The film begins with a title card reading: “Twelve years later.”
       As noted in a 28 Aug 1987 LA Weekly article, Patti Rocks was written as a sequel to the black-and-white, 16mm picture Loose Ends (1975, see entry), which marked the feature film debut of husband and wife team David Burton Morris and Victoria Wozniak. The couple wrote, directed, and produced Loose Ends with a budget of $30,000, according to the 18 Jan 1988 DV. It was also filmed in collaboration with actors Chris Mulkey and John Jenkins, who reprised their roles of “Billy” and “Eddie” in Patti Rocks.
       After receiving critical acclaim at various festivals, Loose Ends was released theatrically for two weeks in New York City, and prompted interest from studio executives. However, there was little economic viability for independent features at the time, so Morris and Wozniak moved with Chris Mulkey to Los Angeles, CA, in the hope of advancing their careers. There, Morris and Wozniak wrote and directed their second feature, Purple Haze (1983, see entry), which was released by Columbia Pictures’ art film subsidiary, Triumph Films, and won top honors at the U.S. Film Festival. Meanwhile, Mulkey was cast in several 1982 Hollywood blockbusters, including First Blood and 48 Hrs. (see entries). As noted in the 18 Jan 1988 DV, the filmmakers continued to be frustrated by the lack of professional opportunities, so Morris began to write Patti Rocks as “self-therapy,” imagining what the Loose Ends characters would be doing twelve years later. Although he admittedly never expected the picture would be made, he convinced actor John Jenkins to move to Los Angeles, and they re-teamed with Chris Mulkey to develop the project. Mulkey’s wife, Karen Landry, also joined the group of writers and was eventually cast in the role of “Patti.”
       According to the 28 Aug 1987 LA Weekly, Morris served as the primary writer, who periodically introduced the material to his collaborators, and they would transform the narrative through improvisation. As noted in DV, an early version of the story was titled Real Hectic, but Morris deemed it too complicated to produce on a small budget, and by that time he wanted to make sure the picture would be made. After piecing together an early draft of the script, Morris secured the support of producer Gwen Field, whom he met at the U.S. Film Festival. She reportedly encouraged him to finalize the script, and to “soften” Patti’s character through Karen Landry’s improvisations. While the actors created approximately twenty hours of spontaneous dialog, Morris maintained that the final picture was completely scripted.
       With the screenplay nearly finished, Gwen Field successfully convinced executive producer Sam Grogg of FilmDallas Pictures to distribute Patti Rocks, and the filmmakers were promised a $500,000 budget. The 18 Jan 1988 DV and the 23 Sep 1987 HR review listed a cost of $350,000. The picture marked the first feature film released through a deal between New World Pictures and FilmDallas Investment Fund, as announced in a 9 Jan 1987 DV article. According to the 18 Jan 1988 DV, Morris and his team received confirmation of financing on 25 Oct 1986, on condition that they begin principal photography by 3 Dec 1986. This production start date was confirmed in 18 Mar 1987 Var production charts. However, Morris contracted pneumonia three days into to shoot. Although he did not recover from his illness, filming continued twenty days and ended 23 Dec 1986. Just three weeks later, Morris’s wife, Victoria Wozniak, gave birth to their child on 15 Jan 1987, one year to the day before the theatrical release of Patti Rocks.
       Eight months after production was complete, Morris told the 28 Aug 1987 LA Weekly that he intended to provoke controversy, but introduced Patti’s character halfway through the narrative to counteract the chauvinism of his male characters. Her integrity was devised to “finally win” over against the men’s sexism, thereby making the film a “pro-female picture.” His assertions were vindicated by glowing reviews from feminist critics.
       Still, he was shocked when the film was rated X by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). When the organization stipulated that the rating was based solely on the picture’s profanities, not its one sex scene, Morris and Sam Groggs appealed the rating, arguing that many mainstream R-rated Hollywood films included a far greater number of obscenities. At the time of the 28 Aug 1987 LA Weekly article, the appeal was still pending and Morris was cutting the picture, but he insisted it was impossible to edit obscenities, because they illustrated important aspects of the characters, and were peppered throughout the dialog.
       After an initial unsuccessful appeals hearing, Grogg counted the number of “f-words” in Patti Rocks and compared it to the use of vulgarities in R-rated Hollywood productions. While Patti Rocks included the “f-word” seventy-three times, the R-rated Scarface (1983, see entry) used the profanity 206 times, according to a 14 Oct 1987 DV article, which announced that the MPAA had overturned its X-rating one day earlier, on 13 Oct 1987. DV noted that the filmmakers won the R-rating by a narrow margin, with the minimum “eight-to-four members in favor of the change.” Grogg told LA Weekly that the X-rating revealed the MPAA’s hypocrisy, since the organization granted R-ratings to obscenity-laden, multi-million dollar productions, while condemning low budget independent features, effectively narrowing their audience base and box-office grosses.
       First assistant director, Kirby Dick, later directed a documentary about the MPAA’s impact on independent filmmakers titled This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006, see entry).
       The picture was generally well received by critics, who appreciated the film’s unapologetic and authentic depiction of prevalent male chauvinism, and its intimate exploration of male-female relationships. Although the 15 Jan 1988 LAT review noted that the “gutter lingo with harsh verisimilitude” allowed the audience to be confronted with “personal pain” and human frailty, it argued that the male characters were ultimately absolved with “too automatic a comeuppance.”

      End credits include: “The producers wish to acknowledge: The Ace Box Bar; AirComm; Steve Bonfig at 3M Company; Randy Chistman; Dakota Barge Service, Daniel A. Dye; Denton, Hall, Burgin and Warrens; E-Z Riding RV Center; Rebecca A. Erickson; Film Finances, Inc.; Film in the Cities; John Heron; Hobbit Travel; Independent Feature Project/West; Tim Krauss, Philips Temro; John Mason, Eastman Kodak; Midway Chevrolet; City of Minneapolis; Minnesota Department of Transportation; Minnesota Motion Picture & Television Board; Minnesota State Patrol; Jim McManus; Old Dutch Foods, Inc.; Dominic Postiglione; R.E.I.; Schell’s Beer; Mark D. Setterholm; Darryl Sherman; Inver Hills Community College Filmmaking Project; Sibley Manor Apartments; City of St. Paul; Mr. Gordon Stutzman; Theisen Vending Company; Ulmer Brewing Company; Mike Wallach, Film & Tape Exchange; Sgt. Tom Walsh, St. Paul Police; George & Mary Ann Wozniak.”