RAISING CANE’S FOUNDER
AND CALABASSAS FILMS ANNOUNCE NEW TV DOCUSERIES “RESTAURANT RECOVERY” TO PROVIDE
RELIEF FOR STRUGGLING RESTAURANTS ACROSS AMERICA
Todd Graves Investing $2
Million to Help Independent Restaurants Recover From COVID-19 Closures
Series Will Feature 20 Restaurants throughout
US in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Miami, Baton Rouge, New York, Boston, Los Angeles,
Dallas, Houston, St. Louis, Atlanta and more
June 23, 2020 – Todd Graves, founder and
CEO of Raising Cane’s, one of the
fastest growing restaurant companies in the U.S., is combining his passions for
entrepreneurship, the restaurant business and philanthropy as the host of a timely
new docuseries titled “Restaurant
Recovery.” The series is created
with producers Kapil Mahendra and Paul Beahan through their Calabasas Films
& Media (CFM) banner, and will see Todd travel to cities across the country
to help restaurants that have closed or are on the
verge of closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working with restauranteurs in various communities over the course
of the next few months, Todd, with his decades long experience building and growing
Raising Cane’s, will guide local restaurants to come back even stronger post
enforced closures. Capturing the heart of each city, Todd and his team of
business experts, financial advisors, marketing team, and strategic food
enthusiasts will provide knowledge and resources to a range of diverse restaurants,
eateries, distilleries/breweries, bakeries and more have been so important to
their local communities.
For the initial 20 episode series run, Graves has committed to helping 20
different restaurants with a $2 million relief and recovery budget ($100k per
restaurant).
Said
Graves, “I don’t just want to help these restauranteurs come back, I want them
to come back stronger. So when the next pandemic, tornado, hurricane or any
disaster strikes, they will be ready and equipped to weather the storm.”
Shooting for “Restaurant Recovery” will begin in August and
continue for the rest of the year as cities re-open and guidelines are
instituted for safe filming and dining activities. The initial schedule
includes potential filming in New Orleans, Las Vegas, Miami, Baton Rouge, New York,
Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, St Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, San
Francisco, Denver, Atlanta and more cities based on applications received.
Viewers
shouldn’t be surprised to see prominent celebrities and personalities making
appearances in some episodes in a show of support for their hometown.
Series executive producers
are Doug
Weitzbuch (‘World of Dance”) and Adam Saltzberg (“Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition”).
Entrepreneur
and philanthropist Todd Graves knows just how hard it is to start a restaurant.
As Founder and CEO of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Todd has grown his
business from a single restaurant in his hometown to more than 500 locations
across the US and beyond. Having led his team through numerous disasters
including Hurricane Katrina and most recently -- the Covid-19 pandemic, he also
knows how hard it is to keep a restaurant going and to bring it back after a
crisis.
“I
want to help people that knew how to be successful in their own business but now
need help to overcome these extraordinary circumstances we’re facing,” added
Graves. “I know the challenges of keeping a small business going and I want to
help these great independent restaurants that have so much soul and really make
a community special. These restauranteurs care about their employees and
community, and that means a lot to me, and should mean a lot to all of us. In
‘Restaurant Recovery,’ you’ll see an iconic family restaurant that has been
around for decades in one episode, and on others it may be a local bakery that
is a community’s gathering spot, or a new restaurant that has been the owner’s
dream for decades who fell victim to horrible timing upon opening.”
Producer Kapil Mahendra said, “We hope that
these incredible actions from Todd will inspire a wave of generosity and
support for the great number of restaurants struggling through these times.
Working with Todd on this series, it feels like he’s helping family members,
and that’s what will make the series such compelling television – the sincerity,
spirit, and energy he brings.”
Paul Beahan
commented, “If this pandemic has taught us anything it’s how precious and
fragile the things that bring us happiness, and bring us together are, so we just think it’s a great idea to do what
we can to help the rebuilding effort. We are proud to work alongside Todd in
this time of need for restaurants and feel these restaurant recovery missions
will both entertain and inspire. Viewers will come away feeling optimistic.”
About Todd Graves
It began as
a college dream -- a restaurant that served high quality chicken finger meals
and nothing else. From this vision, Todd Graves created a business plan that,
ironically, earned the lowest grade in the class. The professor said a
restaurant serving only chicken fingers in South Louisiana would never work.
Undaunted,
the young entrepreneur presented his business plan to any banker that would see
him. Each time, Graves received the same negative response. Knowing he would
need to raise his own capital, Graves went to California to work as a
boilermaker in an oil refinery and then on to Alaska, where he worked in the
dangerous trade of commercial salmon fishing. Upon returning to Baton Rouge,
Graves reconstructed an old building himself into the first Raising Cane’s
restaurant naming it after his yellow lab…Raising Cane.
Approaching
its 25th year in business, Raising Cane's has grown from a single
restaurant outside the North Gates of Louisiana State University to more than 500
restaurants in 28 US states, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.
Raising Cane’s ranks as the fastest growing fast food company with over a
Billion in in the U.S. with annual
revenue exceeding $1.5 Billion.
Graves’s
entrepreneurial spirit has been recognized in Forbes, Entrepreneur,
Business Insider, Inc. Rolling Stone and USA Today. He’s appeared on
MSNBC, FOX’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, FOX & Friends, and CNN.
He’s also been featured on episodes of FOX’s Secret Millionaire, Food
Network’s Food Court Wars, Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters and
Discovery’s Fast N’ Loud.
Graves ranked
#28 in the Top 100 CEOs in the US by Glassdoor. He has been named an Ernst
& Young Entrepreneur of the Year and was awarded the SCORE Award
for Outstanding Socially Progressive Business.
Graves is passionate about his community and showing appreciation
to the people who have made his dream a reality. In the past five years, Graves
and Raising Cane’s provided $35 million in support to the communities where
Raising Cane’s restaurants operate and in 2020, will add another $13 million of
support.
About
Calabasas Films & Media
Calabasas Films & Media was formed in 2018
when producers Kapil Mahendra and Paul Beahan joined forces to develop and
produce genre films, television and streaming content, and music.
Calabasas native, Kapil Mahendra is a seasoned
TV producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. As a youth, he was a super-star
athlete attaining top awards as well as recognition for his passion for
philanthropy which ultimately lead him to befriend tennis legend, actor and
fellow philanthropist Vijay Amritraj, leading to Mahendra heading Vijay’s
foundation which focuses on women’s and children’s causes.
The foundation, with Mahendra at the helm, has
hosted televised events with Jerry Seinfeld, The Beach Boys, Alanis Morissette,
Matthew Perry and tennis legends Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Vijay himself.
Mahendra started Calabasas Films in 2010 and
helped create CNN’s “Dimensions” with Vijay and a heavy roster of celebrated
guests that included Hugh Hefner, Pierce Brosnan, Martin Luther King III, and Michael
Douglas, among others. Calabasas Films also handled productions with The Tennis
Channel and Sony Pictures.
Paul Beahan has a rich history as a film, TV and music producer
for the last 15 years. Beahan grew up between San Diego and Los Angeles honing
skills in the art, fashion and independent music world with the founding of
Manimal Group (aka Manimal Vinyl Records) in 2006 after several years working
as a freelance fashion editor.
With
Manimal, Beahan released debut albums from indie darlings Warpaint and Bat for
Lashes and eventually collaborating on exclusive projects involving David
Bowie, Yoko Ono, Duran Duran, The Cure, Moby, Carla Bruni and too many more to
name. Eventually pivoting from a record label, Manimal began building a music
library that expanded to film and television distribution with a focus on the
world of streaming content.
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Media
Contacts
Dennis
Dembia
Rogers
& Cowan / PMK
dennis.dembia@rogersandcowanpmk.com
