It was produced by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, written by Dustin Lance Black and Paris Barclay (story) and directed by Nick Oceano.

The film opens with 22-year-old AIDS activist Pedro Zamora in his New York City hotel room in 1994, getting ready for an appearance on CBS.

After making an audition tape for MTV's reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco, he is interviewed by producers.

Housemate Rachel Campos, who is uncomfortable, feels it is Pedro's responsibility to ease her concerns, and that she is being made the villain.

When one of the producers asks him if he wants to stop taping or be sent home, Zamora insists that he promise him that they continue filming until the end.

In an interview, Mily Zamora calls her brother a "miracle", as her mother, who had already had several children, had had an operation to prevent further pregnancies prior to his conception.

Later the family is torn in half during the Mariel Boat Lift, because the four eldest children are of military age, and are not permitted to leave.

In 1994, Mily is at Saint Vincent's, and is told that her brother may have toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection common to AIDS patients, but that it may be the more serious PML.

He does not practice safe sex, because the only education he receives on AIDS presents it as something that afflicts only prostitutes and drug addicts.

Nonetheless, the two fall in love, and Sasser asks Zamora if he will stay in the city after filming ends.

Zamora gets a phone call from President Bill Clinton, who thanks him for his work, and who facilitates the reunion of his older brothers and sisters, who have been allowed to leave Cuba to join the family in Miami.

Footage of Pedro Zamora and Sean Sasser's real-life commitment ceremony from The Real World is shown, over which title cards describe what happened to the others in the story.

Writer Dustin Lance Black was approached by director Paris Barclay with the idea for the project in 2003.

Barclay also approached former cast members Judd Winick and Pam Ling, explaining to them his vision to movie in order to seek their blessing and their assistance with its production.

Mily reacted emotionally to the experience, and lauded the film for having accurately captured her brother and his message.

[1] In 2010, Pedro writers Dustin Lance Black and Paris Barclay were nominated for a WGA Award.