LANSING, Mich. -
April 7, 2025 -
PRLog -- Development meetings led filmmaker DJ Perry to kick out a script born of frustration. With audiences leaning into silly romantic comedies and mindless horror getting distributors to take the high road is getting more difficult. Stories with unique plots and sincere character development are dying a slow death like theaters themselves. Add in a dose of stereotypical actor traits and a dash of desperation as many artists fear the AI take-over and you have
Rom Coms Must Die. The film is about two odd filmmakers willing to do almost anything to get their second film launched after their first film was a flop.
DJ Perry is the CEO of Collective Development Inc. (CDI) who as an actor started in the horror genre. Two of his early works
In the Woods and
Knight Chills have been remastered to HD and re-released. DJ has had a career that included a faithful audience in the horror genre with films like
Darkest Night shot in the Philippines,
Karma: Crime, Passion, Reincarnation shot in India. And a slew of US based films
Bestseller, American Liar, Blood Ties, Deadly Renovations, GPS, and
The 8th Plague to name a few. But the last two decades have been dedicated to more westerns and historic dramas such as
Dean Teaster's Ghost Town, Wild Faith and The Quest Trilogy (Forty Nights, Chasing the Star, The Christ Slayer). But
Rom Coms Must Die marks a glorious return to the genre.
The above mentioned
Forty Nights was the first time Travis Hayward worked with the CDI camera team. He worked his way up to Director of Photography on several CDI features including the soon to release
Harsens Island Revenge and
Wild Faith Christmas. On his own he has been directing shorts and winning awards preparing for his opportunity. Travis Hayward was offered that director's seat opportunity on
Rom Coms Must Die. To allow Travis to focus on directing the director of photography duties went to John McGraw with McGraw Multimedia taking over the crew duties. The film just picture wrapped and now is in post-production.
DJ Perry stars with Adam C. Towner (Lot Lizard) in his first co-starring role in a feature film. Several newcomers like Graham Turner, Shawn Davis, Dane DeFord and Amber Keilen worked side-by-side onscreen with seasoned talent such as Dean Teaster (An Ordinary Killer), Melissa Anschutz (Malicious), Shane Hagedorn (Ashes of Eden), Anthony Hornus (Dog), Taylor Dupuis (Lost Heart), Michael Wayne Walton (Reptile), Curran Jacobs (Silent Night in Algona), David Gries (Still), Nicholas Griffy (The Wildman of Shaggy Creek), K.S. Young-Burch (Sunshine Circle) and Bill Vincent (The Evil Dead).
The film plans to release a first trailer soon!
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