Plot

A sexy fashion designer and disillusioned screenwriter use their experience to charm their way through the younger, hotter dating pool of sultry Venice Beach until an unlikely blind date forces them to reevaluate their pursuit of love.

Carla Porter (Erica Leerhsen) and Nolan Johnson (Markus Redmond) are happy dating in the younger generation without complication... or any real connection. Both are urged to go on a blind date with one another, set up by their mutual friends, married couple Dennis and Jennifer Whitaker, who desperately want Carla and Nolan to embrace true adulthood. The blind date goes much, much better than expected, which terrifies Carla and Nolan equally.—The Producers

Carla Porter has just made the riskiest move of her fashion career... opening her first boutique in Venice Beach, California. Nolan Johnson is a successful screenwriter who hates his work. Neither is looking for complication, so they stick to using their individual charms to date young, hot twentysomethings who, like them, are light on commitment. Of course, their best friends, Dennis and Jennifer Whitaker, who are closer to their age, know them better and set Carla and Nolan up a blind date that neither wants anything to do with. But one good-natured drink leads to the most amazing night either of them has ever had... something so amazing... it terrifies them. Carla and Nolan decide to lie to their friends, and themselves, forget about each other and move on. Dennis tries to keep Nolan's head on straight through his transition from mediocre screenwriter to accomplished novelist, only to be thwarted by Nolan's latest distraction; a young, damaged alcoholic beauty named Shannon... just another attempt of Nolan's to recreate what he lost when Maria, the woman he planned to married, died from terminal cancer. Carla finds herself involved with Graham, an entrepreneur wunderkind with designs on both Carla and her business. The closer they get, the closer Carla guards her secret... her 10 year old daughter Briana whom she relinquished custody of to her rich and still bitter ex-husband Patrick 10 years ago after having an affair. As Carla fights to stay in her daughter's life and Nolan continues to spiral from not dealing with the death of Maria, the two find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other again and again, forcing them to reevaluate their pursuit of love. But when Carla learns that Patrick is moving Briana to New York and Dennis puts his neck on the line for Nolan's new novel, will they grow up in time? A romantic homage to Woody Allen's "Manhattan" meets a uniquely modern twist on "When Harry Met Sally" with a nod to the classic romances of the Swing era, Pacific Standard is a new kind of romantic comedy for the hipster generation and beyond.—Markus Redmond

Sexy fashion designer Carla Porter and disillusioned screenwriter Nolan Johnson use their experience to charm their way through the hot, young dating pool of sultry Venice Beach until an unlikely blind date forces them to reevaluate their pursuit of love.—Markus Redmond