They did it with a great, American Intrepid spirit and a superb sense of humor! Most people won’t ever have an experience like this one. Most people have all kinds of reasons they wouldn’t do such a thing, even if they did manage to think up a unique idea like this one. Josh and Hunter and all of the many, many who got involved stopped making excuses and just did it. Thumbs up, guys. In short, if someone ever does publish Failure Magazine, I can’t imagine Hunter and Josh would qualify for even a mention, let alone the cover!

Read Full Review

Filmmakers Segway out of cubicle life at ‘10 mph’
During the last presidential election, software marketers Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell scooted away from their cubicles and never looked back. Although many people might regard their $60G entry-level jobs a utopian transition from college, the friends couldn’t escape the Arizona company fast enough.

Read the article

Filmmakers Chase Their Dream — on a Segway
Josh Caldwell and Hunter Weeks were bored with their cubicle-farm jobs, making good money but feeling empty and unfulfilled. Like many white-collar workers, they dreamed of a life beyond the veal-fattening pens.

Read the article

In 2004, Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell were living in Phoenix, making money in software and on a fast track to . . . somewhere.
They were also 27 and having something of a quarter-life crisis. They wanted to quit their jobs and the monotony of, you know, income. They had a dream.

Read the article

The Philadelphia Daily News ran one of my favorite articles thus far. Check it out!

Life in the painfully slow lane
Indie film director gives local audience the scoop on ‘10 mph’

Read the article

Segway movie hits speed bumps raised by … the Segway

Read the article

Following your dreams — at 10 MPH

Read the article

It’s a pleasant reminder that some of our best talents are living somewhere between the superspeed, superhighway lives on each coast.

Read the article

Slow Ride
Road movie crawls from Seattle to Boston by Segway. Article also included a plug and photo of Josh on Segway on the front of the paper.

Read the article

Interview: Josh Caldwell and Hunter Weeks
The Onion ran an interview of Josh and Hunter and ran it in several cities, including Denver and Madison, WI.

At The Admiral - ‘10 MPH’ across America starts in West Seattle

Read the article

The filmmakers who came through town riding a Segway and holding a camera in 2004 are back. This time, Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell are bringing a finished documentary about their cross-country Segway odyssey, “10 MPH.”

Read the article

Go east, young dude
Local documentarians search for the American Dream
By Dale Bridges (buzz@boulderweekly.com) In 1865, newspaper mogul and neck-beard enthusiast Horace Greeley popularized the phrase “Go west, young man!” in a now-famous editorial. This was Greeley’s advice for ambitious males who were chomping at the bit to achieve the American Dream.

Thousands of men and women took Greeley’s words to heart, and, eventually, these strapping, young pioneers traveled all the way to California, where they invented skateboarding and hipsters.

In 2004, Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell decided that they were definitely not living the American Dream that their ancestors had coveted so intensely. They were both working at a software company in Denver at the time, staring listlessly into the abyss of their computer monitors for eight hours a day, five days a week.

“Have you ever seen the movie Office Space?” says Caldwell. “Well, that’s what we did. We worked at Initech.”

Although neither had ever studied filmmaking (Weeks has a degree in political science and Caldwell was a history major), they both shared a passion for cinema.

In May of ‘04, they quit their corporate jobs with intention of making a documentary — although the specifics of the project were fairly vague at that time.

Three months later they were traveling across the country on a two-wheeled contraption known as a Segway at a whopping 10 mph. They took Greeley’s advice, except in reverse, rewinding Manifest Destiny to ascertain if the pioneering spirit was still alive in America. (The answer is, yes, although in forms that you may not expect.)

For those who don’t know, the Segway is an upright human transportation device invented by Dean Kamen, a man who apparently enjoys standing but is adamantly opposed to walking.

“I guess it was the absurdity of taking [the Segway] across country that attracted us to it,” says Caldwell. “It turned out to be really good because everyone was curious about it, and we met a lot of people that way.”

Traveling from Seattle, Wash., to Boston, Mass., the crew was able to film the American landscape from a unique perspective. The documentary moves surprisingly quickly, even if the Segway does not. Caldwell and Weeks keep the story entertaining by introducing the audience to the odd, loveable characters they meet along the way and by demonstrating the financial difficulties of pursuing their passion.

The movie has been shown across the country and has garnered three film-festival awards, including Best Documentary at Boulder’s own Toofy Film Fest.

10 MPH is a quintessentially American story, filled with all the absurdity and tenderness that our country evokes. And these former corporate stooges can hold their heads high, content in the knowledge that Greeley would be proud of their accomplishments.

“We never set out to do anything inspirational,” says Caldwell. “But it’s kind of turned out to be inspirational to some. I’m glad we took the risk.”

On the Bill

10 MPH will play on Aug. 9-12 at Starz FilmCenter, 900 Auraria Pkwy., 303-595-3456.

Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

Newsmaker: Cross-country Segway rider hits film circuit

Read the article

Slow and Steady Wins the Race
10 mph’s Boise unveiling represents your chance to gather, in an hour and a half, what others won’t be able to find in reading a library’s worth of self-help books: the inspiration to change your life.

Read the article

“…a sweet, charming little documentary that provides a lovely look at many parts of America.”

Read Full Review

“…amusingly offbeat documentary…”

Read Full Review

“10 MPH succeeds on many levels. For one, it’s a terrific American travelogue, taking the viewer through small-town charm, purple mountain majesty and the big city’s vibrating pulse. More importantly, it’s an inspiring story about cutting through the stagnancy of 21st-century life to follow your dreams.”

Read Full Review

“Scenic photography and lively side characters make for a diverting trip…”

Read Full Review

“It’s hard not to be drawn in by the film’s good-natured vibe.”

Read Full Review

Hunter and Josh are interviewed by footballguys.com

Listen to Podcast

“…a quirky documentary …”

Read Full Review

“…I loved the parade of Segways at the close of this good-natured documentary. It almost made me stand up and cheer.”-Betty Jo Tucker

Read Full Review

“…amusingly offbeat documentary.”

Read Full Review

Hunter is interviewed by Big Picture Radio. He talks about how to make vital connections, how to self-promote, and the upcoming project he and Josh are working on, a documentary about fantasy football.

Listen to Podcast

“…’10 mph’, with its wit, beckoning shots of splendid landscapes, and impromptu interviews, might have you humming Woody Guthrie, This land is your land, this land is my land.”

Read Full Review

4 of 5 stars

“For the past year, “10mph” has been charming festival audiences around the country …. I’m sure you’ll dig every minute of it. It’s a very calm, quiet ride, but an intensely inspiring one. Many would benefit from checking this film out.”

Full Review

“…it is a very likable film featuring likable people. (I’m looking forward to the next Weeks-Caldwell documentary, about fantasy football.)”

Full Review

Highly Recommended 

…it’s every bit as triumphant touring America as it is extolling the virtues of relishing time and embracing freedom. It’s a lovely little film for anyone who has ever been stuck daydreaming of a life lived on their own terms.

Full Review