We are a fast food generation – meal masochists in the making, subjecting ourselves to poor service and substandard cuisine all for the sake of a quick meal and a small bill.

The situation sure seems dismal, but 29-year-old director Seth Landau is putting a humorous spin on the issue in his first feature-length movie “Take Out,” which wrapped up production just a few months ago.

The independently produced comedy follows the story of a brave reporter as he decides to bring down the fast food industry. The tag line reads: “Food shouldn’t cost less than a dollar.”

The movie is currently in the process of being submitted to over a dozen high-profile film festivals, including the 2005 American Film Institute festival and 2006 Sundance, Tribeca, and Cannes film festivals.

Landau plays Zack Turk, a reporter for The Arizona Tribune, who attempts to ruin corrupt food establishments like Ba Ba BBQ Texas Feeder and Chief Beef.

In the process, Turk incurs the dangerous wrath of both his bald-headed editor, Tex, and his nefarious grandfather, Irving Turk, who happens to be CEO of Chief Beef.

The idea for the movie came from a bad experience Landau had several years ago while dining in Los Angeles, a city where customer service doesn’t exist, he said.

His background in journalism and media, along with his frustration with the chain restaurant industry, fueled him to write the script for “Take Out.”

Having worked in the media and entertainment industries for almost 10 years, Landau had many contacts, which allowed him to produce the film on a $13,000 budget – quite a feat, even for a small, independent movie.

Landau, who currently lives in L.A., returned to his hometown of Phoenix to shoot the film in the summer of 2004.

Post-production finished about a year later, and the film started being submitted to the film festivals for consideration.

Landau is confident that some of the festivals will decide to show the film.

“I know it’s good, and I know it’s funny,” Landau said. “I think there’s a decent chance that at least a couple – will want to show it.”

If any of the festivals decide to show “Take Out,” the movie will have an opportunity to be picked up a by a distributor and sold.

“I would love for it to get really popular – and for people to really embrace it,” Landau said.

This would make more than just Landau happy, as many people put in their time and effort to make the movie, including some familiar faces.

Justin Walker, who played Christian in the movie “Clueless,” stars as Don Libishitz, Turk’s sleazy coworker at the newspaper.

Also part of the cast is Daniel Roebuck, who has been in such movies as “The Fugitive,” “The Devil’s Rejects” and both “Agent Cody Banks” movies.

In “Take Out” Roebuck plays Fredo Holt, CEO of Puff Puff Tobacco.

Chase Masterson also stars in the film as Nicole Blu, a bar singer. Masterson is known for her frequent appearances as Leeta on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” throughout the ’90s.

Landau managed to get all the actors on board through his own personal contacts.

Even if the movie doesn’t get as much recognition as he hopes it will, Landau said he isn’t going to stop making movies any time soon.

“Hopefully this is what I’ll do for the rest of my life,” Landau said.

In fact, he has already written a script for his next movie, which will be a horror film titled, “Bryan Loves You.”

“Much like I want ‘Take Out’ to be one of the funniest things people have seen – I want this movie to be one of the scariest,” said Landau, who hopes to begin shooting the movie next summer.

But for now, Landau just wants the festivals to approve “Take Out,” as it could shape his career in the near future.

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