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Actor Jeff Daniels has appeared in 30 feature films including "Dumb and Dumber," "The Purple Rose of Cairo," "Speed," "101 Dalmatians," "Pleasantville," "Arachnaphobia," and the recent television mini-series, "The Crossing," where he played George Washington leading his men across the Delaware. Pretty impressive resume for a guy from a tiny Midwest farming community. Like a lot of kids from small towns, Daniels took off for the big city when he decided he wanted to be an actor. But, after 10 years of film and stage acting in New York and LA, in 1988 Jeff brought his family back home to Chelsea, a modest southeastern Michigan community probably best known as the home of Jiffy Mix. When Jeff moved back to the Midwest, people said he'd lose his career. Hasn't happened. People said that if he founded a theater company in Chelsea, an hour's drive away from Detroit, it would flop. Daniels' Purple Rose Theater is flourishing. Jeff Daniels has got talent, but he also has guts. Not only did he found the Purple Rose Theater Company, but then Jeff began writing plays, and performing them with local talent, filling the house, night after night. Another success! Jeff's next step was to create a production company, Purple Rose Films. For his first film, he chose one of his plays, "Escanaba in da Moonlight," a comedy set in an upper peninsula Michigan deer camp, and transformed it into a feature film -- which he has written, directed, and starred in. Speaking with Jeff recently, he told me that no one in Hollywood wanted to fund a movie set in a Michigan deer camp, so he went out and raised $1.5 million from people in Michigan. Many of the investors were people who have seen "Escanaba in da Moonlight" performed as a play, first at Jeff's Purple Rose Theater, or at the Gem Theater in Detroit, where it continues to play to enthusiastic sell-out crowds; the longest-running play in Detroit history according to the Detroit Free Press. "It's basically the story of five people in a deer camp," Jeff explained. "The lead character is Reuben Soady (played by Jeff), who is 43 and has never shot a buck, so he's a 'buckless yooper.' If Ruben doesn't get one this year, he will be the oldest person in the Soady family to not have bagged a buck, except for an uncle who is missing a few screws. His father, Albert, (Harve Presnell) and the others all want to help Ruben break his jinx. As a result, in Albert's Finnish dialect, 'Dat year camp was as tense as a moose's butt durin' fly season.'" Jeff said, "I've described it as 'Jeremiah Johnson' meets 'Dumb and 'Dumber, but 'Escanaba in da Moonlight' is basically a hero's journey, where Reuben is guided by his Indian wife, 'Hawk Moon,' (Kimberly Norris Guerro), who is a better shot. It's not just about deer hunting, it's a spiritual quest with hunting as a metaphor." "Comedy gives us license to be outrageous," Daniels told me with a chuckle. "Escanaba in da Moonlight," has its outrageous moments -- a father-son counseling session in a two-holer outhouse, a 10-minute fart joke, porcupine urine as a cover scent, visitations from aliens and spirits of ancient hunters, and a wild tavern scene. Jeff, however, assures me that ultimately, this is a "heart" picture, that seeks to present a little-seen facet of modern American life. That is certainly true, for the Michigan State Film Office reports the only other film shot in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is "Anatomy of A Murder" in 1959. Jeff says there have been two primary sources of his motivations to write the play: his wife's family, who are ardent hunters and introduced him to their world, and the short stories of John Volker, which appear in his classic collection of Upper Peninsula tales, Johnny and The Boys. Most of the film was shot last March in Escanaba, using a lot of locals. The music was scored by Alto Reed, sax player from Bob Seeger's Silver Bullet Band. Ted Nugent supplied props for the hunting camp. Jeff assured me that there is no "smell o-vision," which provides odors of scenes in the film. Staying true to his roots, Jeff premiered "Escanaba in da Moonlight" for a sell-out crowd October 22 at Detroit's Fox theater. Daniels then took the film to Escanaba on October 29, for two more sell-out showings at the biggest space in the area -- the 760 seat Chip-In Resort and Casino, owned by the Potawotami Indian tribe. The reviews have been great. Sounds wonderful doesn't it? Finally someone makes a movie with heart about deer hunting. Well, now comes the part where we learn one reason maybe why more hunting movies are not made. In order to get a movie out into the theaters, you need a distributor. As of the end of November, Jeff and his producer, Bob Brown, told me that they have not found one yet. On top of that, film festivals, like the Toronto Film Festival, where Jeff's other pictures, such as "Dumb and Dumber," have premiered, have turned him down. "They seem to be looking for something dark and edgy," Jeff told me. Jeff and Bob are shopping around the globe for a distributor. If there's one out there, please contact the Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea. Stay tuned for developments. If ever they create a giraffe society for people who stick their necks out, Jeff Daniels should be a charter member.