want to get the business behind us so we can focus on the creative.
Additional Development-
We also have funding talks starting up on SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE and GOTCH. I’m looking forward to a read on the updated Gotch script end of next week. I’m also happy to say that the Victorian/Steampunk script I was working on is finished and I’m extremely happy with the final story. I’ll send that around to a few of the producers this week to take a read. We’ve also been doing some organizing and updating of the quality of some of the older CDI films by converting them to HD. I’m going to be doing some checking on those this week and it will be fun to watch in the new vivid form.
I’m not going to go much further with updates as I like to get things complete before reporting on them. But I know people are anxious and want to know what is next so I try to keep you all updated. When GW Burns was in town I had him snap a few new headshots for the new agent so I’ll be looking into those. I’m going to try and recharge a bit before hitting it hard again starting on Monday! I hope each and every one of you have a great week. I know the Capital City Film Festival mixer will be coming up. We as a company usually try to participate and support the kick off. Until we speak again next week, be good to one another!
DJ
CDI Updates, Looking Ahead – Last Week!
I’m sitting here in Alpena listening to the MSU game on Tony Hornus‘s streaming lap top. The waves outside are primitive and create a sense of relaxation. I was almost going to step out to eat but I had recently returned from doing a ‘pick up’ scene at the nearby military base. We almost settled for a small modest set but we ended up with an epic one. It just takes digging a little deeper. Our CDI producers and keys are damn talented problem solvers. We don’t have any perfect days as the odds of variables is against us. But when challenges do arise we have the tribal power to deal with it. Pivot and move forward. Repeat. Refine. Repeat.
It’s our day off for cast and crew but not producers. I did all the payroll today and still have to do the accounting behind it. Our ‘end of week’ filming consisted of our biggest days filled with action and extras. I’m proud to say we safely and timely, got what we wanted. During one of the scenes a bystander mentioned how the set up looked like a studio film lot. It made me smile. It was pretty trick with us using several classic cars, fog machines and a chorus of action as we filmed one of our most chaotic scenes.
The very next night we filmed in one of the oldest buildings in Alpena. It’s just an incredible building dripping with character. As the screenwriter it exceeded by minds eye picture of the location. Perfect looking both inside and out. We filmed the climatic end of the film there last night and it was majorly charged. The Purple versus the Harsens Island Militia (WW1 vets) – it is a cool piece of historic fiction and the footage looks absolutely epic. EPIC. Thank you Alpena for providing such a wonderful backdrop. Thank you for all the assistance everyone has given in the community. Harsens Island Revenge coming soon! Okay not real soon, but soon enough.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA theatrical fans have been clamoring for a home video release and Dec 1st, 2023 is that date when DVD and streaming will launch. And if we did not release the poster on here yet – enjoy!
This film has been worked on and polished for the home video version. We hope you will enjoy it with your family this holiday season.
WHAT IS NEXT? This is always a very interesting question. Many things have to all line up to take a project from development and move it to pre-production once funding is achieved. Sometimes locations play into the project. But mostly it’s getting all the right elements behind a truly strong blueprint or script. We’ve have several projects in a constant rotation of development. Some have been there for some time as this process can be lengthy and require multiple things to line up. I will enjoy taking a few beats to readjust back into home but I will be back to my development talks shortly after. I love working with our team to get these projects synergized and ultimately funded.
I really want WILD FAITH‘s tv series to launch. We might be onto a few new opportunities there. I might get back to some writing over the winter. HOT ROD LOVE this next summer would be nice. – I’m going to focus on what is here. I have a handful of scenes tomorrow so I’m going to close on this so I can go work my lines before bed. I look forward to speaking to you again next week at our wrap. Maybe a video:)
Until next week! Coffee Cheers!
DJ
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, Premiere and Theatrical Updates – End of a Journey
Good morning. It is early on the 4th of December, and I’ve gotten up a touch earlier to get this blog written since today will be a full day. Yesterday, we had our post team assemble to marry the audio and visual halves of the film. That is completed, and today they will add the final subtitles and credits. I saw a message this am that one extras name was not added to the end credits. Sadly, not sure it was caught in time for the final rendering. I’m sure even after dozens of watches on the credits, we’ve also misspelled someones name. Know it is never on purpose. It happens with so much data moving about, one of the many challenges. I also know that we have a few ‘Easter Eggs’ in the film. By Easter Egg, I mean small things, that were not quite the correct period, oversights by the art team. But those are few, you can find those oversights in nearly any period film, as films are truly an illusion. In any film there are always a few things you wish would have been slightly different but that is the filmmakers picking. Even George Lucas was unhappy with a few aspects of his original Star Wars. Audiences only know what they are given and they’ll never know what was never presented to them. Most minor flaws never seen.
This film has been a wonderful beast and is one of our most advanced films. Today, we’ll watch the fully assembled film before the DCP is made for the theatre. The file will be tested tomorrow at the theatre before it travels to Algona, with us on Weds. I need to recognize our post team, Dennis Therrian, Nathaniel Nose, Adam Towner, Eric Bilodeau and Dany Boivin. Of course led by Anthony Hornus, our director. Another post person to recognize is Irene Krautner Bookman, who served as our German to English sub-titler. She was born in Austria, moved to the US at age three. Fully fluent in German, she is also an inspiring writer. She hails from our director’s home town of Owosso, MI and that made things easier.
ALGONA ‘SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA’ IOWA PREMIERE – If you were an extra or directly involved with filming, you should be on a list for a ticket at the premiere showing Friday the 9th at 6pm at the Fridley Algona theater. Donna Kitzinger and/or Julie Murphy will be at the Fridley theatre at 5:00 pm with our invite list and tickets to hand out. Those wondering if they have a ticket can email Donna Kitzinger at bdkitzinger@netamumail.com – The public can buy tickets for a 9 pm show on Dec 9th and it plays all week. I hear they might expand into more theaters. We have new theaters approaching daily wanting to show the film.
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, Michigan Premiere will be a yet to be announced afterglow in Lansing, following the Celebration Cinema Dec 16th showing. It will play for a week both in Lansing and Grand Rapids.
In Jan 2023 we are planning an Owosso, Special Directors Screening with an afterglow and Q&A with our director at the NCG Theatre but that deal is still finalizing.
There will be more theaters joining in the release. Others will be expanding and that is because of you all reaching out to the theaters and requesting the film. Thank you!
HOLIDAY WATCHING–
Tis the season! As it gets cold and people gather with their families and loved ones, we have many films at CDI you can enjoy. The Quest Trilogy, has become a classic watch for folks during the holiday. Also WILD FAITH, MBF, LOST HEART, ASHES OF EDEN, WICKED SPRING and more…
WRAP UP REFLECTIONS
Our job as producers is to try and see problems before they happen. Being aware, is good but obsessing on what might go wrong or could go wrong, can become STRESS. Being prepared, is the best defense. Being organized, allows you to trouble shoot. You can never totally eliminate worrying at big events, but you can control and contain it. Concern over technical aspects is only one part, the artists also sincerely hope that the people enjoy the story. I’m confident that the masses will enjoy our next film. It’s a film about love, joy, healing and unity and it is based on true events.
Being that this is also the Christmas season, our job is a touch more complicated. I have our first Christmas gathering a week after returning from Iowa and our MI premiere the night before one of our gatherings. Luckily, I’ve done a bulk of my holiday shopping online. I will get a few Christmas shopping days in here and there. But one giant gift to the world will be this next film.
I’m going to wrap this up so that I can eat something and get around for our in studio wrap up. I enjoyed all the time spent in studio tweaking scenes. I’m excited to see it all put together in just a few short hours. I might have to take some of the Frankenberry wine out for everyone to toast.
I’m also going to go make the hazelnut coffee. I also like to add EggNog sometimes to my coffee. Try it sometime. I got up early to write and didn’t want to use the noisy coffee bean grinder. But the house is now up and awake, so time to grind the beans. Next Sunday, we’ll be on the other side of the Algona, premiere. I’ll have a lot more to say. These films are hard work and that is why I carry a certain respect for anyone who can make and distribute a feature film.
I will talk with all of you on the other side of this final push!
Soon-to-be Coffee Cheers,
DJ
Mastering Pressure vs Stress (Five Updates-including ‘Silent Night in Algona’)
Good morning! The hazelnut coffee is flowing and so is the rain. I will say, yesterday we had a 55 degree beautiful day when we went to harvest a Christmas tree. I love pine trees and having one in the house is something we all enjoy. This is our first Christmas with Luna Mae, our newest member of the pack. We adopted her shortly after Daphne, passed away. Finn, has enjoyed having a sister. We had a lost cat hang with us for two days until the owners were found. Thanksgiving, was a nice small gathering having had the moms over. Now that is behind us, I need to get a bit more aggressive with my Christmas shopping. I’ve been busy on several film fronts. If you follow my blog, you know many of the updates but I’ll recap the top five.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, is closing in on being done. I was treated to see some of the “in progress” CGI FX, wow! Tomorrow, I’m back in the studio to watch/listen to music and sound design. The week will be spent tweaking and adding any nuances. At the end of the week our editor/VFX supervisor will be in to help make sure everything is implemented properly. The German subtitles are almost complete and will be dropped in this week. It has been a beast, but this will be a beautiful film. A handful of the producer/actors and director, will be heading to Iowa, for the Dec 9th premiere screenings. Two showings on Dec 9th, will be filled with many of the folks that participated in the film. Public showings will start that night with at least one public showing. But the film will continue to play for as long as the demand stays strong. Once the film is completed we’ll start looking at the other theatrical showings. We also want to look at showings in Germany, Hollywood, and a few other select runs. I really had a chance to reflect this holiday season at how blessed I am to do what I love with people I love and admire. If you get a chance to watch this in the theatre please do. It will release on DVD, streaming and broadcast in the later part of 2023, for those unable to attend any theatrical showings.
2) The great holiday tradition of watching “The Quest Trilogy” continues! I’m thrilled at how many people continue to journey and experience the three films. I’m humbled by all the great fan mail that we’ve received on these films. Shot in the “heroic” style made popular with the Star Wars films, these films are for anyone to enjoy. Lotta gems to be found in these stories and I was told with every watch you pick up something new. So take your first of tenth watch, but just watch them and introduce them to someone else. Happy Holiday Season!
3) I need to try and schedule some meeting time this week to keep on our writer/director polish of the Harsens Island Revenge, script. This story will take place in the epic 1920’s in Michigan. Once we have SNIA (Silent Night in Algona) completed, we will start focusing more on this projects pre-production. I want a teaser poster completed and we’ll start talking with sponsors in the new year.
4) The script I was working on SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE, has a first draft and I’m starting to examine for a polish before proposed cast and crew get to take a read. The story is very powerful with many lessons to be learned. I’ll have some meetings over this project when we’re in Iowa. If all goes well, some developmental construction might start in 2023 and filming in 2024. Yes, this is how far out you need to start the development work on a film project. Often the development can take years. I want to have a teaser poster but together in the new year.
5) FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – Get the DVD! It will make a great stocking stuffer for Christmas. I will take the time here to note something. Our director, Curran Jacobs, a 2X Catch-Can champion is also the young male lead in SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. I’m so very proud of him and Cassie Dean, who plays his wife, as the young lead. While being known as an elite grappler, it will be nice to see him get recognized as a storyteller actor, also. Both of those actors had smaller parts in other CDI films. This was a great opportunity for these two, well earned.
WRAP UP: Today I will likely finish up some online shopping and maybe do some in-person shopping. It was nice to take some time the other day to watch the World Cup USA vs England. Now, if they beat Iran on Tuesday, they will move forward. The turkeys and scarecrow decorations will soon give way to our snowmen and Christmas decorations. I think we will get snow again mid week, so I’ve been putting even more yard stuff away for winter. I also spent some time cutting and sawing wood for the stove.
I’m trying to remember some of the good talks this week, which might provide good lessons for us all. I know I have more reviews before me with the end credits. Like, I’ve said, we’ve missed names before and misspelled even more. Often it is from the bad handwriting of our extras, not always. I will make several more passes on it before it gets rendered this week along with the German sub-titles and the front credits. Our Algona coordinators, will be reaching out this week to our final people on the Algona, premiere invite list. We are trying our best to put on this showing a state away, while finishing the film. If your name gets missed, misspelled, please know, we have no bad intent, just a massive undertaking. If you don’t make it onto the guest list or if you can’t bring certain family or friends, please go again to a public show with them. We just have very limited seating. Even the night of the premiere, I think they might only have 1 screen open. Tickets should go on sale soon and you’ll even see the trailer start playing in front of other films.
Editing of scripts and studio time – it will be nice getting together with our tribe of artists at CDI. First, to finish some work in studio with my friends and after, enjoy the work, again with friends. Or enjoy the reaction of people who watch the films. Cue, the Christmas music as I’m going to just roll with the holidays. We are artists who take great pride in our work. You want to allow yourself to FEEL the pressure but not allow it to twist into STRESS. I always liked the saying that pressure will make the three pointer at the buzzer and stress will result in the air ball. Embrace pressure, that can make diamonds but resist feeding into stress, it does nothing positive for you. So as you navigate the holidays, pressure is fine just don’t allow it to become stress.
Have a great week! By next week when I type, we might have a finished film.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
National Nominations, New Updates and ‘trying to be a Calm in the Storm’
(Chilling at the new post studio – in the pines)
I’m sipping the coffee on this beautiful Sunday. The last couple days have been partially used to start the yard clean up. Some more wood logs got chopped up ready for the next cold day. The garden is going to become the new ‘chicken land’ along with some raised bed veggies and new blueberry plants to join the others we have. Every year different new yard endeavors are put into play. The zip line has not yet been installed.
In the office I started moving pictures and paintings around after I acquired a new painting of an ancient soldier. Once I started moving things around it became an afternoon of trying to get it just right. The nice part is all this can happen while taking business calls. I had one day where I was on the phone 10:30 to 2:30 straight – but lots of good business was done. This is also festival and awards season for us. We’re very selective about our festival selections. You can spend a lot of time and money pushing out to all these tests. Let’s start with the fest updates-
International Christian Film & Music Festival – Lost Heart is up for overall BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR (Jesse Low), BEST SCREENPLAY (DJ Perry), BEST LEAD ACTRESS (Melissa Anschutz), BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Don Most), BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Victoria Jackson) and the PEOPLE’s CHOICE nomination for ACTRESS OF THE YEAR (Melissa Anschutz) and ACTOR OF THE YEAR (DJ Perry)
I’m so happy for the film and the growing response to the film’s story as it makes it way out into the world. A big kudos to Melissa Anschutz who took lead on this film with a career defining performance.
ICVM Crown Awards this year happening at NRB in Dallas Texas in June both “MBF: Man’s Best Friend” and “Lost Heart” have been nominated as one of the 5 finalist in BEST FILM UNDER 250k plus they might result in some personal nominations in the 18 categories.
Again we’re appreciative of the recognition. Many of these festival submissions are done by our distributor but we sometimes do a few select submissions. All the monthly and small online festivals are just revenue gathering models. I’m not against these just not something we chase. If more people become aware and watch the film I guess that is the goal.
FILM UPDATES
BEST YEARS GONE the last set of notes is being sent over this week and those will be implemented and the film will travel to our post studio. The last inserts of footage and such will happen there before music and sound begins. I’m going to try and make the studio hang once a week to review and enjoy this process. The BATTLE OF THE BANDS has been getting some great submissions on the FB page contest. We are announcing another celebrity judge in Mr. Joe Pullin who has worked on all levels of the music industry. His full bio will be posted this week! Merchandise is starting to creep out with a cool auto sticker set and soon iron on Tee shirt logos! Go to http://www.cdiproductions.com and go to the merchandise section. We plan to also start an artist showcase and sell other artists goods for a commission. That is in thew works also!
(Mr. Joe Pullin – our next celebrity JUDGE)
THE QUEST TRILOGY – Tis the Easter season and so we’ll ask that you put your sandals on and travel with us to the desert. Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer can all be watched on various platforms Amazon Prime, Encourage TV, Tubi, Pureflix just to name a few.
WILD FAITH/HASTINGS is doing great and now that funding on another project is complete we can pour more effort in the direction of the TV series. We have planned to put the series in the Spring 2022 slot as we’re still getting past Covid and I’m needing more time to put this TV deal together. With eight 44 min shows this is a larger endeavor but one that I think will be coming soon. I have several follow up communications.
IN OTHER NEWS:
A CDI co-production “Locked in a Room” has gotten a new re-issue as AMERICAN LIAR now available on Amazon Prime. It is an R rated thriller with greed being at the heart of it. Shot in Detroit by writer/direction Larry Simmons – congrats to all the artists involved! Take a watch but watch out for “Mr. Creepy” 🙂
Discussions are underway for BESTSELLER to finally get out to a wider market. Knight Chills has multiple opportunities for a new release. WICKED SPRING is being worked on to release in HD.
WRAP UP: Many people are trying to navigate the storms of isolation, financial insecurity, stress, parenting and more. My goal is to work hard to create something stable. People feel “behind” as if a year has been stolen from them and in many ways it was. Now I’ve focused and worked very hard to keep my balance and in turn provide balance to the other artists struggling. I stated this week that I push forward with my “best efforts” daily, always. I try and not put any expectations beyond as it just adds stress because it is out of my control. Everyone is feeling the urge to RUN after the world Covid lockdown and that is creating a ME and NOW vibe rippling through society. Again I feel we make the greatest gains working together but everyone needs to pay attention to their own fire from time to time. You are no good to a circle of people if your own personal fire isn’t burning bright. I’ve tried to change as little as possible save what we had to for safety to give people an experience. In 2020 BEST YEARS GONE was that. This year is getting better Covid-wise but it still shadows over endeavors and people’s moods. But we will again do what we do and that is all we can do. Please be kind to yourself. Don’t hold your progress up to the same non-Covid standards. Don’t lean into what you do not do but what you were able to do. And be good to one another. This has been hard on everyone with some having it better and some worse. Help someone out this week in some way, shape or form and you will feel the joy of it. I’m going to carry on and we have lots of exciting announcements coming in the weeks ahead. Starting with more cast and crew will be announced for SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. Also business sponsorships will start this April and that is no joke!
Have a great week ahead.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
New ideas, thoughts, processes and appreciations were born in 2020.
I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee and want wish a Happy Holidays to all of you. Welcome new readers and subscribers from UK, Trinidad, Tobago, Philippines, Sweden, Denmark, South Korea and Africa, France and Ukraine. I left my cup to you all and give you my best wishes for a productive 2021. I’m wearing a nice new pair of warm pajamas and I feel blessed to have been gifted an assortment of love gifts. I also got some new technology that will assist with my 2021 business. I have a new JBL Charge speaker meant for speaker calls. I also have new apple I-bud things which I hope fare better than my past Bluetooths. A few new clothing items and an assortment for fun items. I enjoyed gifting and spreading some happiness to folks. I still have a handful of people to catch up with but I will all in good time. I love all the holiday wishes and I hope everyone had a safe Christmas. We went like Santa and did short drop off and visits. We did the zoom opening of gifts and while different and not the preferred celebration, we had fun. In person would have been better but until our elders in our family get the vaccine it was a smart call. We want them all around for the holidays 2021.
This is the time of year when I start to clean up and organize all my actor/filmmaker materials. It is also the time of year for LLC state file fees, end of year corp tax work and other non-sexy but required work. I for one am excited and pumped up for the new year. This is the time to create your goal lists for the incoming year and to see where you fell on your last years goals. I actually did quite well with my 2020 TO DO list and having all that extra time not meeting in person allowed me to get a LOT done. That said, I’m reading to be meeting at the ole fort again to plan new adventures. So use this time to wrap up 2020 and prepare for the year ahead. Write it down. Visualize it. Plan short goals on the way to greater goals. DON’T be afraid to fail because even failure will give you much needed experience.
SOME OF MY 2021 GOALS
- Do a 2021 select/fest run for LOST HEART and perhaps MBF who’s fest run got Covid squashed.
- BEST YEARS GONE is scheduled to be completed in June but we’re on schedule with about an hour edited. By the end of the year we hope to have a rough cut and locked cut by end of Jan. What I saw was amazing and I am beyond happy with what I’m seeing.
- This has to do with BEST YEARS GONE but I think we’re going to do a virtual Battle of the Bands that will end up seeing a song go on the soundtrack with a music video created by CDI. I have some interest from a few legit judges that will help in the process of deciding.
- CDI Merchandise Division will launch in earnest in 2021 pushing out with new BEST YEARS GONE swag. Try this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/DVD-DOUBLE-FEATURE-Figure-in-the-Forest-2002-Heavens-Neighbors-2005-movie-/363016656566
- I plan to get WILD FAITH‘s TV series HASTINGS launched. Ideal filming would be 1st half of 2021 but if our timing is off we’ll swing it around to Spring 2022.
- We also plan to film SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA back half of 2021. Casting for our German-speaking actors is underway. We will announce heavily once we assign the last few units. I’m working on the writer/director script with Tony Hornus (MBF).
- Smoke & Mirrors short will be finished and we’ll take it on festival circuit for fun. But I’ve started my new work on Code Name: ASH the feature film version from which the short was taken. I’ve loved all the research for the new feature script.
- We are preparing to do the final filming on FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH documentary film. I’ll be putting the paperwork together for our next phase.
- I’m excited that we’re streamlining and updating our dispersement process at CDI. That’s a good thing because we’re getting larger and I still write every check by hand. This might not always be the case and I might invest in a few stampers but I still love it. On BEST YEARS GONE, I again had the pleasure of giving an actor their first paycheck ever. It’s a big thing to actors, a milestone and I remember it well. To get paid for your art gives hope. Hope that a path could be what was meant for you. The “shells and beads” is just a way of expressing appreciation for ones work and contribution.
- Writing- During the lock down I wrote the first season of Hastings allowing us to start development work such as assign directors, casting and some scouting. A few of my goals with writing in 2021 is to finish CODE NAME: ASH and my first real Sci Fi endeavor SEAWITCH is what I’m calling it as a working title. I know that development work for 2022 will also be underway. Development works at several levels and can take a few years to many years pending fate and filmmaking.
I’m staying with my existing battle plan. BEST EFFORTS. I would love to participate in a few outside projects should I connect with the material and schedule works. Let’s talk about that POSTING CASTINGS. I see postings from people just asking for actors within an age but they say nothing about the character, the story or the creative team. And you get desperate actors excited sight-unseen to a project listing. Now to be fair in a few cases the previous work is known which can be a positive and a negative pending quality. I understand the keeping a story somewhat private but you have to give the talent something. I would rather work on development or earning from the existing library versus participating in bad work. To get the best actors you need to get the talent exciting. If you think you have the next best thing have talent sign NDA (Non Disclosure agreement) and let them read the script. I would not participate in too many projects if they withheld the script save maybe a major studio film and even then…come on. So one of my helpful hints to get better talent is take some time in the description of the story. List the director and DP and if you like a talent let them read the script. It’s a two way interview and while it might be a great step for a talent, the production NEEDS to find that great talent to succeed with any quality.
Okay. I’ve talked a bit about my goals for producing with CDI, also myself as a writer and actor going into 2021. I hope we have a soccer season this year. I am stepping up and expanding some of the martial arts training preparing for X project or if I just need to unleash any Kung Fu fury. I might wrap things up here to go eat a little breakfast and go chop some wood. The house is in good shape with no real company but we still managed to create a small holiday mess. But as the new little gifts find their new place I’m grateful for what we have. I’ve got an abundance of the homemade beer and wine. Some great sipping gifts and as things lighten up I’m looking forward to clinking a few glasses and making plans.
Enjoy your new year safely. Cheers to a healthy mind, body and spirit. Think positive and kindness expelling any negative toxins and the spirit will soar. Replace repetitive news with music. Replace hate with create – and lead by example versus condensing communications. Actions are louder than words. All to often when some speak they “feel” empowered but their other actions dismiss their credibility labeling them a hypocrite. But actions are what actions are – a truth. If you give vs talk of giving that is powerful. Practice “green earth” vs just talking about climate change. Practice respectful communication in the spirit of unity.
Unity was the theme of last weeks blog. I had such a great response to my blog last week that I want to incorporate it into an upcoming press release. At CDI the spark of storytelling is a constant and will survive all circumstance until mankind is no more. It is greater than our daily priorities that others try to use and put us in a box of A or B when I am a Z:) It comes down to doing the right thing even if it puts a little loss on the sheets. From A CHRISTMAS CAROL and the heart-opening message of the business minded to CHRISTMAS VACATION whereas the employee bonus check doesn’t arrive. I think we can all look at where we can take less so we can enjoy the benefits that come with the spirit of giving to others. YOU CANNOT take it with you. Another lesson this year was – YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU HAVE MORE TIME (Thank you Steven Anschutz) so follow your passions be it as a hobby, part-time or full-time. Gift yourself that time dancing with your own fires of passion. Write, Read, Watch, Sing, Play, Create…do what you need to do. But spend that time to stoke the fire and it will make you a better person. You will share that feel-good fire with others and they will also pass it along. When faced with two-sided news always give the positive first. It puts someone in a more positive, receptive state-of-mind and allows them to better receive any off news. That “off” now becomes something to work on as we all must continue to do. So MUCH growth has happened in 2020 and while it was a challenge many old models were broken. New ideas, thoughts, processes and appreciations were born in 2020. Let’s put everything we learned into practice in 2021! I will see everyone next year.
Happy New Year!
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
TOP TEN UPDATES AS WE FINISH THE MONTH STRONG!
Me, T Hornus, John Saxon, T Turner and David Borowicz in Lone Pine.
Good morning and welcome to all our new readers from Denmark, Spain, China and more…coffee salute. I’m a bit later this morning getting to my blog because I was enjoying a larger breakfast. I also was putting some paperwork together for delivery this week to our distributor. First before jumping into film let me ponder to see if any events this week trigger any discussions. I want to offer up a RIP to John Saxon who was a great actor in movies like ENTER THE DRAGON. I was lucky enough to meet John in a honey stand in Lone Pine, CA at a festival market. He was a nice man and we chatted for a few and took a few pictures. I wish I had gotten to act with him but meeting him was a joy. So RIP to this fine actor for a lifetime of storytelling. Also Regis from the morning TV scene passed on. The circle of life keeps turning and it makes me feel blessed to be doing what I love. I had many conversations this week both business, personal and in-between. Maybe we’ll do a TOP TEN updates.
- LOST HEART will arrive Monday at the distributor and as previously mentioned we’ll be delivering some paperwork behind it. It is very exciting and we’re having a producers watch and theatrical/premiere planning meeting this week. We are looking for venues so if there is one near you that wants to play the film let us know. Home Video release is looking like Oct but I will know more end of the week.
- The short SMOKE & MIRRORS is in editing and we’ll have that rolling out this fall just in time for Halloween I do think. It was a short film taken from my feature script. The footage was used in a demo for a well known sound design company izotope. We’ll be finishing it up and use the short to launch a feature in the near future. Nathaniel Nose director/editor on THE CHRIST SLAYER was the director and is also editing. It was a fun period piece and I think it will lead to the full feature.
- We’ll also be announcing that CDI has entered into an association with The Red, White & Blue Project Inc. to produce a feature length doc entitled ‘For the Love of Catch‘ with our own Catch-Can World Champion Curran Jacob. We have some exciting people getting involved in the film.
- With LOST HEART done we will also be looking more at the 2021 line up. In active development is the WILD FAITH TV series ‘Hastings‘. I had numerous productive conversations on this project and I think it is WHEN not IF. If you have not watched WILD FAITH please do so. It will film in Michigan and could include the creation of a mini-studio.
- We are about to make some presentations on the WW2 Christmas project CDI will produce next year entitled SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA. We have over half the budget being covered by a foundation and we’ll be bringing on investors for the balance. Some great talks with the distributor also over this powerful story. It will be directed by Anthony Hornus as his follow up to MAN’S BEST BEST. If you have not seen this film please do.
- Three CDI Associated films will be getting a new release with ITN Distribution. Deadly Renovations, Darkest Night and Donors. These are films that CDI helped with and I co-star in all three. They are for those who like things that go bump in the night.
- BEST YEARS GONE is the next film up for CDI with a planned shoot window in November finishing before Thanksgiving. We had another great meeting and the film will have lots of exciting firsts for CDI. Shane Hagedorn is directing and those who enjoyed ASHES OF EDEN will be excited to see him directing again. We are planning to start shooting beauty shots and B roll soon as well as a few VFX sequences. Stay tuned! We’ll also be announcing a few more cast and crew soon!
- I need to turn some attention back at CDI Merchandise, CDI Animated and CDI Music Division developing. Having Lost Heart finished will give me some added time to work on these emerging divisions of CDI.
- I’ve got a batch of beer and wine ready to go. I just need to kick the process off.
- I’ll keep pushing ahead with my writing. In a few short weeks the new book that I was a contributing author on will by Callie Smith Grant. It be releasing nationwide with Revell Publishing. You can pre-order here – https://www.amazon.com/Second-Chance-Cats-True-Stories-Rescue-ebook/dp/B087RTPCT4/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=Second-Chance+Cats&qid=1595775817&sr=8-9 – I’ve also got a story in the book after that about DOGS and features a story with my ‘Luke Mr. Brown’ in it. I so appreciate being involved in these books and I’m actively seeking more book writing work.
PRE-ORDER NOW!!! My story involved ‘Lulu’ our little princess:)
As you can see it has been busy, busy with another dose of busy. If anything we are going to come out of this virus crisis with projects lined up to be filmed. I can work with that. Thank you as always for all your notes and fan mail I do read it and appreciate it. Control what you can control and keep moving forward!
Be good to one another!
DJ
UPDATES: Pre-Production, Post Production and Everything In-Between
The hazelnut coffee is here beside me on another beautiful day in Michigan. Let me again start by thanking all the readers we have in our artists circle. Here are just a few from last week –
This past week I had some of my first in-person meetings over CDI merchandise which will be “COLLECTIVE COLLECTABLES” and over a new documentary film CDI is assisting in producing. Also this week I did some major yard upgrades which included power washing and staining the deck. I love to work out there on nice days and today we’re having the mothers over for a first cookout. The yard is all trimmed up and cut and I will be adding some privacy screening this coming week. Also we’ve entered my Bday month – the countdown to the 23rd. It will be a good month as many wonderful updates are unfolding. Let’s take a look.
LOST HEART – The music and sound design is almost done and we’ll be starting to mix. VFX and color correction should also be almost done. We’ve been slowed a touch by weeks of not being in the same room/studio. The film is just the right amount of funny comedy and inspirational drama. I think they want an early fall release which means we might do a theatrical or I hope…a drive in run! How fun would that be and it was a goal prior to all this virus stuff. Along with Roanoke’s music we’ll have some music contributions from a very famous musical family. More on that soon. Plus we might have a great uncredited cameo:) Just so much fun with this film.
BEST YEARS GONE – So much fun we are about to do it all again. We announced last week the addition of Victoria Jackson to the project making this the second time she has joined the CDI family. The film also has a layer of small town race car culture in it. Director Shane Hagedorn and I have been tweaking some dialog to reflect that. We once again have some really cool cars that will play into the film. I’ve started dealing with sponsors for the film and we’ll start announcing those also. We’re aiming to roll cameras in August and right now we are looking at clearing those dates. We’ll still be making some major forthcoming announcements on cast. This film will be a fun one for sure! Find our Facebook page and follow us along.
THE QUEST TRILOGY – The films are marching forward into new territories. South Korea looks to be next following Mexico, Brazil and Latin America. So audiences will continue to adventure with FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. These films can be enjoyed by anyone and are surely to create discussion and dialog.
MAN’S BEST FRIEND – This beautiful film was recognized with nominations by the International Christian Film Festival for screenplay, filmmaking, most inspirational and I was nominated for an actor award for playing Paul. I did not watch the online awards so not sure if we won anything or not but it was an honor to be recognized. I hope we can attend at least one festival this year but we will have to see what opens up. Again if you have not seen this film please do. It has some powerful themes in it and will surely move you.
WILD FAITH – In a time of much strife I’ve been pleased to get so much positive response to this film with racial harmony at the heart of it. I’ve gotten some great fan mail from people around the country who are drinking in this film and the truth it lies out. Nothing is forced but it effectively illustrates that knowing and understanding go hand in hand. We are working to bring this world to audiences as a TV show. Just working on the financial part which is always the hardest. Take a watch and let me know if you see a TV show in there.
WRAP UP
This past week also included investor dispersement on certain films. Also putting a new batch of actor residuals in motion which most will see just in time for Christmas when the union sends them forward. We’re putting materials together on our 2021 WW2 drama and excited about that. I have a few new proposals to help produce other projects that will come with their own money. But even those need to be weighed out because they all take time.
I hope everyone out there stays safe as we re-open and start to interact once again. As you move out into the world do so with a new found appreciation of one another. Allow people to have different opinion and ideas. Try to communicate better and also learn to listen. A common middle ground is what most will need to find as the world moves forward. The attitude of all or nothing is not exactly reasonable as the world is not black and white but a great spectrum of colors that flows between. The GOLDEN RULE of do unto others as you would have them do unto you, would work well as a guiding principal.
Be good to one another.
DJ
CDI Prepares For the Next Story-Voyage
Hello everyone,
I hope the weekend has been good to all of you. I’ve had a busy and productive week both in business and just in getting things done. Where to start? I started the week a touch low because like many families out there I have a sick uncle. He has been more of an inspiration and influence than he knows. His fun wear what he finds comfortable is practically a mantra. His storytelling is simple and engaging and I’ve been thinking of my uncle and cousins at this time. That said, it also reminds us that age not withstanding, that tomorrow is not promised. So boldly we move forward, creating and living.
Soccer has been fun and getting me into strong running shape. Running 70-80 minutes of stop and go in all directions will do it. I’ve been doing lots of yard work and prepping for the garden that is now planted. Beans, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, pumpkins and more are in the ground. I’ve also installed a retaining wall around the office porch. I need to put some grass seed down. All the stuff I enjoy doing while making business calls.
I’ve been organizing acting ands literary materials for future work with this new agency. I had a possible opportunity to write for a TV series but we’re in preproduction on LOST HEART and I don’t want to do any less than my best at either endeavor. Lesson here for people not to try and do too much and do poorly at both things. So first on deck is LOST HEART which I was the screenwriter on. It is a funny and emotional character study with the bizarre and wonderful Northern Michigan as the backdrop.
We announced Lauren LaStrada joining our cast last week and we will announce Cassie Dean this week. She will play a younger version of our lead in some key scenes. Also we’ll be announcing the addition of Don Most from Happy Days fame. He played a strong supporting role in MBF: Man’s Best Friend and will step to a co-starring role in LOST HEART. I’m exciting to have him joining us again.
MBF – The music pass is complete and now mixing is underway. I went into the studio last week and did my final narration. We will be working end credits this week and prepare for a final watch through. I’m excited for audiences to watch this film. If you have a soft spot for our military and/or animals, dogs in particular, MBF might be for you.
The Quest Trilogy – I’m going to be exploring merchandise in the coming year. I would like to see a few products available as we move into the next holiday season. If you take a watch on FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER please leave us your thoughts on IMDB.com or amazon.com
WILD FAITH – This month digital rental becomes available on June 24th the day after my Bday! So do me a birthday solid and watch WILD FAITH with your family. I think all ages will really enjoy the film. Oct 17-19 WILD FAITH will play the Happy Trails VA Style festival. I think the film is playing on a Saturday. I will provide more info soon but I know Darby Hinton will be there to talk about the film and the genre. In July the DVD will release at various retailers. My goal is to see it at Cracker Barrel🙂
We have lots of development work on a handful of projects. I was also approached about a few possible acting roles. I will need to read the scripts and see if the characters speak to me. Exciting days ahead but right now I’m most excited about bringing the story of LOST HEART to life. Again we have more companies aligning with our film. Feel free to reach out on how your product or service can participate.
With that I’m going to go do some mulching around the office.
Have a great week.
DJ
Welcome JUNE 2019 – Updates
June has just started and it has been unnaturally chilly and very wet with several storms passing through the last month. The yard is bursting to life with growth and soon berry season will be upon us. I’ve been harvesting rhubarb for wine-making and I think it is time to bottle the HOPPY GRAPE APE wine I made last season. I look forward to sharing some wine in the months ahead. I’ve been enjoying our soccer season and although most of the games have been wet and rainy I’m having great fun. I’ll keep working on the yard that is again the target for a returning woodchuck I named ‘Dig Dug’ 🙂 He caused me to redo the entire front porch of the office/fort with a ground wall, cement, rocks and logs. It looks nice but wasn’t planning on that being the priority. Today if it dries out it will be grass mowing and grilling.
On the personal development front it looks like the new representation for my screenwriting and acting is underway. Paperwork will be exchanging soon and I might’ve had a first writing assignment on a TV show had LOST HEART been on deck. As a first assignment I did not want to try and do too much with all the pre-production at hand. Let’s talk on that…
LOST HEART – We’ll have a locked schedule tomorrow and I’ve already been in first contact with several actors and agents. I hinted last week at the return of Don Most to CDI’s LOST HEART and after my Friday conversation with his agent, another trip to Michigan is happening. He will be starring opposite Melissa Anschutz (Seen above as Mother Mary) who is playing our lead. If my final conversation start of the week goes as good, we’ll be announcing Don with another great co-star.
We’ll be having another production meeting this week with our director Jesse Low and our team. Some crew talks have started and so we’ll be reaching out. All I can say right now is that the location on this project will be beautiful. The lodging and such may be one of our coziest yet. I’ve said it before but aside from getting great footage at the end of the days I want our cast and crew to have a memorable shoot that they can laugh, smile and recall for the rest of their life.
We are interviewing some office staff UPM’s and Prod Coordinator’s so if you think you qualify please do reach out. You will not regret it:) More on this fine project will be announced throughout the month. I look forward to seeing some old faces and meeting a few new ones on this shoot.
I’ve made a lot of updates on WILD FAITH and The Quest Trilogy so today I’m going to pass along a list of some of the foreign territories releasing the films.
FORTY NIGHTS – Brazil, Benelux, S. Korea, Mexico, Romania
CHASING THE STAR – Mexico, Africa, UK, Greece, Netherlands
THE CHRIST SLAYER – Mexico, Brazil, S. Africa
WILD FAITH – Latin America, Benelux
- Digital rental is June 24th for WILD FAITH
These lists will keep growing with each film market. I believe they just returned from the Canne Film Market so we’ll have more territories we will release into. I want to thank our hard working distribution folks. If you are a buyer and your reading this – do reach out to Bridgestone Multimedia Group.
MBF: Man’s Best Friend – So I was in studio doing some final narration last week and I also got to hear one of the final pieces of music for MBF’s powerful ending. We’re in discussions with our distributor as we prepare to cut the final theatrical trailer. It is a beautiful thought-provoking story and I think audiences will take to it. We deliver the film June 30th so soon after theatrical audiences will get to watch the film.
We have some other exciting development underway on several fronts. I look forward to the continued release of the trilogy and Wild Faith that might include a few special screenings. I know it will be playing HAPPY TRAILS VA STYLE this Oct. I believe. I will give better date and time once the screening time is set. We will know soon if we will play at the WILD BUNCH film fest. They have wanted the film since we started it. Also some great developments that could push the TV series even further. My new agency-to-be also really likes the film and there might be a few possibilities there to assist as well. I really enjoyed watching the DEADWOOD Movie. What a great world they created. Congrats to all the artists involved with that film.
Don Most looking to return on CDI’s next film “Lost Heart”
I’m going to wrap this up. It was nice yesterday at a family graduation party to see Doug Emerson who follows this blog. Also met another nice lady who had seen THE CHRIST SLAYER in Texas. I had attended a memorial for another old friend prior to that and it was nice to meet some great people. Several of them expressed how much they enjoyed the films. Aside from here in this blog or doing an interview I don’t carry on too much about the films. It is nice to meet some of the people “in person” – and to hear what they enjoyed about our films. Our films have been seen by millions of people over the years but I seldom get to speak directly to them. Know that we do truly appreciate you all taking the time to listen to our stories.
OK. I’m going to go mow the lawn (Movie Star activities:) and fire up the grill.
Have a great Sunday and week ahead.
DJ
Sprouting Seeds and Getting Rid Of Weeds (Although some weeds are very useful) – Film Updates
Doing some spring clean up with my buddy Finn
Good morning from Michigan, USA! While this past week has been a good introduction into spring with lots of yard clean up and arrangement, today we have icy rain and snow. It will disappear fast but I’m just getting use to the coffee and phone calls on the patio deck listening to the birds and watching the squirrels retrieve their winter stash of acorns. I’ve been doing a lot of wood cutting and it looks like the office wood stove will get a work out today. I was going to attend a first flea market of the season but with the snow I might have to pass. I’m sip my Michigan Cherry coffee and type with all of you.
My brother had a birthday and we got to spend time with family yesterday and a few days before that my niece’s birthday. My nephew Wes has the same bday month as myself. He is the 21st and I’m the 23rd so we’ll have that ahead. Aside from the family gatherings and the homestead clean up I’ve had lots of entertainment business abound. Let’s discuss a few.
I made my yearly visit down to the opening of the Capital City Film Festival happening now in Lansing, MI. In my early years I spent a good amount of time and energy working with the East Lansing Film Festival centering on the Michigan’s Own portion of the festival. It awarded films with awards and cash prizes. It took hours of watching films, meeting with judges and other planning so I know what goes into it. These days my schedule allows me to buy a ticket to spend a few hours supporting upcoming filmmakers in our area. The opening night was at Impression 5 museum which has been a favorite since I was knee-high to a grasshopper:) I had a lilac drink that intrigued me because we made lilac wine once. It was great but very labor intensive. I also enjoyed a local hard cider. I got to see a few friends I only see yearly at this event. I attended with fellow filmmaker Shane Hagedorn and had a good time. We did at least one red carpet photo but I did not see it so once of us broke the camera with our mug. He we are with a young actor/filmmaker who just happens to be the son of Mr. Craig Jones whom I’ve known since high school. How cool that they get to do film work as father and son.
Throwing some support at the Capital City Film Festival
Aside from supporting the local fest we’ve been very hard at work here at Collective Development and on a personal level. I started looking at literary representation mid last year talking with various agents and management companies. You want to get the right relationship as they will be dealing with people who value your art. I’ve had an agent at one of the largest agencies in Hollywood and it wasn’t a great experience. A few big deals were lost and while the agency inclusion did help with a few doors, the cons started to outweigh the pros. I’ve been riding with legal at my side making my own deals. Legal is good at dotting I’s and crossing T’s but they are not seeking new opportunities. But I finally had a conversation with an international agent that I find promising. They discovered my work via another studio executive and reached out. They are doing some additional reviewing of my work but I think I’ll be having a go at working with a new literary and talent agent. I’ll be putting a large focus on foreign projects as well as domestic USA films. Many of you know I’ve done films in other countries and that is always a great experience.
I’m excited to see what films we do over the next 10 years
I’m also in development talks on several projects with a few new collaborators. We have some great projects developing both in the family/faith market and outside that target market. It is an exciting time but don’t get me wrong, it is still HARD WORK. When people occasionally look at what we’ve accomplished or are accomplishing it occasionally sets off feelings of envy. You/they might be a better artist even though that is subjective but overall I just outwork people. Part of that is learning where not to waste your energy. Look for red flags and know when to say NO THANK YOU. Many do not realize that and spends lots of energy where their only reward is frustration.
Beautiful Northern Michigan
LOST HEART – This is what is front and center in development and fighting to move into pre-production. We have enough to make the journey but we are fighting to be able to add a few days of shooting ultimately creating a better product. We only have a few more pieces of this investment puzzle to remedy and move forward. A lot of development work is getting done now and so I believe strongly we will be rolling cameras in July!
Hester and Ben in ‘Wild Faith’
WILD FAITH – We just finished runs in Grand Rapids, MI and Biloxi, Mississippi and I’m trying to confirm West Virginia and other venues. The DVD will be rolling out next month and so all of you wanting to see this fine adventure tale will soon be able to. I will be checking on Amazon pre-booking which should start soon.
I will note that the TV series is one of the things being discussed in some of my development talks. I would love to play Ben Lily again and bring a series of stories to all of you.
Just in time for Easter
THE CHRIST SLAYER
The Christ Slayer just announced its first theatrical dates in Amarillo, Texas. We hope that myCinema will continue to book to the big screen. Those who want to watch in the privacy of their own home can watch it streaming or on DVD on Amazon Prime or other fine platforms. Thank you for all the fine fan(e)mail I’ve gotten. It warms my heart to see so many enjoying our stories. I know myCinema is working hard to get it in AZ but is having issue at Harkins because of Studio Commitments but call the theater and let them know. Yuma, AZ deserves to see it on the big screen.
HELLO Texas!
The film really goes perfect with the Easter season but perhaps you might enjoy watching the entire trilogy of Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer. The ending of part 2 makes more sense if you know about part 3. I think that is going to be a PR release on the lead up to Easter. Also I might discuss more about the trilogy as a whole.
CDI OG Mister Dean Teaster
MBF: Man’s Best Friend
In my post meeting last week it was noted that sound quality was really good and the dialog clean up was not as extensive as in the past. To be fair the locations were much more controlled versus being out in the desert like with our trilogy. Sound Design is happening at the same time and so once we get all this laid in MUSIC TIME. I will also be touching base with the visual team about VFX, Color Correction and a new trailer. Exciting times.
The Week Ahead…
This next week will be working towards disbursement of funds back at investors. Seeking a few new partners so we can move into official pre-production on LOST HEART. We are close and we could do the film with what we have now but I want to have the extra breathing room. It is easier on the cast and crew and ultimately might yield a better final product. Businesses wanting to talk sponsorship or product placement please do reach out.
Treat yourself to the book and movie
I’m going to go refill the coffee cup and organize for my forthcoming week. I have a friend coming in from Texas for a few days on family business so it will be nice to catch up with him. He was involved with the original KNIGHT CHILLS, CDI’s 1st feature film. KNIGHT CHILLS 2? You never know:)
Have a great Sunday and week ahead!
DJ
Discussions on Compensation and Advanced Release Dates
Good morning and welcome including our new readers from Bahrain. It is a peaceful morning with hazelnut coffee and a sleeping puppy. Michigan is foggy but without snow currently. I’ve been balancing all my post work, development work and family activities. First I will comment on a request for insight on a work question in-state (Michigan) in regards to compensation.
The symbol of the KNIGHT CHILLS franchise.
The first film CDI did KNIGHT CHILLS was unpaid cast and crew with us spending money on gear, food, props, FX (we crashed and blew up a car). Everyone was in the same boat. We were not even sure if we could shoot a feature film but intended to give our best effort. In the beginning a group of people with little or no resume experience may group together to take that first step.
On our second film we started paying cast and crew. Not extras and not PA’s but everyone else was paid what the budget could support. I will tell you that paying artists cast and crew is one of my favorite things to do. I remember an actor crying in a van when I handed out the first week paychecks. For this person and many it was the first paycheck these people had every received for their art. The act of paying was more important than the numbers scribbled on it. It was giving artists hope, pride and dignity after countless rejections in our business. In 1999 the film scene (Ha!) was much different. The opportunities many have now just did not exist. The only benefit I saw from the tax incentives was the acceptance of the “Film Business” in Michigan as a legit careeer path.
To this day we pay all our cast and crew but not PA’s and Extras. We feed and take great care with the extras and that’s where we meet many future cast mates. We create tiers for keys and department crew. We also have a two tier pay for union and non-union talent. Our feature rates are lower versus commercial rates. As I noted last week I believe one is an investment and one is a service. We’ve had a few outspoken crew people spoiled on a few good commercial payouts complain about rates. To these people – just pass. Don’t torpedo your ship because you can’t make a rate work for you. These people might have debt, high cost of living (beyond your means) or any other reason why they need to say no. But that’s not everyone. Also the positions on feature film sets are earned early on and crews often grow with the company. Those people who say “I’ll catch up later when you have larger budgets” often won’t. Because loyalty does mean something. If you’ve been the Director of Photography when they had nothing they will likely want to keep that DP as they move into larger budgets. Often if a crew gets out of line there are hundreds that would jump at the opportunity. But you have to be a company that finishes and releases films. People grow tired of putting blood, sweat and tears into a project that never finishes. I’ve got a couple of films I’ve been paid for but they never finished. A waste.
I like to say we will be defined by what we say NO to. I say NO a lot but politely as some people are just not where I would like them to be creatively. I know other companies and producers who do things very differently. Attacking them isn’t going to help and until you’ve raised funds and been responsible for millions of dollars – your opinion is pretty weak. That said, if you want to make your projects better, paying experience up front will keep you from paying for mistakes. Experienced actor means more options in editing versus that’s our one good take. Out of focus camera. Things left on set because art department last looks didn’t see something. Lack of hair or clothes continuity – all lack of experience.
My goals aside from making our days and getting our puzzle pieces (scenes) – I want every artists to 1) Have a lifetime experience that they will fondly recall like going to Summer Camp. 2) Become more effective in their craft and/or communication 3) Have pride in the final art
I’m not following anyone else’s business model but what we’ve developed over two decades seems to work well. I do think that audition notices should discuss compensation up front. Artists should not waste valuable time reading scripts, memorizing lines and putting down reads for something they will not participate in because of no pay. I will not work for free. I have a few times in the beginning because I wanted to get the experience and I wasn’t bringing the experience. But now I bring experience and distribution opportunities for any film I’m in. Like many of us I have life bills so I no longer work without compensation. I also like when a project is compensating everyone because the quality is almost always higher. I don’t really want to act with someone’s Uncle Phil that they threw in because he had the day off.
Like many in today’s society it’s easier to cast stones. I often see condescending messages back and forth that really is just strutting for an audience. If you don’t like the way things are done be the change. Raise the funds and do it right. Lead by example not by running your social media mouth. Bad producers will quickly get a bad reputation and when nobody wants to work with them, they disappear. I know many in this state that if they disappeared from the scene things might be better. Some bad eggs have already left the state because they burnt all their bridges and need new grounds to BS. If your experience is beyond a production not paying, just give a PASS. This allows a new talent/crew an opportunity to step up and learn. But people do pay dues. No certificate from a film school or program is going to automatically get you in a key position. Doing a great job will certificate or not. Now they have many great programs so the students come out with experience. But they too might have to work free or discounted to get the experience needed to move forward. OK. Enough on that subject.
BULLET POINT UPDATES AT COLLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT INC.
- Visit us at http://www.cdiproductions.com
- MBF: Man’s Best Friend is closing in on a 1st rough cut of the film. The first trailer was well received and the distributor is already talking theatrical.
- We are planning to release a BTS for MBF on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day as a thank you to our cast and crew.
- WILD FAITH will have a PR announcement later this week. We will be announcing a new wider theatrical release – they’ve been working on creating the short marketing trailers. The film will release into theater’s starting March 1st I’m told. More info here soon.
- WILD FAITH poster art is being worked on by the distributor. TV/Broadcast release will start 4/1/19
- WILD FAITH digital purchase 5/6/19 on Amazon and other platforms
- WILD FAITH DVD sales will be 5/27/19
- WILD FAITH digital rental with be 6/24/19 * day after my bday:)
- Streaming Networks SVOD (Netflix) and AVOD (Hulu) in early 2020
Part 3 of The Quest Trilogy – THE CHRIST SLAYER was announced with release dates. Here is the PR release from this past week. Read about it here.
https://www.prlog.org/12744411-the-christ-slayer-poster-and-release-dates-announced.html
Our distributor also released the poster art.
The film is looking and sounding amazing. It is one of the largest production value films we’ve tackled. The music honestly is some of the very best I’ve heard in our projects. But Dennis Therrian our long time composer is growing like all of us at CDI. We’ve just about got all the dialog and sound design completed. Here is me in the studio fixing a few lines.
This past week has also been development. We’ve got a few 2019 projects coming together. LOST HEART is being prepped for a Spring shoot. Talks on finally shooting KNIGHT CHILLS 2 have advanced. Also a few other exciting scripts that are being polished to possibly be put in the production line. Some exciting news about all this in the new year.
I’m going to go make some breakfast and go explore a bit with the new furry son Finn. Luke would have been very proud of this little gremlin:)
Have a great Sunday and a productive week ahead.
DJ
Welcome to the Holiday Season! 2018 Updates
Good morning my friends. I want to welcome the new readers from Mexico, China and Canada. We are now well into the holiday season. Thanksgiving was enjoyable and I kept the eating to modest. Having missed the last few soccer games due to my wrist injury has brought my calorie burning down. But this winter I’m getting back into more intense training with my goal being an even better outdoor soccer season.
Since a week ago Friday our household has had a good dose of joy with the addition of Finn. He’s our new puppy that we took in from his foster home and he has just fit right in. We did have a few pre-set play dates to see how he did with his two sisters Daphne and Lulu. Both are warming up to him nicely and he has brought some much needed happiness after the passing of our boy Luke.
We also put up some Christmas lights and cut a Christmas tree for the house. It’s a beautiful addition to the house visually and the smell. At the end of the season the tree is dried and it becomes the fire starter much like the tree from the year prior. We’re keeping it simple because of little Finn’s fascination with trees, sticks and anything new.
Onto some film updates:
MBF: Much of the past week’s excitement surrounded the PR release that announced the arrival of the first official trailer. Read the PR here and watch the trailer. If you like it share it with others that might enjoy this upcoming CDI film.
With the PR we also released the first official poster art.
WILD FAITH – The film now has been remixed with our celebrity narrator whom I still cannot announce until I get the final paperwork. What I will say is that the film is now the debut film in a new partnership BMG has with a theatrical company. It will be going into a wider network of theatrical screenings in March. Home video release dates TBD.
THE CHRIST SLAYER – We’ve been in studio a lot with this film as everything is coming together for final delivery end of December. Last night we had our director Nathaniel Nose in studio to evaluate sound and music. Both are still being worked on but it’s really looking and sounding great. I cannot wait to see the new color correction with final VFX.
LOST HEART – We’ve been pulling elements of this film together and once we get a few of these other films delivered we can devote even more attention at the next film. We saw a few great reads in the past couple weeks for certain roles. More on this film as we move down the line.
I’m going to wrap this up because Finn has been wanting to sit on my lap this morning making typing…difficult. He is currently outside with his momma and so I’m using this time to type quickly. I hope each and every one of you had some special family and friend time. I hope your week ahead with be productive with a good dose of fun. Be safe out there and be good to one another. I hear barking outside. Someone is meeting Gordy the squirrel.
DJ
A Season Begins – Holidays Ahead
Good morning everyone. Coffee skol!
With business, it’s been a crazy week but also exciting at the same time. Personally it was a mixed week with a memorial yesterday for my aunt. It was great to see all my cousins and uncle but the bubbly laughter of my aunt was missed. We are hosting a second puppy playdate today to see how our remaining dog Daphne interacts. We’re looking to bring another member into our little pack this month. The holidays are hectic but our personal schedules slow which allows for some bonding and training time.
The snow will soon come to lower Michigan and I’ve been working in the yard to try to winterize. Our Viking Thursdays have been cutting some wood for the fort/office wood stove. We had some good visits around burning logs this past week. Let’s discuss some of the battles from the past week.
I like to stay ahead – prep for upcoming things. Our distributor had a good response to MBF at mipcom and wanted a teaser first look at footage for AFM. I don’t like rush jobs but in two days the team pulled together a trailer for AFM. We need to sit back and fine comb the footage. A tailored music score needs to be added along with a re-recorded Voice Over. We are looking to have that done but at the same time we’re trying not to disrupt the work flow on – THE CHRIST SLAYER.
I’ve seen the rough DVD poster art that BMG is using at AFM. I like it. It’s a slightly different style from the first two and features some of the characters from the film. I know that is pretty common and some like that and others do not. Either way it’s very polished. I like our teaser poster and I look forward to sharing the DVD art soon. I have not seen the entire wrap. I hope to have theatrical info on the film so we can PR the entire release schedule.
WILD FAITH is also part of those theatrical talks. We’re also working the home video deal. That includes the celebrity narrator we’re adding to the film. We almost had that recorded in LA last week. We had a studio on stand by and I was coordinating between agent and our director. Shooting on a project running over nixed that session and now we’re looking at Nashville next Tuesday. I’m in hopes we can close that down soon. Another great 2019 release!
LOST HEART development is ongoing. What I like about this film is a zany group of characters whose antics and actions offset the heavier aspects of the script. It has several solid messages woven into the fabric of the script. It is more grounded versus some of the other more high concept stories.
I’m also enjoying my writing on the Sci-Fi project that I recently spoke to a distribution company about. The literary agent review will continue into 2019. The stories I wrote for the book collection of horse stories is prepping for release. I’ve got to return some paperwork on payment this Monday. I’m looking forward to more book contributions in 2019 also.
Our other holiday films FORTY NIGHTS and CHASING THE STAR are starting their holiday season. DOVE streaming, UpLift Network and more are featuring some of the stories. I’ve stated before in was a dream to have the trilogy play together every holiday season. Last year the first two films were playing often in rotation and I’m exciting to be adding the third THE CHRIST SLAYER. From Nov 1 – Easter is going to be a fun ride.
Fun also not just because of the business but because of friends and family. I’m going to end this so I can get cleaned up. We have the puppy play date followed by a family bday get together. We’re also putting away the ghosts and goblins and the Thanksgiving stuff is coming out. The squirrels are loving the remains of Halloween. Those pumpkins will not go to waste. Have a great week everyone.
DJ
October Coming to a Close – Updates
Hello,
I hope everyone is having a good week. It was a long week filled with sadness, laughter, success and set back. But with my trusty hazelnut coffee I get to sit here and reflect back on some of it with all of you. First, our household has been much quieter with our reduced pack. Two sisters Lulu and Daphne are spending lots of time together. We will be getting another dog for Daphne to help train. She did such a wonderful job with our Luke. We really want to have a new guardian by the time LOST HEART shoots this coming spring. It might happen on the lead up to Thanksgiving since we will both have lots off time to make a new pack member feel welcome and loved.
Speaking on loved ones, cherish them because our shared time is finite. One of our neighbors from our childhood passed away unexpectedly after a brief illness. We got to catch up with childhood friends but unfortunately it came at a visitation. New childhood memories were made with the nice and nephew one night with pizza, pumpkin carving and seed roasting. This coming weekend we’ll have another reunion with my Uncle and cousins but also at a cost. My Aunt lost her short battle with cancer. She was the sun which everything went around and so they’re rightfully having issues adjusting. I am looking forward too sharing stories and laughter with my cousins.
This week I spent a good amount of time communicating with our film distributor as they prepare for AFM. For those not in the knowing it’s the American Film Market. A version of our MBF teaser is going to travel to AFM. The DVD/poster art for THE CHRIST SLAYER is being prepared. WILD FAITH deal is also in the works and I need to find out the details of the theatrical deals.
Part 3 of THE QUEST TRILOGY – The Christ Slayer is in post sound and music. Also we engaged our colorist for the film’s color correction. That is now underway. We had both Carl Weyant (Longinus) and Melissa Anschutz (Mother Mary) into the studio. A few lines had to be fixed and that process went smooth. We also were treated to some opening music that shows carpenters building wood crosses on the hilltop as Mary watches. With the opening music it is so POWERFUL. I’m excited to have audiences go on this final adventure. Again if you have not watched part 1 or 2 (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star) buy the DVD or stream it from Amazon. Also many other great platforms are carrying them.
WILD FAITH is also heading back into the theaters as the strength and power of this film is being noticed. Our celebrity narrator is looking at availability and paperwork has been sent across. We’ve had various outlets contact us directly over wanting this film. All those communications are being forwarded and soon the entire distribution flow will be announced. Once everything is in their hands we’ll turn our attention back to the TV series.
Also with MBF our military vet/adoption dogs film, I’ve seen about 30 min of the rough film and I’m rather happy with it even in the rough state. It’s a powerful and moving film and something else to look forward to next year. We keep adding more official stills to our Facebook page. Please do stop by to see pics and get updates.
LOST HEART has gotten its first feedback from one of our proposed stars and it was everything I had wished for. We will start moving it out to others to read. I really do love the story and again it is filled with powerful themes.
Speaking of scripts – this past week I wrote a PSA (Public Service Announcement) script and the client loved it. Now I have to prepare a budget because we also might produce it with CDI. Again, we do some commercial work at CDI but it’s selective. I’ve also returned to doing some writing on my first SciFi script, which is beyond fun. I’ve also started to look at a few possible literary agents to help sell a few scripts that I don’t plan to produce.
I also was encouraged to submit to a film shooting in fall 2019 as the bad guy. I sent my materials and if I am what they’re looking at I will read their script and do a short read. I am ready to get back in front of the camera again but it has to be the right project. This year audiences can see me as Jesus again, mountain man Ben Lily and injured marine Paul Landings. I thought maybe the DEAD QUIET film might release this year but it doesn’t seem like it will. This year I did do a commercial gig for “Our Daily Bread” and a music video for musician Trey Conner. I’m about trying something outside my box if the business is good and the project professional. What else will 2019 bring?
One thing I like to do at the end of each year is do a self-evaluation. Look at projects and project your goals for the new year. Look at what goals from the previous year were met and which ones were not. Writing this down so you can actually review next year is a very useful tool. From seed to harvest. Goals, destinations and such are all good but remember to enjoy the journey.
Have a great week and a safe Halloween.
Boo!
April Updates – Springing into Action
The hazelnut coffee is flowing and the sun shines- but the chill remains outside. We chopped up some more wood to feed to wood stove in the office this week. I’m pretty good with the ole axe which is not only a great work out but helps develop your focus. I have several items we can chat about. This week I’ve had good meetings, location scouts and several business insights. Let’s start with…
“Wild Faith” – after our string of sold out shows in Lansing and strong sales at Grand Rapids (which was just picking up speed) -we’ve now started our run at Emagine Theaters in Novi, MI and will play until the 12th. We might extend our week run if our weekend sales are strong enough. We did also just complete a ‘closed caption’ file which our distributor usually handles but having this pre-home video file will now allow our hearing impaired to also enjoy it in theaters. It will be added to our showings.
It will be playing in Florida at the ICFF next month and we’re working with several of you individually to try to get the film showing in your area. Hastings, MI where we filmed – please know we’re trying to set up at the theater. We might have to do weekday runs vs weekend as the main theater is under construction and they have studio obligations. So if you’re in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area and want to see this film get over to Novi where it will play until the 12th of April. Four shows daily should provide several opportunities. If you want it to play around you we need contact info for the theater/manager/owner and for all of you to reach out and ask for the film. Thank you for all of you who have come out to enjoy this film.
While we’ve been pushing this film out we’ve been working post-production on part 3 of The Quest Trilogy – The Christ Slayer. We’ve had a surge of “Forty Nights” watchers because of the Easter season. And if watching that on Amazon Prime you might as well watch part 2 “Chasing the Star” – enjoy. Part 3 trailer is being color corrected and music composed. It will release in the coming weeks to start building hype for the pre-Christmas theatrical release and the wide home video release Easter 2019.
Joining these biblical adventure films on Amazon Prime is our Civil War classic “Wicked Spring” and now “Ashes of Eden” joins it. The latter was directed by Shane Hagedorn and is a cool cautionary tale. I play an ex-military guy who tried to walk the straight and narrow but life did not quite allow that. It has many of the CDI tribe playing great dramatic characters. Check it out!
“Ashes of Eden”
MBF (Man’s Best Friend) is now in pre-production with dates to start filming in late May into June. We’ve been targeting our crew for the next film and locking locations. We had a tech scout last week. I ended up getting more emotionally affected by both the prisoners at the jail and even more so at the animal shelter. After touring the shelter and having my heart poked by several of the stares begging to be taken and given a loving home – I fought to keep composed. The idea is to use shelter dogs and we plan to do an adoption event for our picture dogs. Once the film is ready to play theaters I also want to do adoption events in every city we play to. When I was pitching our plan to the shelter workers I almost lost it. I was there as a producer but my emotions surged. I was embarrassed that I had to fight to keep it all together. I had initial worries about getting to the right emotional places with my character. Now I worry about too much emotion and audiences not being able to understand me. I really did a doozy to myself writing something that is so wide open with vulnerable emotion and plays to my weakness. But it all felt truthful and honest and so I know that will only help the performance. All this is before even factoring in fully the heartache of the military vets. But I saw lines drawn between vets, prisoners, adoption dogs – broken souls wanting to be whole. The film also has a cautionary tale woven within. I think most of my scripts do. I’m very excited to tell another story with our wonderful CDI artists. I just found myself missing the carefree, humorous nature of ole Ben Lily in our past “Wild Faith” tale.
Aside from all this I’ve been writing daily and getting some of the future content in line. I’ve been researching for the next biblical trilogy and working on some other exciting scripts. The new CDI website at http://www.cdiproductions.com is almost complete with phase one. Next phases include merchandise and streaming which is on deck. Please check out the website. This is where many of our castings and updates will be posted. The battle plans for the next couple years are underway.
I’m going to bring this to an end. I’ve enjoyed you all stopping by – next Saturday (April 14th) will also be the release of the music video I participated in. Trey Connor is the artist and the song is called “My Ghosts” – soon.
Be good to one another. Get out to Novi Imagine and travel back to 1875 with “Wild Faith” on the big screen. If you want to see more of our storytelling get onto Amazon Prime and take a watch.
DJ
NEW Releases and 2018 Updates
2018 is underway and I’ve been spending my energy on several projects. The end-of-the-year taxes for our business ventures is a yearly endeavor. We’ve got a good start and will look to have everything submitted to our firm next week.
Also working to launch the new Collective Development Inc. website. Merchandise and streaming services will be some of the new phase 2 and phase 3 additions.
Wild Faith’s Ben Lily says, Soon we gonna tickle the snake and rattle the wagon
Wild Faith
This week we have a final watch through in studio with our color correction and audio mix. I’m excited to have a few more conversations on the TV series. But we’ll be meeting this week about the premiere and theatrical roll out. Here is the new theatrical trailer for the film. I’m really excited about the film and think audiences will enjoy it.
NEW “2018 Wild Faith Trailer”
Staying in the period – the re-release of WICKED SPRING is underway. I have been working with the distributors team. They have chosen one of my favorite pics for the cover. The new transfer looks strong and they’ve been mixing and cleaning using some of the newest tools. I’m excited to get this film back to market and available to the streaming digital crowd. I’m in hopes that they will be cutting a new trailer. We will see in the coming weeks.
Another film just released is a CDI associated animated project “The Patchwork Girl of OZ” which is a children’s tale based on the original book and illustrations. It is now on Vimeo On Demand and will be coming to Amazon and other platforms.
RENT/BUY HERE: Vimeo
MBF (Man’s Best Friend)
We’re still fighting to get all our investor paperwork signed and funds in the bank. We’ve still got a few units to have spoken for so ongoing discussions with investors will continue this month.
Meanwhile we have announced more of our cast. These are first-time film talents that will be working with us. Read about it below…
READ THE NEW PR HERE:
The Quest Trilogy
As Easter approaches our distributor will start to push “Forty Nights” part 1 of the trilogy. The three films together tell their own story. Part 2 “Chasing the Star” had a great holiday run and it is still a wonderful adventure tale to watch at any time of the year.
DOVE Review of “Forty Nights”
http://www.dove.org/review/11756-40-nights/
DOVE Review of “Chasing the Star”
http://www.dove.org/review/12404-chasing-the-star/
At the end of the month we will be releasing the poster and theatrical trailer for the third film in the trilogy “The Christ Slayer” so that is being worked on. Music and sound design plotting has begun and it will be awesome to see the audio come to life behind the visuals.
I’m not going to ramble on too much here. Lot’s of development and post work ahead. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful start to your 2018.
Father’s Day – Sunday Chat
The coffee is fresh and hot and I’m sitting here in the lazy boy with all of you on this fine Sunday morning. I want to welcome new readers from the Czech Republic to the blog. I love that as the movies expand our circle of artists expands. The garden got some much-needed rain and is growing fast. We’re already enjoying lettuce for salads and on sandwiches. Also the large dead elm tree we had dropped is finally cleaned up. I spent a few meetings going outside and slowly feeding the outside chiminea and organizing the logs. Wood does not get wasted with the wood stove in the office and in the winter you need it. Also the siding is purchased and has been picked up to do the upper part of the office. I have a small bday/CDI gathering coming up so I did not want to try to do that this week. It will be a nice bday present to myself. I got to watch two good films this week that we’re not my own. One was “Wonder Woman” and I really enjoyed the film. It featured great action, locations and the production design for WW1. I also finally watched “In the Heart of the Sea” directed by my good friend’s son Mister Ron Howard. A great peek at life during that time period and how some thrived and fought to survive by the sea. It was said to be the inspiration behind MOBY DICK. I might have to try and tackle that book again. I fell asleep many times with that film on my chest trying to read it. Two very different films but both had great glimpses into other periods of time.
Let’s talk development first. I’ve been working hard to put everything in order here at CDI as all these great films roll out. Even other older titles are finding new life as people discover our films and potential $ still locked into some of them. The new slate of films I’m working on with the studio is coming nicely but I require another 12 month slate of smaller films until that deal can get going fully. So I might use this time to produce a few films that distributors have been asking for.
The symbol of the KNIGHT CHILLS franchise.
Knight Chills the film that kicked off CDI in the late 90’s has grown into a bit of a cult classic. It has been turned into a book that will release on paper and digital this Summer. It will be sold at Comic Cons as well with Source Point Press. I’ve written three sequel scripts now but the first two were too high of budget for what that small little film did. I did discover that it sold with Spectrum Films much better than we thought. The company liquidated and went under and we never recouped all our profits. The film sold again with another minor horror distributor and released to several countries. The bottom line is that a friend of mine in the Comic Con circuit via films, comics, books and graphic novels was a big fan of the film. He asked to write a book off the screenplay and we set up distribution with his Source Point Press. I’ve always thought the entire ‘idea’ could be a great franchise. I think this winter we’ll shoot the sequel. It’s a fun romp in the vein of TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL. They want to do a book on the sequel and expand into graphic novels. Not bad for a little film thought up by the Kennedy’s and I all those years ago.
I’ve also finished a first draft of a new script we’ll produce either this Fall or next in Michigan. The working title is “Man’s Best Friend” and I feel it’s a powerful piece that will find a broad audience. We’ll soon start doing some advance casting trying to find a few of the required roles. I’ve been identifying the 3 new films in THE CONQUEST TRILOGY the BMG follow-up to THE QUEST TRILOGY (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) that will film once again in AZ. I’m also setting up talks with a few entities about the Wild Faith TV series. A few discussions also over literary representation after writing/producing the last 4 films. I’ve done several work-for-hire writing jobs in the past including adapting books to script. Soon I’ll be throwing my hat into the ring with some large production companies. I love to write and so I might get the right team behind me.
Let’s look at a few new updates on the CDI film front.
Forty Nights – I’ve had several buyers, promoters and PR companies contact me over this film and our trilogy and I’ve directed them over to our distributor. I think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg with these films.
The Christ Slayer – This past week we got to see the 1st cut of the film. It was moving to see the 3rd film in this trilogy there on the screen. The film with no color correction, minus VFX and with minimal sound clean up was still beautiful. I also got to see the difference between Jesus in “Forty Nights” and now “The Christ Slayer” to fully see the evolution of the character. That can be said about several of the characters. They have started building some of the VFX modeling since we brought on our VFX folks. We had to get a special piece of equipment from New Zealand and that finally got worked out. Two scenes are still being worked but it will be a worthy add to the trilogy.
Chasing the Star – the film is delivered to our distributor and it is already creating positive dialog. See – http://lenovotips.net/news/The-Star-of-Bethlehem/
I’m excited to see this film pushed during the Christmas holiday season. It’s truly a biblical adventure that I think will help make that story seem more based in reality. I’ve said in many interviews that I wanted to take people behind the figurines of 3 wood or plastic nativity scene wise men and make them breath. I think we’ve done just that and while the film is darker in tone it paints the picture of why a celestial Messiah was sought after. Pre-Order this title when you can and prepare for an adventure.
Wild Faith – VFX work and sound design has been underway. Once music is applied this film is truly going to be something special. I love the film also because of all the special people involved in the making. We stayed in little lake side cabins and created this beautiful story. I do sincerely think that this film is a beginning of something more.
Well, I have a full day. A short flea market stop followed by a visit with my dad. Later if the fields hold we have a soccer match to play. I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father-like figures out there who mentor and guide.
Have a great day and be good to one another.
DJ
Updates and Director Announcement
Francine York & Elvis
THOUGHTS
I’m sipping HOT coffee on this freezing and frigid day in Michigan and I’m going to enjoy a few moments chatting with all of you. The New Year is underway and even one week into the new cycle I’ve observed several things. First 2016 did see several iconic people pass on. I lost an Aunt a few days after Christmas after a long 90+ years of life. She is the one I arranged to meet with Willie Nelson and she got sick the night before. If you haven’t heard that story – I met Willie and his troupe in Eureka Springs when filming “Book of Ruth” because he and Dan “Grizzly Adams” Haggerty were old friends. On that same note Dan passed on in 2016 and that was a sad day. There was discussions with a studio of my involvement in helping to revive his popular series. It was not meant to be.
But overall 2016 was a great year business-wise with two new feature films in the “can” and a new deal between CDI and a distribution studio BMG. In the new year my father lost another brother – an exemplary kind and generous family man a few days ago. Additionally, I had worked on “Miracle at Sage Creek” with Francine York, best known by my dad for “Girls, Girls, Girls” with Elvis but she has a long and impressive resume. She and I were in a scene together and I remember in the make up trailer she kept looking at me. I asked if something was wrong and she replied, “If I was a 100 years younger” and laughed. She told me a few Elvis stories and signed a picture for my dad’s man cave. I followed her social media posts as she loved to watch old movies and tell great stories. When she passed I posted a simple note about the passing of a classy lady on her FB site. People (fans I assume) or more like one in particular just started ranting. PROOF! PROOF! Now in this day of fake news and false reports of death I understand but this person was just crass. That just brings me to the point of social media 2017. I was born well before social media and I view that as a strength. Let me try to explain…
THE ONION
People do not slowly get to know one another anymore – like peeling the layers of an onion. Getting to know people use to be like reading a book slowly learning things they share or differ upon. Now it’s more like a resume of everything all at once. Like online dating – I almost did it once at the start of it but it seemed too odd. What happened to opposites attract? With all the peer pressure created by social media I’m not sure this happens anymore. Compatibility matches? I mean, if someone just had all their attributes listed something is going to run against the grain. Oh, my God! They like rap music. Oh, they love cats. Oh, they like boxing or guns – barbaric. People can get accepted or disqualified by their lists which leads to segregation of people into groups. In the old days you could be friends with someone for weeks, months before you found out that they were Muslim or Jewish, as if it mattered. People are more often looking at how they are different versus alike and often attack those people who are different. You hate this person’s politics but what if they are a good parent. Maybe they give dinners to the homeless and volunteer…I think when you just try to look at a person as a list of LIKES, DISLIKES and GROUPS you don’t get the full picture.
Judgement is EVERYWHERE. That kind posting I did honoring my peer/acquaintance passing away was JUDGED. I don’t have to prove anything – I was just leaving a note to HER, like signing an obituary board. I don’t know how anyone has real friends anymore with everyone so judgmental. And people putting themselves out there on social media to strangers lures judgement. I have always liked the statement “He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones at others.” I hate to tell you but we all live in glass houses of the self. All I see is the rioting of glass houses smashing left and right. Judgement is often fueled by hate and we’re all human and make mistakes. Hateful, judgmental people wait for any opening to attack someone. It truly is sad and I don’t see this trend going away if people participate. Another small example – my mother is new to the whole internet experience yet she enjoys the interaction with past friends. She sent me a story that Bob Denver (Gilligan’s Island) had passed away. She knew as a child I enjoyed that show and she did it out of love. Now Bob died many years ago and I was going to crassly point that out to her. (Pause, think, feel) I erased it. I almost took something done out of love and judged it with a negative. Instead I thanked her and pointed out he had passed some time ago. But others had already jumped to point out her lack of research. I guess in 2017 I’m going to participate even less in the social judgement. I have grown to love the UNFOLLOW button. I kind of have a three strikes of negativity rule and GONE. You cannot remove all the negativity but you can create your own sacred space and create positive good from there. Time better spent enriching people, lifting people and understanding people.
Try it and see how your life changes. If you took all these social media “rants” and put them together in a year’s time…I know people who’ve talked of writing a book but tell themselves “That’s too big a task – I could never…” yet at year’s end they’ve written a book worth of repetitive negativity and judgement. So when you wonder how I get so much done it’s just about my use of time. Use your time to create not just spread hate. Anyone can point out the obvious but it takes a powerful person to bring real change. Be that person.
FILMS
I spewed on for a while above but I think that storytelling is practicing what I preach. Tell a story- entertain, educate, enlighten people. That is what we try to do here. Let’s look at a few updates and I can let you get about your day.
Actor Dean Teaster (Preacher Collins) in #wildfaith
WILD FAITH
Above is an official STILL from the movie. It is my friend/actor Dean Teaster and his character represents much of what we spoke about in our opening. He is the preacher in the small town of Hastings but he has become blinded by emotional pain. This film has the opportunity to be a great force for unity and positive change. We might have a rough cut by month’s end. I’m so proud of all our cast and crew. Stay tuned!
THE QUEST TRILOGY
FORTY NIGHTS
After our digital and limited release in 2016 with Lightworx we’ve penned a new release deal with BMG for a worldwide release. It will start rolling out on 4/4/17 and new artwork and a digital remastering is underway. We were under a rush with Wal-Mart on the first release and so we’re happy to have this larger opportunity.
Editing on #Chasingthestar
CHASING THE STAR
This follow-up film is almost complete. VFX and credit work is underway and we’ll be meeting this week over the rollout. I’m thinking maybe May theatricals and our wide release with BMG will be in September. I’m so very excited about this story. The film cut is powerful and shines a light on events that have passed into myth. Next week after our meeting I’ll have more to share on this film.
THE CHRIST SLAYER
My ongoing deal with BMG is based upon our ability to stay on budget, schedule and to bring a high level of creativity to these films. This starts with the script but quickly moves to the creative captain – the director. On these films, and all films actually, the trick is the right pairing. I know many talented directors but it is about who FITS. It includes their grasp on the material, being producer friendly (biz trumps art) and their ability to infuse the story with their special vision. I looked at many directors and their work. I spoke to a few – some knowing what I was inquiring about and others did not. Jesse Low was the perfect person to bring “Forty Nights” to life on-screen. When I started communications with Bret Miller for the good part of a year – he had no idea I was looking at him as the director of “Chasing the Star” and that was the key. He was never trying to find the right thing to say to land the job. I knew from certain scenes in his previous film that he could bring a mood and tone to our film. With one film left in THE QUEST TRILOGY, I had lots to consider with finding the right director. As always, with a calm mind, I was led to the right choice. I had worked with this director as an actor and he’s worked with me as an editor. His experiences over the last few years in Los Angeles prepared him for this film. His personal experiences led him back to Michigan and after multiple discussions over the material we had found our third director. I want to introduce you all to Nathaniel Nose. He is a fellow MSU graduate and one talented director/editor. We will be doing a press release this week but as always you heard it here first. I’m excited to once again be working with an old friend and he’ll enjoy the great team of artists we’ve assembled. Thank you to Nathaniel Nose for going on this journey with us. I will leave all of you with this news and hope that you’ll all stay warm and make 2017 a great year. Be the best you .
DJ
Mr. Nathaniel Nose – director of “The Christ Slayer”
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 
TEN Exciting Updates on this Fine November Day.
I’m listening to the icy rain outside – thankfully I got most all the yard winterized. I had a GIANT branch larger than most trees, trimmed. (Ruby’s Tree Service in Lansing) It had grown over the house and path to the office. It was big enough that the roof and house might slow it down if it fell. That said, it is now down and while part of the yard is littered with logs I will have lots of firewood for the coming seasons. I had a Viking Thursday that started early with stowing all the yard stuff under the deck and ended with a little whiskey sipping around the wood stove with a few ole friends. Let’s look at a few updates from a week of business.
Aside from that, it was a week of disappointment in my alumni school Michigan State University. In football we’ve been doing good but Ohio hit us like Mr. T’s Clubber Lang in Rocky 3. We will see if the Lions do better today. The house Halloween stuff got put away and the Thanksgiving stuff is out. Soon the Christmas tree and I for one can’t wait. I love having a tree in the house. I find it inspiring. So those of you in the reach of the cold, stay warm. I hope you have a productive week and spend some good time with friends and family.
Be good to one another.
DJ
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November 12, 2017 | Categories: Blogroll, Uncategorized | Tags: actor, amazon, Amazon Prime, AMF, Armed Forces, Asia, Bedias, Bollywood, CDI, Chasing the star, Clubber Lang, Collective Development Inc, comments, credits, December, deck, distributors, DJ Perry, family, football, foreign, Forty Nights, friends, ice, India, lions, logs, MBF, Mr. T, MSU, netherlands, networks, posters, rain, reviews, Rocky, Rocky 3, Ruby's Tree Service, studio, Texas, The Christ Slayer, Thursday, tree, UK, vets, VFX, Viking, Wicked Spring, Wild Faith, winter, wood stove, yard | Leave a comment