"How Can I Help You" (single location indie feature)
Genre Drama/Comedy/Suspense
Logline: A new restaurant hire tries to organizers his co-workers for a pay raise but his efforts unknowingly lead to a horrific conclusion.
Brief Synopsis
HOW CAN I HELP YOU tells the story of a well-meaning (but misplaced) do-gooder, who gets hired at a busy neighborhood pizzeria. His name is Luke, ruggedly-handsome, not too bright - your basic Himbo. After a few weeks of dealing with CRAZY CUSTOMERS, and discovering how little he makes in comparison with the OWNERS. Luke sets out to change things; by organizing the ECLECTIC WORK STAFF to ask for a pay raise. There’s only one problem: the staff isn’t all that interested in Luke’s ideas. In spite of the early setbacks, Luke doesn’t give up, and presses on, continuing to organize “a force” for pay justice, as he calls it; eventually even getting members to join his efforts. But, unbeknownst to him (and almost everyone else), his efforts have also unleashed a DARK ENERGY throughout the pizzeria. One that could lead to TERRIFYING RESULTS.
Over 15 million Americans work customer service jobs in the food industry. It’s one of the hardest but worst compensated jobs in the world. It’s a job almost anyone can do but not everyone is equipped to do; because as we’ve seen on social media, there seems to be a war going on between customers and the people who serve them. At the same time another battle rages on; this one between these same workers who are trying to organize for better pay and the managers/bosses trying their best to thwart those efforts.
“How Can I Help You” places a lens on what it’s like to work in the food industry. What it’s like to deal with insane customers while at the same time trying the almost impossible task of organizing a workforce from differing backgrounds for a common goal.
“How Can I Help You” manages to do all this with an entertaining story that’s filled with humor and pathos, and a suspenseful yet funny ending that will surely be the talk of social media. If there was ever a zeitgeist movie for America whose time has come, it is “How Can I Help You.”
*A look at the customer service industry (specifically food) thru a comedic, dramatic and suspenseful lens.
