A Major Life Segue Via . . . Segway

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.

This is where the Segway comes in.

See, Weeks and Caldwell wanted to be filmmakers (ahhh, the point!); they were just looking for something to make the movie about. A college friend suggested the Segway, the two-wheeled electric personal scooter that's still a curious transportation method, despite having been introduced in 2001.

It would be a publicity stunt, sure, but Weeks and Caldwell settled on a cross-country journey by Segway, which maxes out at a zippy 12.5 mph.

Caldwell rode, Weeks filmed and their Seattle-to-Boston trip -- 4,064 miles at about 10 mph on a route of mostly back roads -- took more than 100 days. (A complicating factor: Segway's batteries offer about an hour of riding time, and then need eight hours to recharge.)

Tuesday, the resulting movie, "10 MPH," released on DVD this spring, will roll into the E Street theater for a one-night screening as part of a national tour. The filmmakers will be on hand for a Q&A.

The movie is about their emotional journey as much as their physical one. Since completing it, they've managed to stay out of the rat race. Their second movie is in the pipeline (it's about fantasy football). Says Weeks, by phone from a tour stop in Wisconsin: "The 9-to-5 thing is definitely out the window."

They're filmmakers now.

$6.75-$9.50. 7 p.m. Tuesday. Landmark's E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. 202-452-7672 or http://www.10mph.com.