Awards, Updates and the Rise of ‘AI’
Coffee cheers on a rainy Sunday morning in Michigan. We awoke to the rumble of thunder as a storm approached. I smiled because I had just put down additional clover seed and all the new plants will enjoy the passing rain. This past week was a wonderful mix of desk work and business calls while doing tasks in the yard. The start of prepping wood for next years winter has begun. I was also happy that I was able to get so much done even after my first soccer match of the season. We played the champs we dethroned last year. They beat us by one goal with us having multiple opportunities to take the lead but it was not meant to be. I LOVE that battle on the soccer field and after I was only mildly sore on day two from the amount of running. I trained for this season with the exception of running. I did cardio but wanted to save my knees for the season. My flat feet puts more pounding on the knees but I was really happy with the first game. As I’ve said before, playing is a great meditation too. For 90 minutes it is just teamwork with a singular goal. I’m just happy that I’m healthy enough to play and be competitive. I’m looking forward to our next game. We have many things underway with our film projects so let’s take a look at a few of the updates.

SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – Last night the film which has been playing theatres since December 9th won the AWARD of ACHIEVEMENT at the 32nd Iowa Motion Picture Awards. Our Algona coordinator Donna Kitzinger was there to receive the award and I hope she had a grand time. The theatrical run will be coming to a close soon just as the film will be delivered to our distributor for worldwide licensing. The film going to home video (DVD/Streaming) will have enhanced audio and visual improving upon small things we noted in the theatrical version that we could tweak before millions around the world get to watch it over the upcoming holidays. Congrats to our director Anthony Hornus and the entire CDI Tribe of artists for their hard work. We might play a few more event festivals before we release to home video. I will keep everyone informed but we are looking to film in the Los Angeles area. We’ll know more this month.
HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE – Following our wonderful scout trips we’ve got things moving on all fronts with this next CDI film. Lodging and catering is being worked out and locations are starting to be locked down with location agreements. Casting and crewing is going great and we’re working to fill in the remaining parts. That will likely be completed at the end of the month. Our schedule is underway and we’ll be feeding the AD department some additional info to assist that effort. Once we know when our talent will be needed we will start to lock down their agreements. We’ll be rolling cameras in Sept/Oct and all this prep time will make things run very smooth.

(Sponsorships and Product Partners) I want to welcome our first sponsor UAS whose support helps us provide those extra added touches to our production. We’ll be announcing many more as we move forward. We tackle some very ambitious projects and could not do it without the community help and our supporters. If you want to align your brand with us and be seen by millions reach out and let’s see if we can make something work.
We’ll be doing some exciting new things with this film and I’m so excited to see this story materialize. We are working on the teaser poster and should have something shortly. Let’s look at some other updates.

- We are starting to have talks over the set up for a future TV series spin off of WILD FAITH. This film has been performing well on several platforms. On our distributors platform (Encourage TV – free with ads) the movie has been leading the pack. We all love this world and will see it return to the screen.
- IN ASSOCIATION – We have our third project that has come to the CDI table to be looked at for a possible “in association” project. In these situations the funding is there and they want the experience of the CDI Tribe to assist in making the film as powerful as it can be. I’m looking forward to a script read maybe today or another day this week. What TV network would you like to see WF: Hastings be at?
- In the next two weeks I need to pull together the final extra interviews for the KNIGHT CHILLS BluRay being mastered. I’ve had some additional talks on the development of the video game which could expand into a few video games for other CDI films.
- I’ve been working on narration for another audio book for which has been fun. I enjoy doing those from time to time and love when they add all the sound design and such to it. I will share when it is all completed.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH and FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH 2: Battlefield – the documentary is finding its way to more platforms and we now have the foundation laid for the follow up sequel that will go more in-depth on the military’s involvement and the inclusion of Catch-Can into their hand-to-hand combat training. Director Curran Jacobs is working on his outline and we’re gathering support for the new endeavor. Again the Red, White & Blue Project Inc. will be the main company with CDI producing.

I’m sure I could muster a few additional updates but you get the picture. We’re working to bring some of the older films back into the spotlight and developing new content for the future. The wheel keeps turning. I smell bacon and beer pancakes so that means it is almost time to get some breakfast in the belly. The storm has passed and we might be able to get some outdoor work done yet. I’ve also been having fun assisting in the search for props for our next film. Above is a picture of me with one of them. Good find Dane DeFord. We’ve come a long way in phone technology.
One question I’ve been asked as of late is my take on AI or artificial intelligence in filmmaking. I don’t worry about it just like I don’t worry about other filmmakers. We have a unique storytelling ability and all our stories are special in their own presentation. I do think AI can assist on some areas of filmmaking. We welcome all aboard the CDI experience so even AI is cool with me. All good tools that we’ll learn to use in our work flow.
Until next week be good to one another.
DJ
Keep following your dreams. Die creating, reaching, growing and giving! SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA Premieres!

This entry into the old blog outlining the journey is unusual in that I’m typing it first a day late. To be fair if you also follow me on social media’s Facebook, you knew I was traveling back from Iowa on Sunday. But I’m here at 9:30 pm drinking some hot tea and eating trail mix, recollecting on my last few days. A whirlwind to be sure. Members of our production team traveled to Algona, Iowa almost 80 years after a group of German PW’s gifted something special to the small town. German PW’s, you say? Yes. For many in the USA and elsewhere abroad, they were unaware of the large amount of German PW’s kept in camps across the midwest. Most ran by WW1 officers pulled from civilian life and the injured American soldiers taken off the front lines and sent to homeland MP duties. At this one camp in Algona, Iowa something special happened. A unifying endeavor of captives gifting captors, while the world is at war.

This story, SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA– was meant to be told now. Based on true events, this film was created by our hardworking CDI tribe. A group of artists that I hope will be recalled for their contributions to preserving history and storytelling – entertaining and occasionally educating. Education by offering perspectives, often unseen, causing rifts in people. By looking at multiple perspectives, a more full picture can be established. A better understanding could be achieved.
This first set of premiere screenings were the most important because it was accomplished with the help of these folks and it was their history. The laughter and the crying followed by more laughter, I loved that. Someone described it as a rollercoaster of emotions as you bounce between perspectives. I’m just very proud of it. We had a killer opening with added theaters and expanded screens. There are good folks watching the film as we type this. I love that feeling. Out storytelling is happening with communities of people. This is the added joy of a theatrical watch. We have many new updates on screening opportunities. We have theaters reaching out and that is because of all of you. Thank you.

The Bitter of life– Someone very close to me, a mentor for sure in several areas, has been eagerly awaiting this film’s release. A lover of history and WW2, he always wanted updates on the film. Somewhat unexpected, he started having complications when we were in studio mixing SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA, and had a stay in the hospital for tests. A BEAUTIFUL Iowa snowstorm the night before our premiere, made Algona into a winter wonderland. Radio, TV and newspaper interviews in the morning followed by a great hearty brunch. An afternoon to prepare and rest a few beats before the activities start. Two hours before we unveil this inspirational and joyful film to the town where it all happened, a call. Unbelievable news. He’s gone.
Perspective. I greeted many beaming faces that night and sincerely enjoyed the glow of pride emanating from these wonderful people. The loss I was reeling from was also an artist in percussion and woodworking. He would often share stories of ZZ Top, Chicago and more, often ending in- the show must go on. It did go on. I was bathed in the good energy of all these people, inspired by the actions of their own past citizens and relatives. The SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA project and I had suffered an emotional hit a few years earlier with Rance Howard’s passing. He was passionate about 1940’s farming. Hours talking about farming- and many other life things, from that era. He loved the story, but sadly passed before we went into production.
The film will travel to Michigan next week- a premiere showing in Lansing and GR, with a TBD afterglow for folks to mingle and talk. I will not be at the premiere next week. I am going to be with family putting someone special to rest. But I’m very proud that we’ll be showing our cast and crew and our home state in this wonderful story. It will start playing next Friday –

One of my favorite questions to some of our oldest in attendance, was asking if we captured the time period. Their overwhelming squeal of delight, the confirmation I care about. Not perfect, motion picture is an illusion, best when the audience lends its imaginations and opens their minds. After watching it a few times on the big screen, we found even more to polish before home video (DVD, streaming and broadcast TV) later in 2023. That is how the artists at CDI roll. I’m just proud of the artists and the stories being preserving and assuring it is not lost. This movie is the next Iowa ‘Field of Dreams’ as special things do seem to happen in Iowa. But many states have their own stories that deserve to be remembered.
It has been a long few days and still much to do this week. IF you have recently watched our SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA in the theatre please go to http://www.imdb.com search our film and leave your feedback. We’ve had so many people reaching out who had heard fragments of stories from a grand parent or great grandparent, about German PW’s. I’m excited for Germans to see this film and we will be targeting to show somewhere special in Germany in 2023. We will do a Hollywood showing next year as most of German actors are out there. It will be fun sharing this film around the world and in time for Christmas 2023 you can own it.
If you watched Silent Night in Algona and enjoyed it, you can watch others by our troupe/tribe like BEST YEARS GONE, WILD FAITH, LOST HEART, MAN’S BEST FRIEND, WICKED SPRING, ASHES OF EDEN, FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH (Iowa) and The Quest Trilogy (FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR, THE CHRIST SLAYER) – You can explore http://www.cdiproductions.com and we’ll be updating even more for the first of the year. MERCHANDISE?
And while you enjoy, we also will be preparing more stories to tell – casting and crewing up in 2023

Also strong development meetings in Iowa on the new script SPIRIT LAKE MASSACRE, looking to shoot in 2024. Just blessed to be able to do what I love to do, affecting millions, with the power of a story. I have another talk this week on another film that would have me reuniting with a filmmaker from my past. Truly, a special weekend in Iowa and I’m just sad, one special person did not get to see it, or-
Keep following your dreams. Die creating, reaching, growing and giving. I’ve been inspired by both the comedy and tragedy of life. Don’t take people, time and kindness for granted. Until next Sunday-
DJ
Third of Five CDI Releases Rolls Out – NEW Festival & Film Updates!

Good morning readers! Welcome to our new readers from Bangladesh, Bosnia and more. I love seeing the worldwide circle of readers. I’ve had another extremely busy week and I’ll try to update you on some of those endeavors. While much of the country has been baking under extreme heat, Michigan has been darn near perfect. Low humid, warm and slight breeze. So Monday morning my brother had texted that a friend of ours had passed away in a freak accident. Saturday when we had storms this friend was celebrating his birthday bar hopping. At one place they had a storage container turned into a patio bar. That wind hit sending umbrellas flying and while one friend braved the rain and tried to secure an umbrella, the others watched likely amused. But the wind caught one of the big steel doors and crushed our friend between the door and bar. He never woke back up I’m told. This story was on the news even made national – but just so sad. He had been a beloved teacher and just a bright light of a person. It really cast a light on appreciating your circle.
To my knowledge I’ve not ever had Covid but we had some family catch it and thankfully everyone seems to be on the mend. It is always scary because we have a few family and friends who were not so lucky. So this all played in the background last week. We had a fun soccer match this week and a few CDI meetings were done over the throwing of bean bags playing corn hole. I got to visit this week with a few friends I haven’t seen in a while, grilling and chilling. Venison steaks, pork chops and baked potatoes were on the menu. I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it. We got our 4H pig and so the freezer is restocked. I’ve told many folks before that the secret to venison is to marinate and/or rub herbs in advance of grilling.

How about we move on to some movie updates. Let’s see –
- SMOKE & MIRRORS – Yesterday afternoon at the Motor City Nightmare convention in Novi, Michigan, our film played to fans of the genre. I was unable to attend and have yet to receive word on how it was received. It is a cool, slick short film that gives a great look at what the feature film would be like. Thank you so much to the convention festival for inviting us to play and I hope your audience enjoyed it. We are waiting to see if it is accepted into the Hell 1/2 Mile festival which I would plan to attend.
- Staying on the subject of festivals – BEST YEARS GONE that is now released will be playing in Ohio at The 27th Indie Gathering International Film Festival. I think our director Shane Hagedorn will be attending and I might try to, we’ll see.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH still hopes to have a festival premiere in Toronto but either way we’re looking at an Oct 1st premiere in Owosso, MI where our director Curran Jacobs is from. On 10/4 the DVD and streaming options will be in full effect. This is one that I’ll be happy to have on my shelf. Our distributor DESKPOP ENTERTAINMENT, has been working on a new poster art design. This will be our 4th release this year and it’s very rewarded to have this films finish and come to market.
- The last release of the year will be the theatrical premiere of SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA in Algona, Iowa. We hope to kick off multiple theater chain runs from there for several weeks. We will likely do a theatrical premiere again in Owosso, MI – the home of director Anthony Hornus. Owosso sure has some talented people in that area, maybe it’s in the water. We released the theatrical poster last week and many have responded positively to it and even asking for posters to purchase. We will get to that but right now it is that the last tweaks in editing before onto music and sound design. That will also include cutting a theatrical trailer for the film which will also start next week.
- BESTSELLER, our tense thriller will be getting a few new reviews as we continue to move this film out to world audiences. Have you seen it? If you scare easy you might not want to watch it alone.
- Another great Summer watch is BIGFOOT, UFOS and JESUS also known as LOST HEART. I had a friend say that they started watching the film opening again and got sucked in – it is a great blend of humor and heart. Another to watch as part of your own family watch night.
- WILD FAITH: HASTINGS, the TV series spin off, has had more pieces fall into place. It’s been hard work but I know it will all be worth it in the end. Have you watched the pilot feature film? Millions have so pop some popcorn and watch with your family.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE, the next collaboration with Curwood Publishing is moving forward. The writer of the book was very happy with my adaptation from book to script. The plan is to film in the back half of 2023. Always development…I’m very excited about this film.
- Sticking with the writing – I’m on the cusp of finalizing my next screenwriting project. It’s an exciting true history story that will be an awesome undertaking. It might be our biggest project yet and will likely film in 2024 once I have the script and development done. I will wait to announce anything until the ink is dry but we are getting closer.
- HOT ROD LOVE – Just to illustrate that we might make developing and finance look easy, it is not. Funding is the hardest part for many filmmakers. Our 70’s drag racing comedy has a handful of weeks to try to put the final financial pieces in order or it will have to be a push. My fear is that 2023 is already shaping up to be a busy year. But like all stories, if the time is now, it will happen. If not we will have just completed one of the busiest release seasons we’ve ever had. But we’ve got many pieced in play so we will just have to see.

We started this week’s blog talking about a tragedy. The greater tragedy in life can be not going after your dreams. You won’t always succeed, but you will grow from trying. Not trying at all can leave you with a hole in your soul. So if you really want to try and do something don’t let fear hold you back.
I’m about to go cook a few eggs to go with a left over pork chop. A few tasks around the yard and tonight I’m looking forward to spending time with my brother and a few amigos. I have a few biz calls and might get a jump on some start of the week’s business. I love to use my Sundays and this blog to recap and help put together my TO DO for the forthcoming week. I hope to hear a few responses from folks who attended the Motor City Nightmares and watched SMOKE & MIRRORS.
We also might get some word this week on a few festivals we thought would be a nice fit on a couple of films. I hope you all have a great end to your weekend and an amazing start to your week. Thank you again to all of you for stopping through and sharing a few moments of your day. If you haven’t watched all the CDI films please do. We make them for audiences to enjoy. Until next week be good to one another and keep climbing!
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
Sails UP, FULL Ahead- Picture Locks, Post Updates and NEW Releases
The hazelnut coffee is flowing and we’re getting the morning rolling. Welcome to the new readers from Colombia, Ireland, France and more. It’s a small world after all over here at our ‘clawing our way to the middle’ blog. This past week was nice weather mostly and the little rain we had was well received by the plants. Our soccer game was a good one adding another win but its really about the awesome workout. The berries are still kicking in full fashion. I eat handfuls each day and the animals have also been enjoying them. The hops are starting to form and the garden plants are starting to have blooms and a few even fruit.

TEN TOP UPDATES:
- BEST YEARS GONE had a great first week trending and giving us a great kick off. You can watch it at any of the places above and more each week. Leave us a review also and let us know if you had any favorite parts. We’re going to keep releasing a few actor videos every few days talking about their characters and the experience of filming with CDI. Here is the most recent a pair of talented young ladies – https://www.facebook.com/Bestyearsgonemovie/videos/1516086865477412
- BESTSELLER – the lake and the haunting sounds of loons. A crackling fire and…this great adult fiction by Christopher Knight aka to the children as Jonathan Rand, is available to rent or own. Shot in beautiful Michigan it is R rated for language and intensity. A great watch, not alone. Many of the same platforms as listed for BEST YEARS GONE above.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – A wonderful community who opened their hearts and trusted us in telling the story of their town. We will be showcasing some beautiful new poster art here soon. And next week the first edit of the film will be watched for any final suggestions. Once any last changes are done it will be a locked picture. Music and sound design have been prepping for weeks. Playing with compositions and building the sound library. VFX continues and we will have more videos showing this amazing process. A new theatrical trailer will start to be cut after our showing next week. They have been outlining ideas for a while and so we have lots of exciting things ahead for this movie. We are targeting a first theatrical premiere Dec 10th, in Algona, Iowa. We hope to expand the theatrical across the midwest where most of these camps were for several weeks. We’ll look at a few festivals maybe even one in Germany, Italy and a few other countries. Too early to announce anything but it looks like CDI will be making more travels to Iowa to bring more stories to the screen.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH – We are still waiting to see if we get into Toronto Film Festival. There is a great wrestling tradition throughout Canada and so it would be awesome to premiere there. But it will be coming to living rooms and phones this fall. I don’t want to announce yet until these dates are locked. But let’s just say that the ‘Great Pumpkin’ might also be making an appearance in this same month. The awesome releases for CDI keep coming and this one is still forthcoming. The wait will be worth it and I’m proud to have been a part in filling in this history.
- July 30th, be in your seat at 5:00 pm to be ready for the festival/convention premiere of SMOKE & MIRRORS at the Motor City Nightmares in Novi, MI. I’ve been to Comic Cons (Thank you Nathan Quinn) but never a horror festival. I have gotten a kick out of the collector’s talk of looking for ‘Dead Alive’ VHS titles like IN THE WOODS and KNIGHT CHILLS.
- Speaking of KNIGHT CHILLS. I just got the full rights from author David Hayes (Thank you David) and we might look into a small form reprint and an audio book. You all know a video game is in development. The BluRay deal is signed and will be coming. We are doing some cool things for the packaging. The sequel (funny I’ve written three) is still in development. I’ve had multiple creative groups (fans usually) of the movie present various ideas to incorporate. I’m keeping myself open- Knight Chills itself was us trying to make a movie (our 1st) and was a loving nod to all the cool stuff that Jeff & Juanita Kennedy and I were inspired by. I think for the sequel you could go too polished and perhaps miss what made the first one so special. It needs to be a nod, but stand on its own two feet. It is all fun. That is the secret to Knight Chills, fun. And could a Knight Chills TV series be as cool as Stranger Things? More storytelling potential versus a feature film.
- HOT ROD LOVE working hard to get the last of the funding in place so this can film in our favorite fall/end of the year spot. It works for the story and I like the temps versus humid. Had some great communication with some of the targeted talent. Mister Terence Knox, will have a great role in this film that really showcases his humor. He is playing my father, the track owner. Oh, hell. The clothes, the music and the groove, CDI is gonna go to the 70’s. Seek out our FB site and post some of your favorite 70’s photos. We have some classic images there.
- WILD FAITH: HASTINGS – We just might have our first backer interested. Still a bit to work out concerning details, but we’ve done previous business, so that helps. That just might allow us to start the engines and start planning the first few shows of the eight part season one.
- HARSENS ISLAND REVENGE – The first draft of the script is done. I will collect some feedback and do a second draft. After that we’ll start with active development. Broad location scouting as already begun. This will be a fun film to make fall of next year.
- Thank you to all the CDI FANS. I really want to thank everyone, especially those who have taken the time to express via a post, emails…(a million other ways) how our films spoke to you. Often beyond a few sit-in theatrical showings, we don’t get to hear the giggles or see the tears. With several CDI films with views in the 10’s of millions, I often tell our people, we’re not making these films to appease the 3-5k social circle associations, but for the millions globally that we will never meet. They don’t all know us but they sure know our characters, our stories. We are storytellers. We tell the stories to be seen, heard, and experienced. We do them for YOU. So thank you. Two of my favorites.


I just thought I would take that moment to really thank you all fans. I get caught up in my own little world of trying to hatch the next story. Maybe because I know you are out there waiting? Some of you have been with me since the early days when I was still trying to get my footing. Because of you, I get to do what I love. To do what I feel that I’m good at. My performance is subjective but I’ve always had an undeniable ability to pull people together and direct their effort all while getting the best out of them. Often a best that they did not see until challenged to bring it forth. The effort becomes a gift to us. A gift to themselves. A gift to you all, the story watchers.


I’m going to go “beat a few eggs” like my buddy Dean would say. A flea market down the road might reveal a treasure or two or just an hour of people watching. I might put a mow on the lawn and get a few outdoor things done. A recharge before I jump into the new week ahead. I hope all of you take the time to get a recharge, even if that is only in mindset. Be positive and go at your dreams knowing each step, small or large is taking you closer, giving you valuable experience.
COFFEE CHEERS! Until next week.
DJ
The Loss of a Lansing, MI Artist plus Updates on “Silent Night in Algona” and all the CDI Projects.

This morning as I awoke and looked out the window I half expected to see a witch flying on her bike or a flying cow. Okay those are old references to the Wizard of Oz and Twister. I heard Iowa got a few bad tornadoes. The world watches on the Ukraine invasion by Russia. Battle on the soccer grid, at the Olympics or even the boardrooms of business, but why an invasion? This feels like more of Putin’s war versus a Russian war. But I do think that Putin did unite most of the world against him. It is nice to see our government born from a similar desire to have and maintain freedom, be reminded. You want to think our leader(s) would be in the trenches fighting any US invaders but would they? Or would they jet to one of the isolated US territories? I sincerely wish this conflict to be resolved quickly but I don’t know. But if a friendly country asked for help in protecting their airspace after a country has already declared themselves at war due to the sanctions, sounds reasonable. As for the rattling of sabres over nuclear weapons, not reasonable. Radioactivity goes into air, water, food and few creatures can survive in that toxic environment. I’m going to hope that the internal government in Russia finally has enough of Putin trying to capture some last glory and ends it. Let’s all hope peace comes soon.
FILM UPDATES:
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA
Our WW2 Christmas drama is in post-production with a first cut of the film due this month. From there our director and editor will work to chisel out the best performances and scenes. In Canada model building is underway and soon we’ll have our story. But instead of just giving you an update I’m going to give it to you right from the – editor’s mouth. Nathaniel Nose had this to say about the footage being cut together.

“The raw footage always tells the story of not just the script, but also what happened on set. This set had a group of passionate people. Both the performers and the crew clearly cared a great deal about the film they were making. The most enjoyable projects to edit are the ones where passion, decency and goodness went into the production. It is evident in the footage that the people who made this film embraced those virtues.” – N. Nose
Many of you watched the BTS video and now we’re starting work on the first official teaser trailer. Still photos continue to roll out and showcasing the beautiful work but our camera, grip and electric team.

BEST YEARS GONE – Our next to market film is being presented this month to licensing platforms around the world. We’re awaiting word on a few festivals selected to possible showcase our fun film. I’m excited to see the film start appearing in advance marketing. June is when the DVD and digital purchase happens. Sept 1 will be digital streaming and broadcast TV. I hope that folks really enjoy this film we labored to make during the Covid crisis between the two Michigan lockdowns.

BESTSELLER – Some may recall that CDI stepped in to reboot/reshoot the thriller based on the book of the same name by Michigan author Christopher Knight. I’m happy that now the film is getting a full worldwide release with Deskpop Entertainment. This film will also do a digital release Sept 1st along with Best Years Gone.

FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH, our feature length doc on the history of grappling is completing distribution paperwork and we’ll start delivery of it this week to Deskpop Entertainment, releasing it worldwide. We’re also exploring a Las Vegas World Premiere likely in July/August timeframe.

Staying with the topic of Deskpop Entertainment we’re looking at deals to release AN ORDINARY KILLER, a former Vietnam vet turned detective works to solver a small town murder. This film is based on the true story which was one of the longest cold case files solved by DNA. This film’s management is being transferred to the Red, White & Blue Project Inc. so that more veteran needs can be met. This amazing non-profit previously documented the plight of the Afghanistan children in OUTSIDE THE WIRE: The Forgotten Children of Afghanistan. We plan to remaster the doc and re-release it. Also it looks like KNIGHT CHILLS, FIGURE IN THE FOREST and GHOST TOWN will get converted to HD for re-release. We’ll take the steps one at a time. All of this takes work and it is very satisfying to see these titles get a second or in some cases third life.

For the Easter season I would ask all the fans to watch our three biblical adventures, Forty Nights, Chasing the Star and The Christ Slayer. Help make these three films part of your traditional family watch. I received word one of our fine actors passed away.

Also new promotion on WILD FAITH as we make a push to launch the 8 show season one of WILD FAITH: Hastings. LOST HEART and MAN’S BEST FRIEND are building their worldwide audiences and I am thankful for all the nice notes from fans.
WRAP UP:

I want to thank everyone for all the kind words on the passing of Daphne, our 14 year old doggie. Finn our little boy has always had his sister. He also has dealt with anxiety and fear issues (big trucks, fireworks) but has gotten steadily better. He was not doing great alone and was taking a few steps back. Well, we have a new loving member to our family pack Luna Mae. This beautiful girl had a few bad hands dealt in her life but now is settling in nicely. She had to learn some of Finn’s quirks but is helping to balance him out. She is very easy going and loves her new house and yard. She also loves hanging at the office with her new daddy.
We spent all yesterday putting outdoor Christmas stuff away and cleaning up the yard. We have a good ways to go with all that but we got a nice start on it. Last week we had some great meetings with several of the CDI Tribe. Much discussion in on our newly announced film HOT ROD LOVE. We’ve started investor and sponsor talks and are excited to pull this all together. This film will be 70’s summertime fun and already we’re getting some great attachments to the project. Reach out if you want to be involved on the business front. We’ve started to reach out to a few agencies on our Native American casting needs. A great piece of Michigan history plays into our story.

I also want to take a moment to recognize a very special father and son filmmaker team (Michael & William “Pops” McCallum, from my home town of Lansing, Michigan. Sadly, Michael lost his father. I’m not close with Michael, but I do admire his drive, tenacity and his past relationship with his dad. In our one sit-down years ago I stated that the films he made with his father will always be special. I think many of us artists who have locked horns with our parents admire/envy this relationship they had. So to my fellow Lansing artist Michael – my thoughts are with you. RIP to your Pops. And Michael, keep on being you with all your fire and passion. Your dad is surely very proud of you. From reading your story, your Pops had a heavenly reunion or two in the making with some very special people. He left you with all the tools you need to be the best you. With that I’m going to go make some eggs, bacon and refill the ye ole’ coffee cup. Have a great week ahead and be good to one another.
DJ
Saturday Will Be Blogs Until Thanksgiving – Hello ALGONA!

We are at the end of our pre-product week here in Algona, Iowa. We have the MSU vs U of M game on the TV which we work away. Saturday is our day off during the shoot but as you know us producers don’t really get a “true” day off. So from now until Thanksgiving I’m going to be doing my blog post on Saturdays. We started doing Saturdays off several shoots back since it allows crews to have more options open to take care of day to day things like mail, laundry and such.
Our pre-production caravan hit a small snag about 4 hours from Algona when the main RV filled with wardrobe and props had a belt break. The ‘Rambler’ was brought to rest in a parking lot of a grocery store. We had a friendly ex-Marine mechanic who agreed to meet us there in the morning. We sent our director and UPM ahead and I stayed in the RV with our Transportation Captain and Armorer. The Rambler lost power and so after an improve guitar jam fest we slept in the freezer, I mean RV. I got cold but after putting a few WW2 wool blankets over me, I was not going to freeze. Our Marine came to our rescue on a day that started pouring and continued all day. He really saved the day and we got to Algona the next day a bit sleep deprived but safe and sound.

BEST YEARS GONE which was just delivered to our distributor is prepping for their home video release campaign in early 2022. Meanwhile we have more opportunities to play the film theatrically and are working on those dates now. We also might have a special screening one night here on a day off for the cast and crew. Some really great news coming on that front.
WRAP UP – This morning was the last day of pre-production and the morning started with a haunting fog over the lake and now we have some beautiful sun. We had three days of rain but now for filming we’re suppose to have a week stretch of nice weather. Jeeps, trucks, extras and more all coming together to help create our world. We had first airport pick ups with actors flying in from all over the country last night. The remaining crew will also be rolling in today and prepping for an exciting day 1. We are filming our first 4 days in a historic park with a period farm. I’m so proud of all the departments which are all now humming along. This is going to be another great story. Fans of Anthony Hornus’s MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND will love this new film. He has been working hard to pull the vision together. I will update you all for the next couple Saturday’s versus Sundays on the filming. I know this journey in storytelling will bring new friendships together that will last forever. Speaking on friendships – cherish them just like family because sometimes you don’t know when some will leave us. This week we found out our good friend Pappy, David Papenfuss passed away. Mere hours later I found out that one of our childhood neighbor’s husband, also passed. He use to work for an airlines and if I’m not mistaken he might have given me a flight voucher back in the day for one of my early Hollywood trips. Either way, both passed away from Covid and so while things are getting better please do be careful. I saw Pappy at an afternoon get-together on my birthday. He once again brought me a musical card as that was his thing. I have Star Wars, Superman and Indiana Jones cards from him. Little did I know that the last one was the last one.
Cherish your loved ones.
DJ

CDI Turns 25 and ‘The Tribe’ is Evolving.

I’m sipping a nice hazelnut coffee out of a Sea World cup I found in my travels. I have fond memories of the Easter break trips we often made to Florida to see my grandparents. Always such a good time in the community park riding three wheel bikes and catching lizards. We would often go to Disney, Bush Gardens (A favorite) and Sea World. Although I am glad to see the whales set free as they are a big animal to keep so contained. I’ve been in busy mode with the next shoot in under three weeks now. When we go into the last few weeks all projects have a certain amount of shuffle and settle. Cast and Crew are people with lives and sometimes that can get in the way. We’ve had a few cast and crew adjustments due to these circumstances. But once the film plays out with all the pieces in place you almost could never imagine anything different.

One thing we really do here at CDI is develop people. Some want to get by producing with whom they can until they can hire other people with a better resume. We are truly trying to develop people for the long haul. It is a two way loyalty. There are people who have lost their place in line by not making our few weeks a year, a priority. Others have followed their heart and dreams elsewhere and that is understandable. I’m excited because what I see is a 3rd generation of CDI stepping up into the ranks. It really makes me proud as we started as an organized but rag tag bunch of filmmakers. It is 25 years that CDI has been around and creating content. Coffee Cheers to 25 more!
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA

We are all so excited as we do our remaining off location prep. Tomorrow the cast and crew will get our schedule, official white script and we’ll dive into our actor agreements and arrange transportation. Most of the crew/producer team is driving into the town. A handful of flights that funnel into two small airports. We’ll start locking in the vendor gear this week and likely fire up the production insurance. I’ve got a uniform fitting tomorrow and that will be fun. I’m only in military dress in this film. A bit more formal than Gil Gilles in our last film. I want to welcome in advance another company aligning their brand with our film The Iowa State Bank, thank you!

BEST YEARS GONE – Speaking of ‘Gil Gilles’ our Owosso, MI premiere was an outstanding success and it gave us a great audience reaction. The premiere led to a week-long run and now the film is coming to Lansing, Michigan – my home town. This coming Saturday the 16th at 6pm and 8:15pm the film will playing at the NCG theater. It plays great on the big screen and the film was remastered after our first run. Sometimes you can hear improvements in the theater and we found a handful of places to sweeten and remix. We will watch a test Tuesday! The film will travel some I’m sure. We have many wanting it to play in Grand Rapids and the Detroit area. We’ll talk about screenings in other states as we go.
The CDI Library – Our distributor has us across many streaming, on demand and TV channels but I like to watch the distributors ENCOURAGE TV YouTube channel stream as a meter of how a film is moving. Both FORTY NIGHTS (part 1 of 3) and MAN’S BEST FRIEND have views that shot over a million and approaching 1.5 million. Thank you for all your support. You can leave a VOTE and review for any of the films at our http://www.imdb.com pages. This past year the distributor started advertising The Quest Trilogy together which should help. We are thinking of doing a few Sunday showings of all three in the theaters. Again part 1 is Forty Nights, Part 2 is Chasing the Star and Part 3 in The Christ Slayer. WILD FAITH with over 5 million views on the one site is driving the TV series train. The first season is written and we have some very strong avenues to work this series down. An HD version of WICKED SPRING is suppose to be moving out into streaming. If you like WILD FAITH take a watch on WICKED SPRING and you’ll see where we honed our craft of 1800’s storytelling. BESTSELLER has been delivered and will get a new campaign. I really like this film as a thriller and I’m happy it is finally getting a bigger push. We are looking at several films getting the new campaign treatment.

WRAP UP…
I’m about to eat some eggs from our chickens and we might stop out at a flea market so I can look for more props. I will likely do some pre-production work while watching the Lions. My alumni MSU had another great game yesterday. My momma is suppose to stop by to say hello. And I’ll get organized and ready for a very busy week ahead that will end with my home town getting a chance to see BEST YEARS GONE. I know the sayings of “You can’t be a prophet in your hometown” and I’m not putting any expectations out there but it is a chance for family, friends and fans to see it on the big screen and to me that is awesome. You can get tickets online at the NCG Lansing site.
Have a great week!
DJ
Screenings, Schedules and Staying Focused!
Welcome to all our new readers from Germany, Uganda, China and several others from around the globe – coffee cheers! Watching the storm approach New Orleans and hoping for the best for whomever stayed behind. We all know of the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan and Covid is continuing to be an issue in some areas of the country. This humidity has been brutal yet I got the lawn mowed up one day and even had our last soccer match for the season in this heat. I’m ready for wood stove, chili, Lions/MSU football and everything that comes with that. It has been a very active time here at CDI and with me personally but that means good things are happening. Lets look at a few of the top updates-
- BEST YEARS GONE – the film is being polished up with some color correction tweaks and a few music beds to be worked in. The tickets are open for anyone to buy for Sept 18th at the NCG Owosso theatre with shows at 6:00 pm and 8:15pm with an afterglow at ROMAS patio starting after the first show and will continue after the second showing. Get your tickets now as they are going fast! No charge for the afterglow/cash bar and we’ll be doing pictures and such so come on down and meet many of the cast and crew.
- Also a just finished shooting the music video for ‘Off to the Races‘ the song by Vertical Bridge that will appear in the film as winners of the ‘Battle of the Band’ – we plan to show the music video either before or after the film. It depends on what film footage is used/shown in the video but we’re excited to see this premiere also.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS our short concept film is almost done. We had a slight delay in the VFX but I hope to get the finished film so we can look at maybe a small premiere as a fund raiser for the Dodge Turner House we shot at. I’m excited to finish the retooled feature script that we plan to shoot in the near future with Nathaniel Nose directing.
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH our documentary film about the history of wrestling has a first full cut which we’ll review this week. Once BEST YEARS GONE has moved out of post we’ll move this film in once picture is locked to have an audio mix done on the project.
- WILD FAITH/HASTINGS – as the feature film keeps climbing in views via the numerous streaming sites that means good things for the TV spin off series. This coming week I have more meetings over this project. I’m excited about what this could mean for so many cast and crew in the Michigan area. CDI has been building a strong team for a while now and this project could mean some consistent work. Giddy up!
- New release campaigns will be underway for a newly up-rez’d THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ, which was CDI’s first animated feature collaboration but I will say it won’t be our last. Also Christopher Knight’s BEST SELLER based on the book of the same name has been delivered and will be rolling out in the near future. This R-rated (language and intense situations) feature is the closest to a Hitchcock like thriller that we’ve produced. I’ll be in talks this week on a few other projects from the CDI library.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA has most of the cast and crew in place minus a few still being discussed. We will be getting ready to go to paperwork this Sept for cast, crew and vendors. Most of our crew is driving in so we can take more equipment and gear. Some flights for west coast folks will be needed so those will be arranged. Wardrobe is starting to gather sizes (don’t lie actors:) * A famous story with my dear departed actor costar Dan “Grizzly Adams” Haggerty who might have fibbed on his waist size. This led to a frantic last minute adjustment on set. We’ll be having some round table discussions with art including guns with our armorer Mr. Robert Bradley. The town of Algona is so appreciative they don’t want CDI to be just coming to work in Algona they want the crew to be their guests. Once you meet the kind people of Iowa you realize why a story like ours actually happened. I’m excited and ready to tell what we hope will become a holiday staple along with your other favorite classics.
- We are having some great success with our product partners on our upcoming WW2 Christmas film mentioned above. We have another great brand joining us in our endeavor and their history/story plays into the script in a few places. Stay tune for some announcements and if you have a brand and want to align it with our story please do reach out. Smithfield Foods is our newest joining Lerma Transportation and The Candleberry Co. We are appreciative of all our product partners.
- I had a call last week about a film I was approached about a few years back and it seems they have momentum and wanted to resend the script and see if I was still interested in the role. I LOVE that they offered to send a paper script to me. Things always get read faster by me when they come to me in paper form.
- KNIGHT CHILLS – I’m just going to set this right here. This was CDI’s first film. It was both a test of ‘could we’ tell a story. We were too ambitious, under experienced, under funded but had a boatload of passion and enthusiasm. This story has stayed with audiences for many of the nostalgic reasons we love it. There is a world at play here and with the surge in fantasy role playing including new D&D movies, it might be the time for SIR KALLIO to arise. If you go and watch Part 3 of THE QUEST TRILOGY, The Christ Slayer…well watch all 3, imagine that world building applied to Knight Chills. The story exists in two places – the fictional here and now and the fictional inside fictional world of the imagination. This 2nd film is a transitional piece to get us into the world we always wanted to do but were unable to. This second film will be an EVIL DEAD 2 to Evil Dead 1 with the 3rd being the Knight Chills (Army of Darkness) – No. I’m not saying Knight Chills is on par with Evil Dead, I’m just pointing out the story arc. The second brings back some nods to the past and sets up for its future. We’ve had so many people interested in the story and this RESTART not REBOOT will draw some artists into our story on subject matter alone. Just something developing in the dark of the night as the cold wind starts to blow…
I’ve given a good run down of some of the happenings over here at CDI. I’ve been watching my hops which are close to harvest. The rhubarb needs another cut. The chickens are kicking the eggs out. Veggies are ripening weekly and we’ve been storing some tomatoes. The plants are doing well with water but the humid just has it feeling like Jurassic Park around here. And the mosquitos are the true beasts around here. Although the bats are trying to keep them in check there are just so many. I think the mosquito should become the new Michigan bird:) Okay. I hope everyone has a great week ahead. Keep focused on what you can control and don’t let static and noise steal your attention and time. In many endeavors you must believe first. Click on Owosso links BELOW to go to BEST YEARS GONE premiere ticket site or just google it up. See you there.
Coffee Cheers.
DJ
‘Best Years Gone’ Premiere Date! Plus more CDI Film Updates
Ah…those first sips of the hazelnut coffee taste so good. I stayed up a tad past my bedtime watching the final Olympic Games on TV. Yesterday was a trip up North to deliver some of the 4H pork to some family. We stopped at a few produce stands and got carrots, cabbage, green beans and more. Also stopped and got a cherry cider slushy and it was good. So Saturday was a fun productive day.
BEST YEARS GONE – We’ve been working hard on the finish line with final music and sound design being laid in. The color correction is done and will be replaced as the master this week. Speaking of music lets talk video – music video with our Battle of the Bands winner VERTICAL BRIDGE. So Friday we were over to Onondaga Dragway to capture some B roll along with a few picture cars captured screaming down the track. Later this month we will get the band rocking out. We had to do a two part shoot thanks to the unpredictable nature of Michigan’s weather but that is how it rolls. It can go from nineties and balmy to snow, you just never know.
We were trying hard to set up a racing premiere event at Springport whereas we provided the ‘purse/prize’ and get to name the race, ‘Gilles Cup’ a 200 car spectator drag followed by an outdoor drive in like screening. But final concerns over insurance led to a postponement. I think we would all like to return and try something but in our tight timelines we had to fall back to more traditional. So Sept 18th at the Owosso, MI in NCG we’ll be doing a one night, two show premiere at 6:00 and 8:15 I believe. Also this week we’ll be setting up a premiere afterglow at ROMAS like we’ve done in the past. Owosso is also the home of the book writer Karl Manke, who penned ‘Hope from Heaven’ and I adapted it into a screenplay. We are excited to show everyone this next tribeCDI story! From there we might do a few more theatrical and a few select festivals. But we’re going to keep working hard to lay in the final pieces and mix it up nicely. Once all that is done we’ll be OFF TO THE RACES! (The name of the winning song)
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA is ON DECK and preparing for a scouting mission to Algona, Iowa mid month to put in play lodging, catering and location options. We had Lerma Transportation come on board this past week as a sponsor. We’re in talks with some other great brands from that region and several that we’re in operation during WW2. I’m excited because we’re only a few crew and cast short from being fully locked and loaded. This week we’ll be announcing more crew and cast. Our agreements have come over from legal and so soon we can start putting paper underneath the crew and start looking at transportation. It is all very exciting! On deck here soon is the gathering of props, personal wardrobe and gun wrangling that will again be handled by Robert Bradley working as armorer under art department. We’ll also be starting to look at vendors for gear and such that we might need. Aside from the producing aspects I’ve been working on my character development. The hair cut has really helped me turn the page and work my lines while seeing the character more in the mirror. I plan to go visit several of the flea markets this month including one today. Happy prop picking:)
LOST HEART/BIGFOOT, UFO’s & JESUS has been increasing in sales along with the others that are also expanding audiences. We’ll wait another quarter and do another disperse. WILD FAITH, THE QUEST TRILOGY, MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND I’ve appreciated the fan/emails and the kind works and handshakes mainly from military friends over MBF. Our goal is to create some classics that will be playing for years.
Speaking of classics – WICKED SPRING has a newly uprez’ed HD stream that will be making its way to steaming platforms. The new art they are using makes it look a bit more like YELLOWSTONE TV show in my opinion but I hope everyone will enjoy seeing this more brilliant version of this film that has been showing to Civil War and history fans for 20 years. I need to circle back and check into some things (Art & DVD Menu) for the second CDI Classic Collection Double Feature with KNIGHT CHILLS and FROM VENUS. A new HD version of THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ the 1st CDI associated animated feature is getting a new campaign. BESTSELLER, also a CDI associated project is getting a campaign. We need to finish getting all the deliverables to BMG. Several of the others are being pitched to prep for a new campaign release. A few of the associated films had opportunities previously but could not pull all the deliverables together. I have to focus on what I can control and not what I cannot. But it is exciting to see some of the classic films get new life!
Things I’ve seen this week that would make good conversation. I did see whereas a crew person was announcing some new series project they were working on but they were complaining as they announced. Now even big studios and networks are ran by people who care about the product and they do monitor social media. To see people complaining before working day 1 would have me seriously reconsidering that hire. You want positive people who take pride in their work and in the story they have signed onto help telling. First, few of these crew people and cast for that matter have ever gone through the painful trials and tribulations of raising funds to tell a story. I’m not talking about the donation based projects but investors or funding studios whereas you have accountability. I’ve stated several times that I’ve never been able to pay an artist what I think they are worth. But we do create stories that most are happy to put their name on. I just find it such a different place from where I started to be gifted an opportunity yet you are going to flaw find. Just politely pass and move on if it doesn’t meet your standards. Again not our project but it still made me take a second look. Burn enough bridges and your opportunities will dry up and that is the way of things. I’m happy to say I think we’ll have several opportunities for years to come. I’m already excited about what 2022 could bring. Stay positive, stay focused and keep moving forward. I will talk with you all next week!
DJ
HAPPY Mother’s Day! Also CDI’S TOP 10 UPDATES (There are some good ones)
My first sips of hazelnut coffee on this Sunday morning. I’ve been recovering the last two days from my first of the season soccer matches. My legs are in good shape but not ready for the constant run and directional changes. Yesterday my legs were stiff and tad heavy giving me the ‘mummy’ walk – “COIN!” (Old Scooby Doo reference)
I had a very productive week on many fronts and I’m just so pleased with how everything is moving along. But before we get into all the film updates let take this moment to celebrate mommas. EVERYTHING I’ve done in this life I’ve done because I was brought into this world. Every story that started as a spark in my imagination and brought to screen is because of her. (Dad also had something to do with it:) But I’m just so appreciative that I was given this opportunity. We will have the moms over this afternoon for an early dinner. A few love gifts and a good meal. I LOVE you momma:) Happy Mother’s Day to all of you. That counts if you mother child or animal, so again – thank you to all the mothers for what you’ve done, are doing and will do because that is what mother’s do. LOVE.
Maybe let’s try a TOP TEN Updates
- FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH documentary is now in editing. We had a post meeting last week and we’ll even having a teaser trailer coming soon. This is about the history of the grappling arts and the evolution of “Catch” as told by those who love it the most. Hosted and directed by two time world champion Curran Jacobs. We have some great interviews. Big Kudos to Dan Chipman our mobile production and Adam Towner, B camera and post. This just might be the first of many documentary collaborations between #Tribecdi with The Red, White and Blue Project Inc. You can follow us on IMDB and Facebook as we have pages for both now.
- BESTSELLER – This “Hitchcock” like thriller adapted from the book by Christopher Knight has been signed for a new release campaign. This film stars Melissa Anschutz, DJ Perry, Ralph Lister, Taylor Nichols and Lana Wood. It has really only had a limited DVD release and so this new push will be much greater. It is R-rated (language and implied violence) but is done without being overly graphic. This film captures Michigan in the fall in all it’s haunting glory. I will have more info as we go but I believe the idea is a late summer/fall release!
- BEST YEARS GONE – the first pass on dialog clean up is complete. Last week our director and composer discussed music cues and even sound design ideas. Color Correction is happening as we speak along with the edit of our first official trailer. As if that wasn’t enough- we’re planning the premiere, manufacturing merchandise and more official stills are being prepped for delivery to our distributor (BMG) so they can begin poster art. Lotta fun ahead with this movie and I think audiences will really enjoy it. I need to add that the Battle of the Bands judging is underway by our team and celeb judges. We will be announcing a winner this month!
- LOST HEART is really a film that has a lot going for it. But to try and convey that via shelf art alone is hard. The film is a story is about music star Hannah Sweet going back to her home town for a funeral but the B story is the town of ‘Lost Heart’ itself. It started with fan mail before Christmas from men who had lost the remote and via wife/girlfriend and was made to watch ‘Lost Heart’ and really loved it. I recall one gent saying that he would have never watched that film except by his wife’s choosing. But he loved the Bigfoot, UFO (UFA?:) and humorous mystery in our story. In a meeting with our distributor I recall telling these stories after discussing the demographic audience that is being drawn to our story. A joke was mention that if the title was “Bigfoot, UFO’s and Jesus” the film would find its partially missing male demographic. Guys hanging out amongst themselves are unfortunately not going to randomly watch a film named ‘Lost Heart,’ which is a name I truly love. It was pointed out to me that a title like “Bigfoot, UFO’s and Jesus” would also attract more women who were equally into the mystery aspects, like my own cousin Angie. So I stand corrected. This GM release should add to our overall audience by revealing the wonderful B story of our film. It was a nice hidden gem inside our story but I think we need to be more direct. So a ‘General Market/GM’ campaign release is underway with a new title, poster art and trailer. I will share this new artwork at the end of this update. But I’m very excited because this film/story deserves to be seen by many, many, many more people from around the world. And so it will.
- WILD FAITH/HASTINGS – I want to do a polish up on the “Hastings” scripts for simple grammar mistakes but I had a few more connections start to open up on the WILD FAITH TV spin off. I’m excited to put that into play to shoot next year. I know the feature is growing an audience around the world and so the series would have a nice welcome audience.
- MBF/MAN’S BEST FRIEND – This film has been working its way into the marketplace. I was told a new deal was just executed taking the film into Latin America. I know it is making its way into territories around the world. The top two questions I get with this film 1) Will you do more martial arts filming? I do have a great concept that will eventually make it to script. 2) What was Paul’s sentence, will there be a sequel? Right now I like keeping Paul’s fate in limbo with audiences. Will there be a Part 2? Never say never. If you have not watched this film – watch it. If you have and enjoyed it, pass it along. Thank you to the many fans of this film out there.
- The Quest Trilogy (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer) – A special message is spread across these three stories. Actually several lessons are presented and the way the story is told – everybody can take something positive away. The film series just ran through the holidays at Sony/Pureflix and again I so appreciate all the fan mail letting me know how much you enjoyed our stories. It is humbling and powerful what can be done with a story.
- SMOKE & MIRRORS – This early 1900 short tale is getting the final touches. Maybe we’ll cut some teaser in the coming weeks. It’s spooky. It’s kookie. Wait a minute! It’s a really fun little film that was derived from one of my feature script. This will make a great feature film. All in good time.
- SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – We’re making great strides on all fronts. Last week we announced Garry Nation and David Reardon coming on board. Our German casting is almost complete. Discussions with the art departments has started in earnest as we prepare to create the world of 1944 Algona. This week we should start in on our sponsorship endeavors. We have a lot of excitement in these circles and we’re excited to align with these brands. To do what we do at these modest levels requires the assistance of the community and our sponsors. Thank you to all of those supporters past and present. And here is an additional cheers to our future ones! This week we should roll out two more of the great talent associated with this film. I’m beyond excited to tell this story. If your company or business wants to support this based on true events WW2 home front drama please reach out.
- TRIBE CDI – The biz of the biz, I had a VERY productive week working with Bank of America to streamline our fleet of films. All this is to help streamline our inner workings. This all can make a days work only a few hours. Also had a good meeting with another one of the team (Tiger) who oversees dispersement amongst a other things. We will be prepping some of those to go out in the coming weeks. Thank you. As you all support the films, we get to keep making the films. I’m excited to see in the next decade what stories are brought to life on screen! Thank you also to Dean Teaster (COO) and Gary Davison and his team. David Gries & Carl Weyant who maintain the website. #Tribecdi is not a catching hashtag it really does represent a tribe of artists and the business that supports it.
I just enjoyed a wonderful breakfast bagel with our own eggs and 4H bacon – so good. The yard is really looking good and the warmth is creeping into Michigan. I look forward to having many enjoyable meetings both business and social in the coming weeks. I’m going to end this here with some great new poster art for Lost Heart’s new general release. Be good to one another. Be safe and keep following your dreams.
Coffee Cheers!
DJ
PS: The new trailer is almost done and I really do love it. I could not stop smiling.
First Looks at ‘Best Years Gone’ – Development Updates! Feel the Music & Laughter
Good morning everyone! I’m sipping the hazelnut coffee watching the snow fall. Michigan is at its coldest point with overnight going into the negatives. I want to welcome the new readers from Vietnam, United Arab Emirates and more from around the world. We so enjoy the ever-growing circle of artists who stop by to take a read. This week was very productive on many fronts and so let us look at a few updates.
BEST YEARS GONE – This week we have had many updates on our film now in post-production. Below is a link to Nathan K. Robertson, our 1st AD and Associate producer put this fun video together on MASKS and safe protocol while shooting end of 2020. Please do take a watch – if you grew up with 80’s Sat morning cartoons you will enjoy this. Thank you again Nate.
This is followed by a story and ‘behind the scenes’ look about our company CDI (http://www.cdiproductions.com) and our mission statement. The cool video was done by Daniel G. Chipman who has worked with CDI on and off since 2002. The music was by the incredible Dennis Therrian. The next cut of the film will be done this week and our director will make any tweaks from there. We’re also looking at the VFX shots and soon the locked picture will move to music and sound design. We had great talks this week on upcoming merchandise items. Also the ‘Battle of the Bands‘ details are getting worked out and the distributor is excited. We are talking about a unique premiere at a racetrack with bands, the film and a race! How cool would that be? Have you followed our IMDB.com or Facebook pages? Seek them out:)
LINK BELOW TO THE STORY AND BTS VIDEO! (I’m very happy with how the story came out)
https://www.prlog.org/12857968-passing-through-the-storms-of-covid-unified-in-telling-story.html
WILD FAITH/HASTINGS talks and development continue. The 8 shows are being polished up for presentation and we’re working with our distributor to develop this TV series spin off. We’ve got the script to a few of the proposed directors and we’ve started to look at who would return and who would not for the series. I stated how thrilled I was by the Darby Hinton endorsement of the season 1 scripts. Our distributor is helping pull together marketing “impressions” for us to use in our development business. They reported 15 million impressions for 2020 which if you multiple that X 8 shows that is a lot of zeros. Talks with several networks will continue. With THE QUEST TRILOGY playing as a series on Sony/Pureflix platform under a new Easter campaign maybe Sony/Pureflix will be a good partner. We will see where the journey takes us but we’re pulling everything together. But to the millions of fans – thank you!
SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA – This week we made some great steps towards pre-production. We had more financial commits to this Christmas WW2 film. We’ve also have had some great actor reads from around the country. I’m happy to say that we’ve settled on casting for a handful of roles. I’m really impressed by some of the talent especially the reads that came from the outside. We usually have to go through hundreds or thousands of casting choices but it is beyond cool when you find someone you love in the first couple reads. We are discussing a teaser poster, PR title font and other things before we start announcing. I like to wait until we are moving into pre-production for casting PR but we are so close. Only a few more pieces to align and we’ll also be bringing on several sponsors via product placement. We know from WILD FAITH that 15 million + impressions are what sponsors can expect. So this week we might see our first cast announcement and I’m really excited. It is fun to see the script come to life by artists. This is a based on a true event and is a powerful story with themes that will ring true today. It is cool to note that Rance Howard was my WW2/farm script consultant. I got to hear stories for hours. I wish Rance could be playing with us on this one.
If you go to the http://www.cdiproductions.com website you can read lots of updates. The merchandise is slowly getting its feet underneath and the streaming links to ENCOURAGE TV are active whereas you can watch our films free with ads. Watch. And leave us your thoughts/vote on sites like Amazon.com and or IMDB.com if you would. LOST HEART is now starting to hit high in the BMG charts on sites like TUBI, joining WILD FAITH and MBF also growing a fine audience. MBF will be getting a new campaign push as the film was forced out during the transition when Covid first hit. We’re working on the 1st UPREZ and conforming of older film titles to HD/widescreen. My plan is to also do a run of CDI’s first two films in another CDI CLASSIC COLLECTION – Double Feature. KNIGHT CHILLS and FROM VENUS will join FIGURE IN THE FOREST and HEAVEN’S NEIGHBORS available now on the CDI Merchandise page. We are proud of our humble beginnings and happy to be bringing these titles forth for the hardcore CDI collectors. I love physical media and so will you if any companies go out of business in the near future. VHS, VHS, VHS – just kidding. Although I do collect my favorites classic VHS as art.
I did get some tinkering work done this past week at the office. Keeping a fire hot to fight off the cold was a constant battle. I can tell the swinging of axes will have to happen this week. We’ll work this week on finding our last few ‘Algona’ partners so we can move to the next phase. Our first cast announcement will be this week and no I’m not the announcement. I am going to participating in this film in a good solid supporting role. I have lots of duties on this next endeavor and so it will be good to not be so deep in a role that I’m shooting every day. I shot everyday on the last film as the star and it takes endurance. Not all artists are cut out for that and that’s perfectly okay. Many memorable characters have been made with relatively small screen time. I just need to be connected to the role. I’m really loving this new role. The characters attributes not far from my own but the character exists in a world that is a vastly different time and place. That is the exciting part to try and get inside their perspective. What news did they hear daily? What did they talk about daily? Fears? Dreams? Technology? Music? I really do love period pieces.
I’m going to wrap this up maybe make a few biz calls. Sushi is on deck for tonight. Do support your favorite local restaurants or they might disappear. I think with our Covid numbers getting better, vaccines rolling and politics fading from center stage we can all get back to our passions. How many hours have been stolen? Glued to the TV News, emotional mudslinging and just anxiety of the future. You’ll get there. After touching base with news that delivers with your garnish of choice – turn it off. I recommend pulling out those old albums. Blue Oyster Cult, Public Enemy, Bowie, Rolling Stones, KISS, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Grand Funk Railroad, Heart, Beastie Boys, Moody Blues, Bob Marley…MUSIC! And create…
Also make sure 1-2 of your calls daily, yes calls, not texts. This last year I hated the lockdowns but I caught up with and spoke to all kinds of old friends. I’m still working my way down mental lists. Laughter is the key and I have great laughs daily. Sometimes hearing funny new stories and other times talking of past funny situations. But make those calls and laugh. I see so many people angry about what they cannot, and in some cases, should not, try to control. MUSIC + FRIENDS+ LAUGHTER = BALANCE. Try it! You’ll be happy that you did. Until we speak again next week be good to one another.
DJ
Driving from Development Toward Pre-Production
It’s once again a morning where we awoke to big flakes of falling snow. We are suppose to have several such days this week. I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking the state of the Union. My feeling is that once we get to the other side of this Covid and political election, we can start the healing. I’m happy that the vaccine is rolling out and that the most vulnerable are starting to get their first shot. I’m excited to gather in groups again to laugh, share and create. We’ve continued to move forward against all the opposing forces at work and I’m excited about where we’re going. I’ll leave the politics by saying I sincerely wish for a peaceful transition. I wish this new administration only the best just like the previous administration. As a life-long team-sport playing individual I hope that the sportsmanship between the parties gets better. When politics fixate on just tearing down the other party, the people lose. Coffee cheers to unity as we move into 2021.
The last two weeks I’ve worked with our upcoming director Anthony Hornus (director of MBF) on the transfer of script. By this I mean the transfer of understanding of each character, description and dialog. Many scenes were re-worked, tweaked and polished. We use that time to discuss production aspects, casting ideas and more. This is a development phase activity bordering on pre-production. The difference is funding and while we are almost a full ahead we’re also not quite there. But, I think by the end of this month we’ll be making that announcement. We’ll go full into locations, casting and key crewing at that point. This project will shoot in Iowa and so it’s looking at flights vs drive in’s and such. We’ve got some good experience at bringing the show as we did to Yuma, AZ three times. It takes a supportive community to tell a story at these smaller budgets. But I’m happy to report that is exactly what we have. Between our backers, distributor, the Iowa community and our on-going sponsors, once again we’ll tell a powerful story. This one made better because it’s based on a true event. The script will likely start going out to producers today or tomorrow.
Also coming at the end of the week just as I hit my limit for the day was the 1st rough edit of BEST YEARS GONE. Monday morning, I plan to watch the edit in full with good audio Real audio work doesn’t start until we lock the picture. This cut will start to be worked by editor and director to work toward that lock. I did watch the film in pieces on my phone with low audio. It’s exciting as the writer to see the characters and story come to life. As an actor it’s amazing to see a character you lived with come to life with all the other characters. My co-star Erika Hoveland, is so powerful and it was a real joy to tell this story with her. But the other quirky characters Mandy, Tinker, Jed, the Pats in our story, really make it for me. Dean Teaster had me laughing out loud watching. You all will see later this year when the film releases. We’re also going to start rolling out some of the official screenshots. Also we’ll be launching some fun merchandise dealing with this fine film. This project gave me confidence in what our great team can do even when faced with new challenges.
LOST HEART keeps rolling out and the fan mail keeps coming in thanking CDI for bringing some a heartwarming story to the screen. Launching this film in 2020 is also something we’re very proud of including the event filming. Here is the PRE and POST party if you have not seen them yet. They give some great insight to what the #tribeCDI is all about. Watch below and if you have not seen the film please do – would you believe it deals with BigFoot, UFO’s and more?
THE QUEST TRILOGY – As Easter lies ahead, many are enjoying the unique and fresh approach to these biblical stories. Here is a trailer for the trilogy of films. These parables are meant to tell a story and encourage us to live treating one another better. You can take these films as gospel or as just a good story with a lesson. Either way, they are an honest, respectful look at these stories minus any agenda save to tell a good story. The Bible is full of good stories and I appreciate all the fan mail from the worldwide audiences who took something from them. Watch them. You just might enjoy the story.
WILD FAITH/HASTINGS – The pilot feature film Wild Faith and the developing TV series ‘Hastings’ – we have some great battle plans being drawn up on this TV series. A few of our proposed directors and returning cast are reading the scripts for season 1. We have our ideal window to shoot but if we can pull this all together in that ideal window is unknown. We are undertaking something new and we’re also dealing with a world dealing with new challenges. But, the prep remains the same and at this point all development strengthens the endeavor. Each week that passes Wild Faith grows a larger audience. Just using our distributors streaming platform ENCOURAGE TV – Wild Faith has grown 80k viewers per week for 11 months now totaling over 3.5 million viewers. That is if only one person watched the film. My point is that as every week passes, the audiences are helping us to launch. I know that all the artists involved would love to revisit Hastings and the stories of Emmett and his family.
Thank you to all the fans out there. I could share more updates but I want to get after a few things today. The fans of MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND have also been letting their voices be heard. I’m thrilled that everyone is enjoying the stories and we’ll be working hard to make sure that continues. Every day work on the stuff you can control and don’t let your mental or physical time be wasted on what you cannot control.
Happy Sunday to you all. Be good to one another.
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
Event Links, Interviews, Film Updates and Seasonal Thoughts…
Good morning. I’m sitting here sipping the coffee and writing to all of you. I want to thank all our readers from around the world stopping by to touch base. I appreciate all the artists out there taking the time to stop by and share a few moments of their Sunday. I’ve been still doing lots of film work on the developing, post flow and and release and PR aspects. I have a few podcast interviews I’ve agreed to do. Here is a recent one. Isaac has been a long time friend and his “mission” is positive content.
What I try to explain is that at CDI we are not tailoring any film to FIT any particular audience save the age rating that we keep in mind. You don’t want to F-BOMB all over your PG film. I’m a lover of colorful language at times and I enjoy R -Rated entertainment. Sometimes it helps the story and sometimes it is just too much for my taste. Despite my start in horror films which I still love, I’ve always been more about atmosphere and mood vs slash and gore. I have several friends who that is their passion. I’ve reached a place where I enjoy the consistent flow of fan mail that says how this film or that film has helped them. As a writer I’ve really grown to enjoy those moments that ultimately teach us something good, bad or ugly. So bottom line we’re beyond grateful for the acceptance by the “faith film genre” but our films about faith – “those strong in faith, those lacking faith, finding faith, seeking faith, losing faith and holding on to what they have.”
Our films are for everyone to invoke tears, laughter and offer a different perspective through filters we all share. Moments of entertainment and escape from our own lives and to have a few message gems hidden within. The 50 year old me also loves not being up all night in a dirty location, covered in corn syrup (blood) which bugs LOVE by the way. Showing up on a western town set with a cup of coffee wearing a low hanging gun rig is a lot cooler to my body clock. I truly enjoy that after years of bringing other peoples stories to screen I’m finally getting my own stories told. And they are touching people and giving them hope and new understanding. I told someone in a meeting yesterday I’ve never been more proud to be a storyteller. I use to say that if we made a bad scene nobody dies on an operating table but we do have the ability to help many, many people. We’re still trying to pull the numbers in from our 2 day showing of LOST HEART on Encourage TV. We know it exceeded 30k views maybe as high as 100k and the beautiful notes followed.
I’m not so much into “shocking” people these days. If there is any shock I want to give fans/audiences is that person who watches Paul Landings in MBF: Man’s Best Friend and says “Is that DJ Perry?” that feels good. That film on Encourage TV (This is a paid by ads site where audiences can watch free w/ ads) but MBF is climbing to 700k watches and this is one stream. Our distributor monetizes dozens of streams and foreign territories. I’m excited to see all these films travel. The holidays are exciting because that is when families and friends watch films. And in these times of few recreational choices these stories are being watched more and more. I guess I just want to say thank you. To all the fans that have been with me since I was running bloody IN THE WOODS (Me as Rookie firefighter with Jim Grulich – fighting monsters) * Amazon Prime – to my newfound fans from playing Jesus in The Quest Trilogy, Ben Lily, Niles Cass, Paul and most recently the character study known as ‘Gil Gilles’ in BEST YEARS GONE now in post-production.
I’m going to ask you all to explore our films. Each one is truly hand crafted. You can tell the artists care about the stories. That has been true since the early days. You can see so much heart in Jeff Kennedy’s HEAVEN’S NEIGHBORS – a beautiful PG-13 film that we placed too heavy of swearing into for our audience. I told you I like colorful language at times. A live and learn in many ways. Followed by FIGURE IN THE FOREST also directed by Jeff Kennedy which was a beautiful story led by Dean Teaster who many know from our recent films. These have been pressed into a 2 DVD “Classic CDI Collection” and I’m exploring talks of uprezing as these were made in the SD (standard def) days. For next year we do plan on releasing KNIGHT CHILLS and FROM VENUS the first two films from CDI that was our playing with the horror and comedy genres. It is nice to have existing copies of these films. Thank you to those that have purchased.
PICK THIS UP AND SEE WHERE WE STARTED FROM-
But lets give a run down on a few of the current films-
ASHES OF EDEN – If you’re excited about BEST YEARS GONE recently filmed – directed by Shane Hagedorn – check out his first collaboration w/ CDI. It stars Melissa Anschutz and you’ll see many of the #TribeCDI – I play a lovable drug dealer named Donnie:) It is a great story that premiered to a 600 person crowd at the CCFF to a standing ovation. Shane is great at weaving emotional scenes and it shows in this earlier effort. Check it out free on Amazon Prime, Encourage TV likely Tubi and Pluto TV. Here is the teaser!
I LOVE the new campaign underway for THE QUEST TRILOGY – they are told in this 3 fold story that starts in the present, falls back to the past and leaps to the future. The thread in the three films is the Devil and the Angels which makes this a unique story. It explores the possible effect of all these events from the perspective of the angels serving and fallen. Please do take a watch on FORTY NIGHTS, CHASING THE STAR and THE CHRIST SLAYER. Happy Holidays! Leave your comments on the IMDB, Amazon pages and/or to me here.
WILD FAITH – We are aggressively in talks with a few parties about bringing back the Murphy family and friends from WILD FAITH in a TV series currently titled HASTINGS. I have written the first season consisting of eight forty-four minute shows. I’m looking at a few ways to put this together business-wise. I had a few “first right of refusal” situations not legally but by using good business fairness. I had a very productive talk this weekend that might give us the results we are looking for. The pilot feature WILD FAITH shows what a powerful world was created and these ongoing stories strengthen and carry forth the evolution of these beloved characters. The bad news is that I’ve been enjoying the lack of facial hair and soon I might have to start that walk back towards Ben Lily. I guess I could do that.
MBF: MAN’S BEST FRIEND – To answer a few fan questions – there is no immediate plan to do a sequel to MBF but never say never. Someone else asked if I had my eye on any action films. I still like films that are heavy on character drama and include action vs an action genre film. But do I have a Bruce Willis DIE HARD like movie in me? Giddy Up!
PS: There is a chance that MBF might play at the Capital City Film Festival Drive In Event since it was scheduled to play before the shut down and was nominated.
LOST HEART – A beacon of light and laughter that has been expanding across the USA and the world. I think the UK is getting to travel to Lost Heart. Our beautiful state of Michigan is giving a wonderful peek to the world. I haven’t gotten any real ‘Niles Cass’ fan mail, shadowed by that Josh Perry, love you buddy:) …but I’ve received many messages from viewers expressing their love of the story and characters. It brought them some comfort in these different and for many difficult times.
A few asked about the EVENT on ENCOURAGE TV. They are also playing the Cast & Crew Event – Enjoy!
PRE-PARTY FOR ‘LOST HEART’
The AFTER GLOW
The thing is I feel blessed by all the good things abound. I’ve always worked diligent and consistent as I find that gets bests results. Starting, Finishing and everything in between. I’m starting to develop a need for some breakfast although lunch is creeping up too.
WRAP UP:
We’ll be back in action finishing the filming on FOR THE LOVE OF CATCH doc film first of the year. We have some exciting merchandise conversations happening. We’ll be pulling the paperwork together on the WW2 film SILENT NIGHT IN ALGONA early in 2021. Just take this time of holiday reflection to plan the upcoming year. What did you do that you want to repeat? What did you do that you want to remove? We’re all a work-in-progress and we can change our course with a handful of decisions. Be the change you want to see. Don’t worry about changing others just allow yourself to be a living example. Show people you are not lip service by leading by actions. Less talk and more self action. This holiday season be mindful to people and animals less fortunate and in need.
Enjoy the season.
DJ
‘Best Years Gone’ Premiere Info, ‘Silent Night in Algona’ Updates and more…
Good morning and welcome to all our past readers and new readers from Italy, China, France and more. I’ve not gotten into the coffee just yet but might have to take a pause to do that. It has been a whirlwind of activity as we work to finish a few projects and start a few new ones. I have had much to ponder the last week some positive and some negative (for others). Much of it stems from communication and professionalism and timeliness. If you get an email as part of a work flow process you should confirm that the communication was received. If you receive an offer and you are busy you should touch back and let the sending party know that you are busy but can address their communication shortly or at a certain date. If anyone is offering you work even if it (schedule or rate) doesn’t meet your current expectations, politely pass. Adding attitude or commentary that is negative is also foolish as a person could ruin any future opportunities and in several circles. It’s again why we at CDI are all about development of good attitude people. Feature film isn’t for everyone and some work better in short format. Anyway we are almost all crewed up. The cast is also getting down to our last few actors. We’ve started rolling out announcements on the German actors and we’re about to go scout in Algona with our main producer team and director. Let’s do a TOP TEN updates this week.
This week also included a great soccer match, some yard zen, hops are almost ready to harvest. The garden has been putting forth veggies and the egg laying ladies are keeping at it. We had a Perry reunion this weekend and it’s nice to touch base with folks and we had some great food. This cooler weather is so much nicer than the humid heat. I know what lies around the corner. Today we’re going to the flea market and see if I can take a few items off the ‘Algona’ prop list.
This week will be a short pack for the ‘Algona’ scout trip and also resume talks with sponsors, vendors and final castings. End of the month I want to see paperwork start to go under cast and crew. We are almost ready to begin doing that. Once we get back on the 23rd from scouting we’ll start that process in earnest. I’m going to tag this up and upload it – I hope:)
Until next week when I update you all from Algona, Iowa – be safe and work hard.
DJ
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August 15, 2021 | Categories: Blogroll | Tags: actors, Algona, attitude, BEST YEARS GONE, Bestseller, Bigfoot UFOS Jesus, blog, blogger, cars, cast, castings, China, coffee, commentary, communication, crew, eggs, flea, For the Love of Catch, France, German, harvest, Hastings, HD, hops, Italy, Lost Heart, MBF, MBF: Man's Best Friend, music video, Perry, props, racing, Romas, scout, Silent Night in Algona, Smoke & Mirrors, sponsors, streaming, The Quest Trilogy, TV, vendors, Vertical Bridge, Wicked Spring, Wild Faith | Leave a comment