Nominations, Development and a Welcome to March!

Happy March! Can you believe we are now starting the last month of Q1? I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee on a bitter snowy day. I’m happy to report a great week of progress on many fronts. Most of my desk work was getting wrap book paperwork sent to TEG on Wild Faith Christmas. I’ll get more into that soon. I will note this week included a nice sit down with the filmmaker whom I collaborated with recently as an actor. Always good to slow down and get to know people. I did just that and I really enjoyed that time spent.

FILM UPDATES:

1. The big news that has everyone buzzing this morning concerns WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS. The ICFF or International Christian Film Festival announced that WFXmas was up for Best Picture, Best Cinematography Travis Hayward, Best Screenplay DJ Perry, Best Actor Shane Hagedorn and Best Supporting Actress Melissa Anschutz.
2. Wild Faith Christmas was also named as a Best Film nomination in The Red Letter Awards. Individual nominations have not yet been announced. This film is planned to re-enter theaters on the other side of Summer before a Q4 home video release.
3. AI Jesus: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip is in post audio. A polished theatrical poster is underway and we’ll be putting a BTS video together as well. This film will enter theaters Summer into the Fall before a Q4 home video release. We still have a small holding in this film open and I’ve been having discussions on that. This film will be a must watch for anyone interested in AI and the possible impact on society.
4. ROM COMS MUST DIE – We have great updates on this film. We have been tweaking a new poster that will likely be our theatrical poster. CDI Distribution will be doing the theatrical booking on this film working in conjunction with our festival entries and Q3 home video. We want to have fewer screenings that are more of an event. We want to showcase it in the cities of some of our cast like Miami and Nashville. Excited to bring this dark comedy out into the market. I need to get the wrap book digitized this week to deliver to home video.

DEVELOPMENT:

On the development front we have had several projects and slates being worked on. Let me list some of the things we have in development.

1. Literary- The GHOST TOWN book is being tweaked to return to the marketplace. A reworking on the intro and a new proof needs to be done. Also the Making of KNIGHT CHILLS book is underway with the original script full of notes and other great pics. I will be writing an intro for it this week.
2. Staying with literary but moving to scripts – I’ve got two scripts I’ve been working on. Both are follow up’s of fan favorite films. One is the follow up to MAN’S BEST FRIEND and the second is a stand alone feature for the WILD FAITH franchise. We do have the 8 shows written for a season 1 WILD FAITH: HASTINGS. We will see as the current film is still collecting awards and will re-enter theaters before a holiday streaming and DVD release.
3. We have a completed script for a great WHO DONE IT turn-of-the-century film which might launch this year if the funding comes together.
4. We will be announcing a CDI in association with Katharsys Pictures. They are the company that gave me my 1st starring role IN THE WOODS. We will be assisting in the development and production of (3) films that will be directed by Lynn Drzick. More will be announced on these three films in the coming weeks.
5. We have been developing GOTCH for several years now and we’ll know soon if this will launch this year or not. Frank Gotch’s legacy can be seen ion our amazing documentary FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH. If the feature film doesn’t launch we might pivot to producing the 2nd doc in this series but we would all love for the feature film to launch.
6. We have a developing slate of films we are developing to shoot in Iowa. It is my hope is that we’ll make some progress there in the very near future. Few things happen quickly so that is why development is always such an important task.
7. There are a handful of other projects being developed but not to a point worth mentioning. There is a time to be quiet and a time to announce. The key is not to do one too early. You want to keep energy focused on the goal and not start dealing with things out of order or cart before the horse.

WRAP UP:

I am ready for warmth to sneak back into the state. I had good meetings this past week also with my friends at Bank of America getting ready for the new work flow. I love how interactive my bankers are with what we are doing at CDI. The team here at CDI is anxious and excited to be on set again and that is what I want as well. I got together with Shane Hagedorn at week’s end and we did a great commentary for BEST YEARS GONE. This film was shot in-between the MI Covid lock downs. We are exploring doing some test releasing of CDI films with commentary. That disappeared with the drop in DVD’s versus streaming. But do people still want to watch one of their favorite films with the creators talking about it? Let me know in the comments.

I did get some yard clean up done before the fresh snow hit. If you own a dog or dogs, you understand the Spring clean up. I’m still enjoying the wood stove burning bright at these meetings. This Spring I am going to have a cleaning done. I plan on getting another log rack and disassembling the old wood storage bins. Maybe a greenhouse or a gazebo? I’m looking forward to a great year making upgrades to the property.

Our chickens have increased production of eggs and I’m actually looking to get after a few once I hop off here. I also might start up a batch of Frankenberry wine from all the berries gathered from the property last Summer. I also have everything needed to make a batch of beer. Like I’ve said before, I usually do a wine and beer batch every year. I’m also excited for outdoor soccer season. I’m going to sub in on the indoor team again starting Tuesday. I will also be looking forward to attending the monthly flea markets where I find many of my props and wardrobe pieces. Alright my friends! I wish you all the best. Be kind to one another!

DJ

March 1, 2026 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: actor, Ai jesus, Bank of America, beer, Best Film, Best Picture, BEST YEARS GONE, blog, books, CDI, Chasing the star, chickens, coffee, crew, DJ Perry, dogs, eggs, film, Forty Nights, ghost town, Gotch, Hastings, horror, ICFF, In the woods, Katharsys, knight chills, Lynn Drzick, making of, March, Melissa Anschutz, Michigan, movie-review, movies, reviews, Rom Coms Must Die, Shane Hagedorn, snow, soccer, TEG, The Christ Slayer, The Quest Trilogy, The Red Letter Awards, Travis Hayward, Wild Faith, Wild Faith Christmas, wine | Leave a comment