Donations Make a Difference

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Donate $10 and Attend the Premier!

Donor / Cast / Crew big screen premier of "Where's My Food?!" is July 8, 2014 in Long Beach, California. Come and join us!

Everyone's donations have made this important documentary possible. We'd love to you see you at this exciting event.

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Welcome!

Where’s My Food?! is a new documentary film that serves up the surprising truth about waiters and waitresses. Improving the restaurant industry, like a good tip, begins with customer awareness.

Meet Jack

Jack is a school teacher with a degree in history, but Jack's other job -- waiting tables in fine dining restaurants -- generates more income than his teaching.

Meet Chuck

Chuck has worked as waiter at Macaroni Grill, BJ's Restaurant and Applebee's, but he's struggled to settle down, and currently lives out of his car on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Meet Mariel, Natalie

Mariel and Natalie's first memories were watching their waitress mother work, but they also saw their parents struggle with alcoholism. Both twins chose to avoid substance abuse as they grew up, focusing instead on building stable restaurant careers with a “no time to party, gotta work hard” attitude.

Meet the Public

Dozens of frequent restaurant customers agreed to be interviewed, and we asked for their beliefs and assumptions about food servers and tipping. What we heard was often surprising, sometimes heartwarming, and occasionally shocking.

Meet the Professor

Professor Michael Lynn, Ph.D., of Cornell University is an expert in the consumer psychology and socio-economic impacts of tipping. Professor Lynn points out that, from an economic perspective, tipping is irrational, because it doesn't impact the quality of the service that you just received. From a psychological perspective, a key reason people tip, he says, is to avoid disapproval from the server.

Meet Mark

Mark, who works at a popular restaurant near Disneyland, learned he was HIV positive 3 years ago. He relies on an clinical trial program to provide his daily antiretroviral drugs, but those free medications will stop when the trial ends.

Meet Lolita

Lolita has been waitressing since she was 18. "I love what I do," she says. Married at age 15, Lolita, now a single mother, began serving food to support her children.

Meet Paul

Paul is a self-described "lifer" who's been a waiter for 34 years. He also teaches about food service. Paul lacks the financial ability to stop working and retire, but he doesn't really want to. "The morning I don't wake up," he says, "I'm retired."

Meet the Chef

Chef Michael Shafer is the owner and executive chef of two Los Angeles area restaurants. Regarding the dozens of workers he employs, Chef Shafer says, "If you can thrive on the chaotic structure, then you're meant for the restaurant industry. If you can't, what happens is drug addiction, alcoholism, it ruins your family, it ruins relationships because of the hours, and it will ruin you physically." He adds with a smile, "The industry breeds a lot of strange characters."

Meet William

William is a heavyweight champion mixed martial arts (MMA) cage fighter. He's also a waiter at BJ's Restaurant, where he struggles to make enough money to pay his monthly rent.

Meet Julie

Julie has worked at the same diner for over 20 years. Her income is low, and she hasn't taken a vacation since 1996, yet the brightest spot each day is when she puts on her apron and greets her regular customers with a hug.

Meet the Activist

Saru Jayaraman, Director of Food Labor Research at University of California, Berkeley, is a lawyer and activist who speaks for the millions of restaurant workers who struggle with poverty-level wages, discrimination and working while sick. Her new book “Behind the Kitchen Door” explains how customers and coworkers suffer too, and how customers can help by patronizing restaurants committed to fair and healthy working conditions.

Meet the Director

Lee Godden launched Telsius Productions in 2002. His television program Good Business, which featured hard-hitting interviews with CEOs who claimed to lead ethically profitable organizations, won an Elby Award and was endorsed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, the Sierra Club and the KLD/Domini 400 Social Index. Lee has also worked with the producers of the PBS TV program Ethical Markets.

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Serving Up the Surprising Truth About Waiters and Waitresses
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Donate and Join Us for the Film's Premier on July 8, 2014!

$10 Donation: See You at the Theater in Long Beach, California!

To ALL of the people who have donated money over the past two years to help with some of the costs of creating this important documentary: Thank you!

The big screen premier of "Where's My Food?!" will be at 5:30pm on Tuesday, July 8, 2014 the beautiful 266-seat theater adjacent to the main branch of the Long Beach Public Library, located at 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90822.

For a suggested minimum donation of $10 you can join all supporters, cast and crew as we sit down and enjoy watching the film!

The one-click PayPal button below makes it simple and safe to donate any amount you wish, using any credit card or your PayPal account. We never see your credit card information, and PayPal is completely secure. 

Nice Gifts for Your Donation!

The more you donate, the more gifts you'll receive. They're all cumulative!

  • Donate $10 and receive a personal welcome to join us on July 8, 2014 in Long Beach, California, for the film's big screen premier!
  • Donate $20 or more and (in addition to the above) your name will be permanently added to this website's supporters tribute page.
  • Donate $30 or more and (in addition to the above) you'll receive an Elegant Comfort Grip Retractable Ballpoint Pen with Where's My Food?! graphics. (People LOVE this pen.)
  • Donate $45 or more and (in addition to the above) you'll receive a DVD of Where's My Food?! in a commemorative case.
  • special thanks your name hereDonate $75 or more and (in addition to the above) you'll receive a full-color, full-size, suitable-for-framing Where's My Food?! movie poster, signed by the director.
  • Donate $100 or more and (in addition to the above) your name will be included in the film's credits.
  • Donate $500 or more and (in addition to the above) you'll be credited as Co-Executive Producer of the film, and will be credited as such on the film's IMDb page.

Don't delay. Act now. Click the yellow "Donate" button above to securely donate any amount you wish using your credit card or PayPal account. Thank you!

 

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