Simple question about loaded .swfs

Okay, so i have loaded an external swf from the main time line, say for example that i have a movie with an instance name “menu_mov” on the main time line that i load “pod_menu.swf” into like so>

menu_mov.loadMovie("pod_menu.swf");

then on the pod_menu.swf i have a

this.stop();

on frame 3 of the movie, but if i do this from the main timeline

_root.main_mov.gotoAndPlay(4);

it doesn’t advance pod_menu.swf, why? and how would i be able to refrence the movie to advance?? sorry i know i am a ditz when it come to actionscript but this one has stumped me.