A young man named Tony moves from Chicago to California for the summer. He quickly becomes adapted to the new pace of beach life, learning several lessons along the way.

California Dreaming is a production of American International Pictures (AIP), which pioneered the beach-party film in the 1960s. However, the film's producer Lou Arkoff, the son of AIP founder Samuel Z. Arkoff, stated a desire to "move [AIP] toward more serious, insightful and creative projects" rather than the exploitation films favored by his father, saying specifically of California Dreaming: "My concern is that this doesn't become Beach Blanket Bingo."^[5]

Filming began on October 17, 1977 at Santa Monica State Beach, the film's purported setting. However, most footage was shot at Pismo Beach, with Avila Beach also serving as a locale.

The script written by Ned Wynn was entitled State Beach, which was the film's working title (with Golden State mentioned as a possible alternative). Director John D. Hancock wanted to change the title to California Dreaming,^[6] and the new title was confirmed in December 1977. Permission for the title was obtained from the copyright holders of the song "California Dreamin'", although the film's storyline has no direct parallels with the song's lyrics. The film's poster features the slogan "A state somewhere between fantasy and reality" under the title.^[5]

Filming was completed in December 1978. The film's budget was $2 million.^[7]

John D. Hancock said that during filming, male cast members' attraction to Tanya Roberts caused tension on the set.^[8]

The planned July 1978 release of California Dreaming was postponed because of a perceived glut of similarly themed films set for release that summer (most prominently Big Wednesday). A rescheduled October 1978 was also canceled.^[9] The film finally premiered with a December 27-January 1 engagement at a Yuma, Arizona theater, as it was to AIP's advantage for taxation purposes to release the film before the end of 1978.^[10]

California Dreaming was provided a limited release on March 16, 1979, which was expanded in the following two months. The release schedule was planned to coincide with that of the film's soundtrack album, distributed by Casablanca Records. The version of "California Dreamin'" recorded by America that plays during California Dreaming's closing credits was issued as a single, spending eight weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at #56.^[11]

• California Dreaming at IMDb