DOPAMINE

Year: 2003
USA: Sundance Channel
Cast: John Livingston, Sabrina Lloyd, Bruno Campos, Reuben Grundy, Kathleen Antonia, Nicole Wilder, Ivan Kraljevic
Director: Mark Decena
Country: USA
USA: 79 mins
USA Rated: R for language, sexuality and brief drug use
USA Release Date: 10 October 2003


Synopsis

Rand's (John Livingston) start-up company, Emerge, is a long time partnership with two good friends, Johnson (Rueben Grundy) and Winston (Bruno Campos). As the economic climate clamps down, they are forced by their venture capital investors to 'test' their product's synchronicity with the perceived target market: kids.

That night, drinking in a bar, lamenting their predicament, Rand and Winston meet Sarah (Sabrina Lloyd) for the first time. Even though sparks fly for Rand, it is Winston who makes the alpha dog move. Unbeknownst to Rand, Sarah goes home with Winston for a one-night stand, further complicating the future.

Ironically, it is Sarah's school and classroom that the investors have lined up as the beta testing lab. For Winston, it is a blatant reminder of a bad night. For Rand, it is the opportunity for his attraction to be analyzed, catalogued and evaluated. For Sarah, it is an embarrassing reminder of her actions but the catalyst to all she believes.

As Rand and Sarah begin their own unusual courtship dance, they find their toes continually getting stepped on, but they have an unconscious hope that their own lack of harmony is due only to a poor sense of timing. Will they find the love they are both searching for and will Rand and Winston's dotcom company survive?

San Francisco has historically been an epicenter of subcultures in America. With the rise and burst of the dotcom bubble, today is no exception. While there are those who relish in the fall of the greed driven schemes of venture capital funding, there did exist a new optimism that technology would indeed change lives for the better.

DOPAMINE looks at the complexities of finding love when post-modern angst, fate and personal obsessions conspire against you. Ultimately, it is a reminder that in this era of over communication, over information and over analysis, there is still room for blind faith and maybe even true love.