As part of Rising Voices Season 4, which offers offerings about the changing nature of work life around the world, employment company Indeed presents a nerve-wracking short thriller called Meal Ticket. A talent manager named Saint (Siddiq Saunderson) is forced to decide what to do with possibly life-changing news he receives about his young rap star client Apollo (Coy Stewart). Twelve minutes before he goes onstage for his long-awaited debut tour, the team receives a garbled call informing them that Apollo’s mother is being taken to the hospital. They have no details on the severity of her medical situation.
Saint must weigh the options of telling Apollo the news, which would almost certainly mean canceling the show and maybe ending the career of the up-and-coming star, or waiting until after the show. If he waits, there is, of course, some chance that Apollo’s mother will be gone in the worst possible case.
“…twelve minutes before the debut show, a devastating call comes in…”
The viewer is caught up in this life-or-death decision process, and the desperate weight of the outcomes either way. Whichever choice he makes, Saint may be radically altering the lives of people who are depending on him. Vic (Khalil Middleton), who took the call, insists Saint tell Apollo immediately. Saint is faced with a challenge he is not prepared for in this dilemma.
The film was directed by Wes Andre Goodrich and written by Goodrich and Patrick Nichols. Goodrich keeps maximum tension ratcheted up as the story opens with Saint already frantically trying to start the show on time when he gets the explosive last-minute news about Apollo’s mother. The backstage spaces are noisy and claustrophobic, and the clock is running on starting the show. Meal Ticket is a pulse-pounding moral conundrum told in real-time.
Indeed is an American worldwide employment website launched in November 2004 for job listings. It is a subsidiary of Japan’s Recruit Holdings and is co-headquartered in Austin, Texas, and Stamford, Connecticut, with additional offices worldwide.
"…a pulse-pounding moral conundrum told in real time..."
