Elmwood, Wis. is famous for its UFO sightings and associated festival, but it’s also home to an indie filmmaker who has big pie in the sky dreams. Michael Butt’s latest film, “Withdrawal,” will premiere at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Red Wing Cinema 8 theatre.

Butt, a Plum City native and UW-River Falls graduate, describes “Withdrawal” as comedy science fiction. It tells the story of how America has fallen in love with a new miracle drug called Rejunapril, which makes everyone feel great. When it’s taken off the market due to unseen side effects, the withdrawal symptoms lead to violence and societal breakdown, Butt said. An aging hippie named Pete, who doesn’t like pharmaceuticals to begin with, is kicked out of his house by his old lady, which forces him to reconnect with his survivalist stepson Boyd, who also despises pharmaceuticals.

“When society breaks down, can the two of them survive in the same tent without driving each other crazy? The two of them end up escaping to the woods together, kind of an odd couple scenario,” Butt said. “It’s comedy science fiction. It’s not flying through space, but 5-10 years in the future.”

The idea for his latest motion picture came to him thanks to TV’s saturation of drug ads, such as Jardiance, Wegovy, etc.

“If you turn on your TV, 1 in 3 commercials are going to be a drug or a lawyer asking if you have taken a drug,” Butt said. “This is like the new ‘beware of radiation’ thing in my mind. No one’s really talking about it. The pharma companies have gone nuts with these commercials. We should be aware of this and what’s happening. The film is about the possibility of what could happen if we don’t keep things in check.”

When Butt created his production company More-on Productions, he wanted to create 1950s style drive-in movies, complete with monsters and things like radiation that cause bugs to become gigantic.

“I’m like Mel Brooks with less budget and more modern technology,” Butt said. “I am an alternate reality of American filmmaking that branched off in the 1960s and 1970s when drive-in movies were still being made. If they were still being made today, I’d be one of them.”

Butt said he’s been described as the second coming of Ed Wood, an infamous B-movie director.

“But that’s a little unfair because I’m a little better at pictures than he is,” Butt said. “I have the luxury of having digital cameras and not having to spend thousands of dollars on film to redo a shot.”

Butt became involved in filmmaking after taking a directing course at UW-River Falls at the same time he was taking a videography for journalism course. He studied both theater arts and journalism.

“I put the two together and said ‘I can do this,’” Butt said.

After watching the comedy horror film “Planet Terror,” directed by Robert Rodriguez in the same vein of drive-in style movies that Butt likes, he wrote “Vampire Ticks From Outer Space” while he was in college. That winter, he became inspired by an old Big Foot movie that takes place at a resort, which inspired “Yetis.”

“Both films ended up slightly over an hour and I released them on a DVD as a double feature where I put them on eBay and sold a couple here and there,” Butt said. “I was kind of sad because I didn’t know what else to do with it at the time.”

As luck would have it, a drummer from the Milwaukee-based horror punk band Ratbatspider bought a copy of the DVD and asked Butt if he could write a song about the films. He connected Butt with horror hosts Deadgar Winter and Dr. Destruction’s Midnight Theater, based in the Milwaukee/Kenosha area, who agreed to show Butt’s movies. This in turn introduced Butt’s work to other horror hosts, who feature his work on their own shows. A horror host is a broadcasting format (think Elvira) that’s been around since the 50s in which the host, usually a zany character, introduces a B horror movie to the audience.

“I reached an audience across the US with ‘Cosmic Blast’ in 2018 or 2019. Now I’m hopefully going to go a little more pro, like actually getting a budget for the next film that I’m going to make. It’s not just me finding talented people and sticking them together with thin-air resources,” Butt said.

Red Wing Cinema 8 has shown other More-on Productions films, including “The Woods is Cursed” and its sequel “This Book is Cursed,” both cult hits in their genre. Both were good moneymakers for the theater, Butt said.

“Withdrawal” features 15 cast members and is directed and written by Butt. He used to hold auditions for his films, but since he’s had more exposure, people have sought him out wanting to be featured in his projects, he said. “Withdrawal” features two horror hosts, Kate Holm and Shanta Pasika, plus others.

Butt already has a storyboard worked out for his next project, called “A Cup of Trouble.” The budget will allow for sound and camera technicians, if his plan goes well.

“It’s going to be a buddy roadtrip movie and hearken a lot from the 1970s and 2000s roadtrip movies with a touch of horror and scifi,” Butt said. “This time I’m partnering with some other people in the industry and working with an actual budget. Instead of borrowing tons of money and relying solely on investors, I’m going to try to incorporate product placements all throughout the motion picture. My dream is to get Burger King on board. I always loved them as a kid.”

A lot of filmmaking is sadly money-related, Butt said. Having an advertising budget makes films more marketable to theaters and studios.

If he ever hits the big-time, Butt has his “pie in the sky” dreams laid out.

“I would love to buy a derelict factory or an old school and create a studio and hopefully I’ll be able to sell some people on a television show that is going to be half ‘Fallout’ and half ‘Gilligan’s Island,’” he said. “Comedy with good morals but entertaining for adults as well. We need good wholesome entertainment in this country. There’s nothing that bridges the gap anymore between little kids and gore.

“I want to bring back practical effects, love and care in motion pictures. A lot of them are some group of people somewhere more interested in making money than telling a story.”

Maybe someday he’ll be in his own studio, such as the New Line Cinema of the 1990s, where he can look through submissions and help other would-be filmmakers realize their dreams.

“I want to make a place where creativity can live and grow, where decency and humor are the name of the game more than explosions and CGI.”

To see more of Butt’s work, visit www.more-onproductions.weebly.com or find him on YouTube.