Early Notice of the First RCMD Michigan Showing ands More…
Good morning to everyone! Hazelnut coffee cheers! I had a rare restless sleep which might have been because of something I ate. I might be grabbing a Sunday nap later but overall I’m happy to report a wonderful week of updates on the personal and professional fronts. The week was quite rainy but that resulted in green springing up everywhere. We had our last indoor soccer match and I have to finish signing up for the outdoors season. I racked the wine that we talked about the last few weeks into the 6 gal glass jug to let it set for a while before bottling. I’ve been on the lookout for mushrooms but none yet. Tulips, violets and more are popping and even the lilac is starting to bud as is the apples. I planted a few seedlings and have started to get ready for a season of growth. Today is our first weekend of the flea market right down the road and so that will be fun. Nature is everywhere and I could not be happier. This week will be finalizing some business paperwork. I had a great meeting last week with our legal (Over Sushi) and we’ve been delivering materials to the home video distributor. Let’s talk about some of the updates from the week.
UPDATES:
- ROM COMS MUST DIE our dark comedy will have a first showing at the Williamston Sun Theater on May 18th at 7:00 pm with doors/box office open at 6:30. I believe this 350 seat classic theater only takes cash to be bought at the door. You are getting the early heads up before any of the postings but we hope to see you all there. Soon after the film will start booking around the country.
- WILD FAITH CHRISTMAS will be playing at the ICFF coming up 1st of May in Florida. We still don’t know the individual nominations but the film is up for BEST PICTURE at The Red Letter Awards on August 29th, 2026 so that will be another great boost for the film. The home video poster art is on IMDB.com on the film’s page.
- AI JESUS: The Secret of the Kingdom Chip is a few weeks from a watch through with all the music and sound design played into the picture. This week the end credit work will start in earnest with this being one of the more difficult steps. The BTS video is also being worked on and the final poster art created by the home video distributor will be replacing the concept art. We are all very excited about this project.
- I’m happy to say that my first draft of the follow up script to SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is completed. The working title is RETURN TO ALGONA and it will be polished up this week but I’m very happy with it. We’ll be doing some PR about that in the coming weeks. It is likely looking like a 2027 after Christmas filming or the run up to Christmas 2027. The financing is partially in place and we’ll see how fast it comes together once the polished draft is finished. We are all very excited to return to Iowa and tell another wonderful story from the town’s rich history. Anthony Hornus is slated to direct again working with John McGraw (AI Jesus) as the director of photography.
DEVELOPMENT: Even bullet point #4 about is about development. We are catching up on post production and so it is time to create more stories. We have a few good meetings this week that could put us into pre-production. One would be for an end-of-Summer movie and we have several other feature films developing. Maybe even a few documentary films on some really cool subjects. After my polish on RETURN TO ALGONA I am going to return to a few other scripts I’ve been working on including MBF2 and WF3. Do you know what those codes stand for? Also a financing pitch needs to come together for the 3 films with Katharsys Pictures and Lynn Drzick. I’m going to keep this section short but we do have some amazing development underway.
WRAP UP: The streamlining of CDI and getting us ready for many new adventures has been exciting. Again I would have never thought that I would be this deep in all the business of film but I’ve always been about getting things done. I keep chipping away at the paperwork and I’ve almost got that all caught up. I think many people are starting to realize that life is short and you need to go after your dreams full speed ahead. I’m not planning on ever really retiring just adjusting my pace with what I can handle. I LOVE what I do. I LOVE the people I work with. I LOVE that we can make people happy by telling them a story. I’m going to go eat some oatmeal, get cleaned up and wander down to the flea market. I might have a new character I’m creating to put into a story. Enjoy the new growth around you and within you. I look forward to talking next week and we’ll hopefully have some great news to share next week. Until next week, be good to one another.
DJ
Trust in the Process! Welcome to May!
Germany, Finland and Ireland are where most our readers were from last week outside the US. Today is a touch chilly but the sun has been out and color from flowers blooming are everywhere. Violets, tulips and apple blossoms are among the many flowers. I’ve been cleaning herbal grow beds and planting some seeds here and there. Sun flowers and green beans are some of the seed planted. I mulched up all the leaves and also started some test sanding on the deck. It only needs some spot sanding and so I’ve decided to do it all myself. After will be a seal and stain but already the railings on the stairs is nice and smooth. I need to get things ready for some grilling which maybe I’ll do today. The deck is waterproofed with metal sheets underneath that run into a gutter and out into the yard. It makes the under area so nice. This week I’m going to work on rebuilding a retaining wall but it makes such a nice space behind the house.
This week was full of movie work with release promotions, post production work and development for the next couple of CDI films. I’ve been having scripts read by some of the key folks we are considering. I’ve been working on budgets also which is a lot of number crunching. We’ve already got some folks ready for the next couple adventures but I have to make sure we are ready to make it happen. Who, what, where, when and how are the basics. We can discuss more on the new projects later. Let’s take a bullet point look at some of the developments.
- Harsens Island Revenge was held over for a second week. Alpena and the surrounding area have turned out to support this wonderful story. The shows have been selling out and many people have seen the film multiple times. Four times might be the current record. I’ve been getting some great fan mail on the movie itself and the character of Axel. A heart-felt thank you.
- Here is a great review from the Alpena News READ: https://www.thealpenanews.com/life/2025/05/step-back-into-the-1920s-with-harsens-island-revenge/
- If you go to the Harsens Island Revenge Facebook page you can see updates on new theaters and great pics and videos from people watching the film.
- Next up will be NCG which we’re trying to get it booked beyond the Owosso screen (Starts May 17th) so if you have an NCG in your area call them and request Harsens Island Revenge!
- Our previous period drama SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA was the kick off film for Iowa’s 3rd annual Farm to Film Fest at the State Theater the oldest continuing operating cinema in the world! If you have not seen this film you can rent/buy it on Amazon and several platforms. Directed by Anthony Hornus this WW2 drama will educate and entertain you!
- I hope in the tradition of spring all of you had a chance to watch THE QUEST TRILOGY the 3 biblical adventures consisting of Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer. Available on many platforms just google it up!
- I want to explore WILD FAITH going back into select theaters before our sequel Wild Faith Christmas releases into theaters this year. The post work is coming along great and I’m excited to have this follow up story release. The TV series is still a hope and we’ll see what opportunities open up. Music is being composed and I’m looking forward to a listen through soon!
- Rom Coms Must Die the Travis Hayward directed comedy/horror film is close to a lock picture. We will review on Monday to also sign off on the color correction. Sound design has been underway and we’ll do another spot on that. We will also be reviewing a first trailer cut so that will be exciting to see.
- I’m told that Dean Teaster’s Ghost Town is now playing HistoryFix a subscription based site that runs quality historical films. It is also where you can watch it in 4k!
- CDI’s first film KNIGHT CHILLS is now available on TUBI for lovers of that platform. Actually CDI has several films playing that service you can google the titles from IMDB or just search ‘DJ Perry’ or one of your favorite CDI actors and their films should come up.
MISC.
I think I’ve mentioned before that The Red Letter Awards nominated Harsens Island Revenge for Best Picture. Previously our WW2 drama Silent Night in Algona beat several million and tens of million dollar budget films for Best Picture. I also was nominated and won for Best Screenplay. I believe in part that is why we could knock off bigger films. It has to be captured and performed at a high level but it all starts with the script. I love that over the last decade plus my writing has been recognized. I use to play it down so it didn’t eclipse my acting but I don’t hide that anymore. I celebrate it because to have a chance at a good film you need an excellent script.
I’ve been evaluating two books on request to possibly turn into screenplays and likely produce. I will work on a script that CDI doesn’t produce. Some organizations have many things going in the right direction but a poor script will hurt everything. I got into writing as an actor wanting deeper more powerful stories. I’ve had to have a few conversations about scripts that isn’t always easy. But write, write and rewrite can help improve your skills. Many directors aren’t as good of writers as they are directors. Hey, I don’t direct. We can’t all be good at everything. I recently challenged a friend to dive deeper into a script they are developing. I also have a call this week where I was asked to evaluate a film and the weak point was the script. And the company owner is the writer so again I’ll have an honest conversation. It all starts with the script.
Development: I’ve got the two active developing scripts and we have at least three passive development scripts. Active could be shot this year and passive is more likely next year even if funding pops now. Locations, casting and many things directly affect the development of a project but ultimately it is funding. Over the course of the month we’ll be running accounting to prep for new dispersement of revenue from our films. Peaks and valleys as often films go on and off certain platforms and catch an audience here or misses there. We’ve got some new campaigns to push certain films into new circles.
I will say with two of the CDI films MBF: MANS BEST FRIEND and LOST HEART I get asked often about a sequel Both have sequel outlines and both have had some script work. But the audiences need to get behind the originals. We have loyal fans for both those films but share that love with others. I might work more on those two scripts in my free time. But right now we have a good amount of development work underway. I will be approaching some of the past EP’s to give them first opportunity on some of the new films. I would love to film one this summer and one this fall.
WRAP UP:
My week was made by the smiling faces and the great responses to the new HIR (Harsens..)release. I hope to have some promo art underway this week. I know the film is being delivered to NCG this week for testing. Also home video will be getting the film with a few format corrections for the Oct 1st DVD/streaming release. I’m just tickled by all the joy I’m seeing. That is so much better than anger, division and hate.
I might finish sanding the railings on the porch today and do a bit more yard work. Tomorrow I look forward to being in the studio with Rom Coms Must Die. We are working with our Dreamscape Prods partners to get more theaters on line. You calls help this process. Work hard towards your goals but also trust the process. That is also a way to practice patience. If you’ve done the work sometimes you must wait and trust the process. I’ve talked before about this as a PULSE versus a RAY. The latter can be draining and as we know sometimes the watched pot never boils.
With that it is time to refill the coffee cup and soon make some eggs. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. I look forward to sitting down and sharing with you again next week. If you saw any of the films and want to drop a note here please do. If you want to have a film play near you make the calls. I will be attending the Owosso, MI May 17th screening and look forward to shaking some hands. I hope your May continues to be a beautiful one.
DJ
DJ Perry's Official Blog 'Clawing My Way to the Middle' 