Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey

Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey

2012 | USA | NR | 113 min

Cast:Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain ,Ross Valory, Deen Castronovo, Arnel Pineda,

Director:Ramona S. Diaz

Produced by:Ramona S. Diaz, Capella Fahoome Brogden

Cinematography:Julia Dengel, Vincente Franco,

Editing By:Leah Marino

As a fan of the band Journey, I was excited to see a film that I know would be filled with their music and concert footage, but a documentary has to tell a compelling story. In this case it was how Journey’s guitarist Neal Schon, in an attempt to find a new lead singer to belt out their legendary songs to a fan base that expected them to sound just as they did when Steve Perry was fronting the band.Neal and his band mates were searching online, watching hundreds of youtube clips from Journey Tribute bands, when late one night he came across a camcorder-recored performance of  Arnel Pinedan, and he found a voice that was perfect. There was just one problem,  he was an obscure Filipino singer living in Mailla.

Director Ramona Diaz film documents Pineda’s audition where he proved Schon’s hunch right, and the subsequent tour where Pineda’s singing pleased even the bands toughest fans. Beyond that Diaz, through a series of interviews, lets the singer tell of his hard life growing up dirt-poor on the streets of  Manilla. It is a truly unlikely story of how Pineda went from singing at funerals for a few scraps of food, living in the park, to literally living the life of a rock star.