Dopamine (2003)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Mark Decena

Writers:

Timothy Breitbach (writer)
Mark Decena (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A San Franciscan computer animator (Livingston) falls in love with one his creations in the days after the dot.com boom.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Artificial Intelligence | Adoption | Independent Film | Title Spoken By Character

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

John Livingston	...	Rand
Sabrina Lloyd	...	Sarah McCaulley
Bruno Campos	...	Winston
Rueben Grundy	...	Johnson
Kathleen Antonia	...	Tammy
Nicole Wilder	...	Machiko
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ian Berzon	...	Moving man
Timothy Breitbach	...	Mike the bartender
Ivan Kraljevic	...	Sleazy Guy
Wanda McCaddon	...	Margie
William Windom	...	Rand's father
Dennis Yen	...	Toru
Christa Bella	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Alan Draven	...	Straggler (uncredited)
Donn Andrew Simmons	...	Guy on Date at Museum (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Decena

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Timothy Breitbach		writer
Mark Decena		writer

Produced by
Brian Benson	....	co-producer
Timothy Breitbach	....	co-producer
Debbie Brubaker	....	producer
Liz Decena	....	co-producer
Tad Fettig	....	producer
Christopher James Hall	....	line producer
Eric Koivisto	....	executive producer
Chris Miller	....	post-production producer: Visionbox Media Group
Andrew Jon Thomson	....	producer: behind the scenes

Original Music by
Eric Holland

Cinematography by
Robert Humphreys

Film Editing by
Jessica Congdon

Casting by
Gillian O'Neill

Production Design by
S. Quinn

Art Direction by
Joe Schlick

Set Decoration by
Lisa Clark

Costume Design by
Jennifer Power
Deirdre Scully

Makeup Department
Gretchen Davis	....	key makeup artist
Gretchen Davis	....	makeup supervisor
Nicole Sofios	....	makeup assistant
Lisa Zomer	....	hair department head
Lisa Zomer	....	makeup department head

Production Management
Christopher James Hall	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
D. Cole Berry	....	second assistant director
Gino Caputi	....	second assistant director
Kiran Gonsalves	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Tanem Davidson	....	storyboard artist
Sean House	....	specialty props
Patrick Ludden	....	property master
Annie Mueller	....	assistant property master
Alfred Leslie Pollard	....	construction coordinator

Sound Department
Bob Gitzen	....	sound
Scott G.G. Haller	....	sound editor
Eric Holland	....	sound design supervisor
Etina Hom	....	boom operator
Howard London	....	adr mixer
Brad North	....	sound effects editor
Peter Persaud	....	foley recordist

Visual Effects by
Christopher Batty	....	digital artist
David Brandt	....	animator: Koy Koy
Derek Fisher	....	digital artist
John Hays	....	animation supervisor: Koy Koy sequences

Camera and Electrical Department
Rebecca Bauscher	....	still photographer
Mike Booth	....	additional electrician
Joe Bourguignon	....	electrician
Chris Lindsay	....	gaffer
Andrea Miraglia	....	assistant camera
Rob Muthamia	....	first assistant camera
Sean Prichard	....	best boy grip
Kerry Sweeney	....	best boy electric

Casting Department
Kiki Goshay	....	extras casting
Nina Henninger	....	location casting
Sarah Kliban	....	location casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joslyn Lawrence	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Sam Dlugach	....	final colorist
Jonathan Miller	....	post-production services (uncredited)

Music Department
Mads Heldtberg	....	musician
Eric Holland	....	music supervisor
Jonathan McHugh	....	music supervisor
Mike Morasky	....	musician: guitar

Transportation Department
Bundy Chanock	....	transportation coordinator
Adam M. Dunne-De'Coligny	....	transportation captain
Stephanie Olliffe	....	driver

Other crew
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic
Jeff Dowd	....	producer's representative (as Jeff 'The Dude' Dowd)
Terry L. James	....	digital film transfer
Nancy Ellen Jones	....	location manager
Heather McCann	....	additional production coordinator
Angela Mixan	....	production coordinator
Roger Udwin	....	assistant production coordinator

Thanks
Curtiss Clayton	....	special thanks
Jennifer Sanderson	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Kontent Films

Distributors

• Mongrel Media (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Indies Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sundance Channel Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Sundance Channel (200?) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Visionbox Media Group  post-production supervision and services

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexuality and brief drug use.

Runtime:

79 min | 85 min (Sundance Channel Library Print) (dvd release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:AL | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bay Area, San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Kontent Films

Quotes:

Sarah McCaulley: Have you ever been in love?
Rand: No, but I've seen it. My parents totally crazy about each other.
Sarah McCaulley: Then why are you such a cynic?
Rand: Well I've also seen it disappear all together as it were never there at all.

Soundtrack:

Slow Twisting

A sweet exploration of the questions of love in the scientifically aware post-modern era.

I saw Dopamine at Sundance and I loved it. It was the first movie, to my knowlege that delved into how all humans are chemically programmed from birth, and how awareness of this can take the magic out of life and of love. The question is: Can we overcome our programming. Should we even try? The pitfall for this kind of topic, is usually the story gets bogged down with details and science, but that is not the case here. The characters are all extremely believable. You care for them and they make you laugh as well. Mark Decena did a wonderful job of creating a very good cast to deal with the script and the production value is very good. I was really blown away by the use of the High Definition video format because it looked beautiful. There are no explosions, no huge crane shots, just a tight, unique story that poses new questions about a classic topic, love. Ryan