Image via Publicist
To shoot the Free Lunch short film, James Whitner wanted to go back to the projects where he grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Although he’s moved out of the neighborhood, he’s still there in many ways. He named his company, The Whitaker Group, after the affordable housing complex he used to call home, the same one featured in his latest short film, and he’s used his platform as an entrepreneur in the streetwear and sneaker space to speak directly to the kid he used to be.
“All these brands talk about talking to the kid and they talk about community without ever really having a line of sight into what it is their life looks like from their vantage point,” says Whitner, who opened a beSocial community space in the area two months ago. “And I sit on both sides of it. I come from there, and here I am right now sitting on this side of the table. And if I’m going to be one of the leaders of community, I just thought it was important to understand where the kid is now and what the issues are now.”
Whitner wanted to veer away from the aspirational content we see all day on IG, and instead tell a story that many can relate to, including LeBron James, who cosigned the short film on Twitter. Free Lunch, which promotes the Social Status x Nike “Free Lunch” Dunks, documents the journey to get free lunch, a federally assisted meal program for children living in poverty, and introduces us to the cast of characters Whitner came across on a daily basis. He worked with The Turner brothers, who directed the film, and Tyler Clark, who shot it.
“Most people don’t come back here,” says Whitner, when asked what it’s like to revist his old stomping grounds. “Listen, most people don’t make it to come back. Let’s start with that.”
The short film hints to the plight of growing up poor, but mostly showcases the bright moments that sustain these communities. Here, Whitner explains the significance of the Free Lunch story and details some of the hidden messages they placed throughout the short film.
Where did the idea come from?
For Social Status, we always try to really focus on like the core kid who loves streetwear and sneaker culture. And I was just thinking about like, summertime and the key parts of the day. And then I was like, well, we need to talk about the entire day. And that’s when the idea of free lunch came up. Because that’s how you started your day. It wasn’t like you woke up and got breakfast. Free lunch was breakfast and lunch. So it was less about the place and more about the experience.
Why was it so important for you to go back to Pennsylvania and shoot it in the same exact home, bedroom you used to live in?
Yeah. I mean, the story is not about me, but I can only leverage my experiences, right. And I grew up in a lot of projects. And I think once you grow up, you just want to go to people’s projects just so you can see if there are any differences. So for me, it was just like getting back to the heart of it because, you know, I lived that story. So it’s easy. It’s very easy for me to tell it in that setting. But at the same time, like, I don’t want the viewer to know that it’s the projects I grew up in or the bedroom that I grew up in. It’s just no one can say to me how do you know that experience is real. I know it’s real because it was three of us in one bedroom. That was real.
There are a lot of characters in the short film. Are they based on characters who are real?
The Turner Brothers came up with the characters. I just told the story. I was just like, “Hey, here’s the story and this is what our journey to free lunch was like.” You gotta walk past the hustlers. And dudes been hustling all night. The hoopers are starting to heat up. They starting to shoot and went to free breakfast already. It’s a journey through your projects. And it’s talking about those relationships too, right. And I think a key relationship in any projects is the youngins’ and the hustlers. And there’s this idea that the hustlers are trying to bait the youngins’ in [to crime] and in a lot of cases, that’s not true. In some cases it is, but more cases than not, the hustlers are trying to help the youngins’ not be them. They are trying to help them make better decisions so they can end up in a better spot.
Why was it important for you to have the mother say I have to work twice as hard to make half as much to her sons?
I mean, because it’s true. Black women are making much less than what white men are. It’s a glaring difference. It was very pointed that she said it that way. And I gave that message to the Turner Brothers in different ways and I said you can do it subtly or be very direct about it. And the one thing we talked about with the video is we wanted to make sure that we tackle those issues. And for her that’s important? And this is a three part series, and this is only short film number one. We are going to go on a journey with these characters.
Oh wow. What made you want to do it like that?
We started thinking about stories and everybody’s always trying to talk to the kid, right? Like, you know, all these brands talk about talking to the kid and they talk about community without ever really having a line of sight into what it is their life looks like from their vantage point. And I sit on both sides of it. I come from there, and here I am right now sitting on this side of the table. And if I’m going to be one of the leaders of community, I just thought it was important to understand where the kid is now and what the issues are now. People can’t put inspirational videos out without understanding the struggles these kids are up against every day. It’s hard to get a job when no one’s teaching you how to write a resume. It’s hard for you to avoid the block to make money if there’s no opportunity for you to get an actual job. And I’ve said numerous times, before I started to hustle, I tried to get a job for months and nobody would hire me.
I know you worked with the Turner brothers for your last short film celebrating Black women. What made you want to work with them again?
Because they lived the real Black experience. Julien, Justen and their mother, Ms. Cynthia, they understand the experience. Right. So I don’t have to over index on explaining to them what we’re doing and why. We actually can go to the projects and they’re going to be comfortable in the projects. The projects heated up for that shoot. We did a cookout and we built a community center there. And everybody who grew up with me in that project came out. If I’m going to go sit on that corner, there’s a lot of people who want to come sit on it with me. There’s a lot of things happened on our corner. And you know, we just got a lot of experiences there. A lot of, you know, a lot of memories, a lot of tears, a lot of lives loss. So for them being able to capture that, I think that’s part of the magic. Right? I couldn’t go with somebody who’s not comfortable in that environment at all times.
How did you all handle casting?
Everyone is either from Pittsburgh or Columbus, Ohio, which is where the Turner brothers are from. They did the casting. I just call them and tell them my ideas and they execute and ask all the right questions. They asked about the people I grew up with. They asked about little details like, did y’all knock on each other’s doors. And you know in the projects, if you knock on someone’s door in the morning you are going to get cussed out. So that’s why you threw rocks at the window. And at night you would sleep with a fan on because there was no AC, but in the morning once it started to get hot you took the fan out because it was blowing nothing but hot air. So in the film when the rock went through the window and hit someone on the head, that’s a real thing.
Can you talk about other little details in the film that were important to you? I saw that you brought up donuts not being in the free lunch. And I know that initially people thought the shoes were inspired by donuts. So that was purposeful, right?
Yea. When the shoe leaked, the media created a narrative on its own without ever even asking what it was about. They didn’t ask us for comment or anything. They just took it and ran with it. And we’ve been working on this story since 2019. It takes that long to craft it. We’ve been working on these stories before the George Floyd murder. So when we are being this intentional about telling the story, and for them not to ask us about it, it was like, “Yo, come on man.” And like, listen, I respect all of them because the media has treated us super favorably, so no shade or hate towards them. But it was one of those moments where we just got to like, you know, all be responsible and diligent in how we do what we do. I’ve said a million times and I’ll say it again, the stories are way more important than the sneakers. You look at the film and we were really intentional about not including the product in every shot. Or not overly inserting our brand.
You used to be a kid he know who liked sneakers. Did you feel like you were being marketed to? Or like brands spoke directly to you? Or was it mostly, I just want sneakers because, you know, I want to be fly.
It was always about the hustle of being fresh, right? Because back then, the marketing machine wasn’t as powerful as it is now. Fresh was the first day of school. Fresh was the Friday night when all the hustlers was about to go out to the clubs and you see everybody get dressed. Fresh was somebody coming through the hood in a new car with the new wheels. So they got their fit on and they jump out from head to toe, like super, super fresh. Then there were moments when the hustlers will pull up for a game and they come out Saturday fresh. Everything clean. Those are the moments that we aspire to as kids. And you start to think about the nuance of the hustler in every community. And I think Joe’s [Freshgoods] story and my story share this and we never even talked about it. But when the hustler comes through, he’s coming through with a trunk full of sneakers. He’s showing love to the people in the community, right? The hustler showed us what affluence looked like. They were the most affluent thing we would see.
Yeah. That’s crazy how both of your stories touch on that.
Yeah, and at the beginning of the video, when you see the kid looking in the mirror practicing how he introduces himself to the hustler. That was another special detail. Because it’s about role models. And I’ve said this many times, but coming up, I didn’t have a me to look up to. So I’m going to show everybody why the kid mirrors that hustling. This is how it happens.
Yeah. As opposed to vilify them.
Exactly. And I can go a step further when you start talking about the killings and some of the violence. If you start to unwind that and get to the core, if somebody does something to that OG, who is the heart and soul of that community, imagine the hate they have for the person who did it. That’s how wars are started. So, and then you start talking about systemic oppression and the laws that keep that dude trapped in that position. He doesn’t want to hustle forever. He has his money. He wants to figure out something positive to do for himself, but he doesn’t really understand any other opportunities besides hustling. So he keeps coming back to the game.
Can you talk about the community center you built and when that opened?
So the community center opened a few months prior, but we’ve been trying to get it up for the past two years. And I think, you know, my reputation around there is different than my reputation in our industry, right. Because in Pittsburgh, in there eyes, you are always going to be who you were when you left. They probably think this is some type of big criminal conspiracy and I’m selling cocaine. They don’t think things have changed. The community center was me saying, I can’t keep coming up here and telling stories about where I’m from and not do more. I’m very prideful about where I come from. At the time I was on the trespass list, which means if you get arrested in the projects, they say you are no longer allowed to visit or live in that projects. So I had to work with the city to get that fixed and coordinate with the owners of the projects, because it’s privately owned.
Can we talk about the opening with the poem and that wide shot from above of the projects?
With the poem, we needed to make sure there was a sober understanding and reminder of the circumstances that the people in the short film live in. And it’s funny you bring up the wide shot of the projects because people were like, oh your project was on a hill. It’s almost like y’all had views. And I was like, I’m glad y’all think that because this whole town is on hills and a river runs through the middle of it. So it’s amazing how something can be heaven for white folks, but hell for Black folks.
Oh, and what about the symbolism of the siren?
The siren goes off and everyone’s attention goes in that direction, and Lou (OG Hustle) says, “Are y’all good? And then they went back to business as usual. As a hustler you have to expect it to be a game of cops and robbers. As a hustler there are all the other parallels of police fucking with you to fuck with you. We never said OG Hustle was still in the streets. He is just a part of the neighborhood. Hustlers evolve but the police see them the same way. The siren is about the relationship, or lack thereof, between police and Black folks in our community. We wanted to make sure people understand the tension of the relationship.
What was it like to go back and do something like this? I’m sure the kids were inspired.
It was just incredible, man. Like everybody just, you know, most people don’t come back here, listen, most people don’t make it to come back. Let’s start with that. At least from the area I came up in. And then some people are doing long stretches, like 10 to 15 years in prison. So there just aren’t a lot of us left. So for us to make it and come back and bring everybody together from all these generations, that part feels good. And it’s not like I don’t talk to all of these people separately, right. Because we all still in touch. We just don’t ever get a chance to be together as a group collectively.