Pope Dreams (2006)

Director:

Patrick Hogan

Writer:

Patrick Hogan

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He's dealing with love... fighting with his dad... caring for mom... and making music. What's that got to do with the Pope?

Plot:

A young boy tries to make his dying mother's dream come true while navigating through his love life.

Plot Keywords:

Catholic | Teen | Los Angeles California | Mother Son Relationship | Father Son Relationship

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Phillip Vaden	...	Andy Venable
Marnette Patterson	...	Brady Rossman
Julie Hagerty	...	Kristina Venable
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Carl Venable
Noel Fisher	...	Pete
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Samantha Anderson	...	Heather
Casey Barclay	...	Eric
Jordan Belfi	...	Lucas Bowman
Naleah Dey	...	Juanita Steinberg
Michael Edwin	...	Case Officer
Chris Foreman	...	Zane
Sarah Foret	...	Hannah
Rif Hutton	...	Riff Malloy (as Riff Hutton)
Barbara Lettieri	...	Italian Phone Operator (voice)
Steve Loh	...	Paramedic
Albert-James Motil	...	Priest
Mandy Musgrave	...	Virginia Venable
Larisa Oleynik	...	Maggie Venable
Curtis Porterfield	...	Customer
David Shatraw	...	Joel Rossman
Rex Smith	...	Don Merchant
Robert Stio	...	Store Clerk
Stuart Stone	...	Fox
Karen Zumsteg	...	Janet Venable

Directed by
Patrick Hogan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Patrick Hogan

Produced by
Steve Loh	....	executive producer
Steve Loh	....	producer
Ryan Mintz	....	line producer
Curtis Porterfield	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Joel J. Richard

Cinematography by
John Ealer

Film Editing by
Mae Edwards

Casting by
Carey DiPietro

Production Design by
Nicolas Plotquin

Art Direction by
Chris Minkel

Set Decoration by
Kristina Fuangkasae

Costume Design by
Carol H. Beule

Makeup Department
Donna Cohen	....	assistant makeup artist
Kristy Gomes	....	assistant makeup artist
Kiera Hansen	....	key makeup artist
Hanako Izuoka	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ted Campbell	....	first assistant director
Adriana Cebadamora	....	second assistant director
Reagan Hartman	....	second second assistant director
Keith Jones	....	additional second second assistant director (as Keith C.A. Jones)
Steve Loh	....	second unit director

Art Department
Leo Rodriguez	....	leadman
Peggy Wang	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Dicken Berglund	....	adr mixer
Joey Bilger	....	sound assistant
Tom Bognar	....	assistant sound editor
Kenneth R. Burton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Cookson	....	sound effects editor
Nathan Hankins	....	assistant sound editor
Brian Hawlk	....	sound mixer
Mark Kaim	....	stage recordist
Jason Krane	....	adr editor
Jason Krane	....	dialogue editor
Jimmy Kuehn	....	sound recordist
Stuart Martin	....	sound effects editor
Gus Medina	....	foley mixer
Todd Murakami	....	sound effects editor
Andre Perreault	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dale W. Perry	....	foley artist (as Dale Perry)
Robert Ramirez	....	sound effects editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Eduardo Barraza	....	grip
Chris Burgon	....	gaffer
Brett Carleton	....	best boy electric
Shannon Davis	....	electrician (as Shannon Phillip Davis)
Ryan DeGrazzio	....	second assistant camera
Michael Desmond	....	still photographer
Craig Gleason	....	grip
Kevin M. Graves	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Kevin M. Graves	....	director of photography: second unit
Craig Jennette	....	first assistant camera
Nicolas Martin	....	Steadicam operator
Kris Michael	....	electrician
Yen P. Nguyen	....	first assistant camera
Jon Peter	....	second assistant camera
Rafael Ramirez	....	additional second assistant camera
Rocky Rodriguez	....	grip
Eric Rohde	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brittany Trusler	....	assistant costume designer
Brittany Trusler	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Joe Cook	....	colorist
Arika Yanaka	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Debbie Gonzalez	....	production assistant
Sherry Gunderman	....	script supervisor
Kimberly James	....	production assistant
Jaehi Jung	....	title designer
Mark Litwak	....	producer's representative
Callie Miller	....	key set production assistant
Christopher Pizzo	....	sales agent
Edward Shen	....	production assistant
Joni Smith	....	production assistant
Victoria Wong	....	production coordinator
Robert C. Yu	....	acquisitions executive

Production Companies

• Pescadito Productions

Distributors

• Cinemax (2008) (Hungary) (TV)
• PorchLight Entertainment (2007) (Non-USA) (all media)
• PorchLight Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Mark Litwak & Associates  producer's representative

Also Known As:

"Music for My Mother" - USA (TV title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Pescadito Productions

Trivia:

The video that Andy and Brady watch on their first date Not Too Tart, Not Too Sweet (2003) is an earlier film made by producer 'Steve Loh'.

A very well told story, with characters you can like and situations you can sympathize with.

was lucky enough to see this film at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and I have to say that it was one of the best films I saw there this year. A good 'coming-of-age' film is hard to write, I think, because the conventions of storytelling lend themselves to practices which aren't reflected in our own life experiences. For example, it's tempting as a writer to tell a story where everything works out okay in the end, where all the loose ends are tied up in the places we would expect, or want, them to be. I think one of the things I liked the most about this movie was the fact that it didn't try to reconcile the irreconcilable, instead it gave us characters and situations we could actually care about because they reflect, at least a little, some part of ourselves. The resolutions in this film run the gamut from heartbreaking to happy, but none of them felt contrived or insincere.

I'm a very tough critic of films, especially independent ones, because I've seen so many. I've been to too many film festivals, and more often than not I find myself distracted by the technical shortcomings of low-to-no-budget film-making. I'll be frank and say that this film was not technically flawless –in retrospect there were a few things that I felt took away from the film. Having said that, the aspects of the movie that were good were good enough to make me look past the film's shortcomings. It got the right things right: characters I liked and believed, a story that was satisfying, and an underlying message that didn't feel trite.

If I could change anything about the movie, I would change the title. Based on the title "Pope Dreams" alone I would (and did!) make any number of assumptions about the film that aren't true. The title doesn't reflect the seriousness or gravity of the film, and it doesn't do justice to the comedy or humor either. This movie is better than its title suggests. The themes of the movie are powerful, and the title should reflect them. Ultimately the title of the film doesn't really make it better or worse, but it does do a great deal in terms of making the movie more accessible and marketable. I wouldn't be making a suggestion like this unless I really felt it would help bring more people to the audience, because I'd love to see more people check this movie out.

Congratulations to the filmmakers, you've done a wonderful job and I was thoroughly entertained. A focus on story and character is what independent film-making is all about – I'm glad to see that someone remembered that.