To create Dopamine, the first film to go through all phases of the Sundance Institute, from the labs to the festival to (eventually) the cable channel, Mark Decena and Tim Breitbach drew on their experience as creative partners at Asylum in San Francisco, an ad and branded entertainment shop. “When you’re a creative team who has spent 15 years studying human behavior, [convincing dialogue] comes pretty easily,” says Breitbach, 39. “Our role is to understand our target. … We spend so much time thinking about what the consumer thinks about.”
The movie, which is getting strong reviews in its limited theatrical release, chronicles the love lives of singles in the Bay Area during the dot-com boom and bust. Breitbach and Decena, 44, began working on the script in 1998 though the Sundance Labs, which pairs young filmmakers with mentors. After coming up with a quirky premise—is love merely a chemical reaction in the brain?—they spent three years trying to add emotional heft, working with mentors including screenwriters Peter Hedges (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) and Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects).
“Sundance is an amazing support network,” says Breitbach, who also served as co-producer (Decena directed). “We feel very fortunate to be the first project to have gone through all of its phases.” But the best part? “It’s always great to meet Bob [Redford]. He’s very genuine.”
Chemistry or Chemical?
