American public schools are facing a lunchtime crisis.
Lights, Camera, Lunch
Indie artists line up to contribute songs to Lunch Line, a documentary about our national school lunch crisis.
By Lori Barrett
Published: August 3rd, 2010 | 11:50am
School lunch might seem like a subject of marginal interest, particularly for indie musicians who likely haven’t set foot in an institutional cafeteria since graduation. But in the hands of Chicago filmmakers Michael Graziano and Ernie Park, the history and current state of school lunches provokes thought, and, at times, outrage. Their film Lunch Line has not only caught the attention of parents, food activists, and educators; it also piqued the interest of many bands—Loney, Dear, Mates of State, Au Revoir Simone, Post Harbor, and producer and Kidzapalooza founder Tor Hyams—all of whom agreed to give music to the film for little or no money in return.
Lunch Line, from Uji Films, started as a documentary about the Organic School Project in Chicago, a program working to change lunches and the overall approach to food in one public school. Once in the school, however, co-directors Graziano and Park realized that there was more to the problem than what was on the tray: with outdated national nutrition guidelines, poor funding, and increasing childhood obesity, the school lunch program, in general, is facing a crisis. The film grew in scope to also follow a group of high-school students from Chicago who won a Cooking Up Change contest by creating an affordable and healthy lunch, which they eventually brought to the White House. Lunch Line also chronicles the evolution of the National School Lunch program.
Graziano and Park started with an original score by Paul Duncan, a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist currently working with a band called the Echo Division. The pre-recorded tracks were added later. “The first well-known act we approached was Emil Svanangen of Loney, Dear,” says Graziano, over the phone. During the editing process, Park set the film's opening to the band's “Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl,” and it worked really well. So the filmmakers contacted Svanangen and his manager. "Emil said, ‘Wow, this is cool,' ” says Graziano, and essentially, Svanangen donated the music to the filmmakers.
This success gave Graziano and Park the confidence to approach other musicians. Not everyone agreed to hand over songs. Sometimes, Duncan was able to compose music to match the mood or the pace of a song not used. But often, the indie community is willing to help its own. “I think most of these bands know what it’s like to work as an independent,” says Graziano. Ultimately, working outside of the mainstream proved to be a good thing when it came to the soundtrack; negotiations were easier without corporate lawyers and restrictions over master rights and sync rights.
Park and Graziano are working on a distribution deal. In the meantime, Lunch Line is making the rounds at single-night screenings around the country. There’s a showing and fundraiser in Birmingham, Alabama, at the end of August, as well as planned screenings in Oregon, Tennessee, Kentucky, Brooklyn, and Chicago. As dates are confirmed, they will be posted on the film's Facebook page.
Issue #32
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