New Documentary Serves Up the Surprising Truth About Food Servers, the Powerful Restaurant Industry, and the Real Reasons We Tip
Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) June 13, 2014 -- On Tuesday, July 8th at 5:30 p.m., Telsius Productions will host the big screen premiere of the new documentary "Where’s My Food?!" in Long Beach, California. The film's trailer can be viewed at http://www.vimeo.com/user7808563/wheresmyfoodtrailer.
“Where's My Food?!” explores the often-hidden world of food servers, exposing their struggles with the powerful restaurant industry lobby, poverty-level wages, low-tipping customers, and illnesses that can affect restaurant customers.
“One in ten Americans works in food service,” said the film's director Lee Godden. “For many waiters and waitresses, this is their career and they love what they do. This film reveals how servers actually earn their living.”
The documentary introduces viewers to nine restaurant workers from California and Oregon who represent a diverse mix of ages, backgrounds and incomes. One is a single mom raising four children on waitress wages. Another is a champion mixed martial arts fighter who’s also a waiter at BJ’s Restaurant. One waitress has worked at the same diner for over twenty years. Another waiter lives in his car, but arrives at work every day looking clean and energetic.
Featured experts in the film include Cornell University’s Michael Lynn, Ph.D., who describes how tipping works from psychological and socioeconomic perspectives. Lawyer and author Saru Jayaraman, who directs UC Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center, explains how consumers can drive positive change through awareness and political action. Executive chef Michael Shafer shows how he (sometimes eccentrically) runs the restaurants he owns with an iron fist and a soft heart. “Where’s My Food?!” cameras go behind the scenes into the “back of the house, where restaurant chefs and cooks rule.”
Director Lee Godden said, “Americans spend half of their food dollars eating in restaurants, which fuels the industry's ability to lobby lawmakers through the National Restaurant Association, sometimes referred to as 'the other NRA.' In 1996 the NRA successfully convinced Congress to keep the federal minimum wage for tipped workers at $2.13 per hour. It's been that low ever since.” Godden added, “Tipping percentages rise after customers learn how waiters and waitresses actually earn their living, but this film isn't just about how much food servers make, it's about who they are.”
Tickets are available at http://www.wheresmyfood.eventbrite.com. Although $10 donations are encouraged, they are not required to attend this documentary premiere. The Long Beach Public Library is co-sponsoring this event, which will be held at the theater adjacent to the Main Branch of the Long Beach Public Library, located at 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, California.
Go to http://www.WheresMyFood.com or http://www.facebook.com/WheresMyFood for more information. Producer/director Lee Godden can be reached at (310) 916-9886, or via email at Lee(at)WheresMyFood(dot)com.
Telsius Productions LLC, launched in 2002, has a proven track record of making award-winning, entertaining, socially-conscious films and television programs.
Lee Godden, Telsius Productions, LLC, http://www.WheresMyFood.com, +1 310-916-9886, [email protected]
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