Erik Moe is obsessed with high-school hockey. He lives in the Los Angeles area, the creative director for an advertising company, but he's brought his Wisconsin-bred insanity with him; his agency even has a Wisconsin-high-school-hockey office pool.

And that unhealthy fixation has led to the movie No Sleep 'Til Madison, which will be shown next week at the Quad Cities Brew & View as part of the MidCoast Film & Arts Festival. Moe was co-writer, co-director, and executive producer of the amiable comedy. David Fleer co-directed, and Peter Rudy co-wrote and co-directed.

The film stars comedian Jim Gaffigan as Owen Fenby, a 30-year-old who is "an embodiment of our obsession with high-school hockey," Moe said. Owen must choose between his girlfriend and hockey, and it doesn't take a genius to guess which one he chooses. The movie is a combination of guy flick, road movie, and journey of self-discovery. "It has a total mainstream sensibility," Moe said.

The film was written in 1999 and shot in 22 days in early 2000. It started making the festival rounds in 2002, Moe said. The movie has been well-received, in part because it stands out from the crowd of downbeat indies. Although some women get dragged kicking and screaming to this "guy movie," Moe reports that women sometimes enjoy the flick more than men. "The story is there, and the performances are there," he said.

No Sleep 'Til Madison was made for "well, well under $500,000," Moe said, although he didn't want to give a figure because of a possible distribution deal. He and his partners formed an LLC and sold shares to 15 investors, including friends and family. "It was enough [money] to get us started," Moe said.

The filmmakers also cut a deal in which they paid no money up-front for music and editing facilities; they will get paid out of the distribution deal. "With this new deal, we can really hope to break even," Moe said.

Although it was their first movie, the filmmakers decided to start with something feature-length, rather than a short. "We thought it was more marketable," he said. In addition, "the story we had in mind was bigger than a short."

One lesson they've learned is that movie studios won't touch independent pictures unless they have a name attached that people will recognize. "You have to have a famous lead actor," Moe said. And we're not talking about Steve Martin famous. Steve Guttenberg will do.

Although you won't see No Sleep 'Til Madison in theatres, Moe hopes that it will help he and his friends move up the filmmaking ladder - to "go to the next level of studio people." The movie, like many first features, could work as a stepping stone to get its makers access to well-known actors and, as a result, possible studio financing and distribution.

The principals in No Sleep have moved on to other things. Co-writer and co-director Rudy is working on a script called The Real Doll - about a person who falls in love with a sex doll. Moe has completed a short film and is working on a script called American Monster, about the man who built a monster - the Rhinelander Hodag - as a marketing tool for northern Wisconsin timberland.

Moe considers himself a writer first and a director second, but the latter role is still important. He's had several television pilots made from his scripts and wasn't happy with how they were treated by other directors. He said he considers directing a way "to protect your scripts. ... I don't aspire to be a director for hire."

Moe envisions American Monster with a budget of $1.5 million, but "if someone gave me $200,000, I think I could do it for that," he said. Money wasn't a consideration in writing the first few drafts, he added, but recent versions of the script have pared down the scope, to "bring it into a world where we could make it happen."

Of course, to make American Monster, Moe wants to have that Hollywood name lined up. And Moe and his friends did meet Steve Guttenberg at the Newport Beach Film Festival, where the star of the Police Academy movies also had a film being screened. Someone came over to them and said the magic words: "Mr. Guttenberg would like to meet you guys."

No Sleep 'Til Madison will be screened at 11:15 p.m. on Friday, October 24, and at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at the Quad Cities Brew & View in The District of Rock Island. Admission is $7 per screening for adults and $5 for students. For more information, visit (http://www.midcoast.org).

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