Back in 2023, I interviewed Maine filmmaker and Southern Maine Community College student Elora Griswold about her short documentary “The City of Servers.” The 19-minute film examines the thorny and often economically unfair, subsistence-level existence of those hard-working people who bring food to customers in Portland, then recently named as one of the best food cities in America.

As usual for a student film — even one good enough to be featured in SMCC professor Corey Norman’s annual Maine Mayhem student film festival — “The City of Servers” quickly sank into obscurity. Apart from my article, Griswold’s film also got an approving write-up from the Maine AFL-CIO, but the filmmaker got back to her studies and her movie seemed destined to be forgotten.

But “Last Week Tonight”’s John Oliver had other ideas.

In February, Griswold was contacted by a producer of the award-winning HBO series, which sees Oliver cheekily delve with surprisingly reliable depth into some of the most contentious and outrage-producing issues of the day. “The City of Servers” found a second life on the March 2 episode of “Last Week Tonight,” titled “Tipping.”

Oliver included a clip from Griswold’s film featuring Portland food truck restaurateur Dan McCluskey of Ironclad Eats sharing an anecdote about the reason Dutch servers were bewildered by his attempt to tip them while on vacation abroad (Short answer: servers in other countries are paid a living wage).

Portland food truck restaurateur Dan McCluskey of Ironclad Eats sits for an interview with filmmaker Elora Griswold for her documentary “The City of Servers.” Photo courtesy of Travis Harden

As part of his takedown of, in part, Donald Trump’s widely quoted “no tax on tips” pledge, Oliver showed that glib catchphrases and easy solutions ignore the complex realities surrounding inequalities in the way service workers are paid.

For Griswold, the call from Oliver’s staff came out of the blue. “One of the producers saw the movie while doing research,” explains Griswold, currently studying for her SMCC midterms. “He DM-ed me and it seemed too good to be true, so I asked him to send me his Linkedin page to prove it wasn’t a scam.’

It was not, and Griswold’s interview with McCluskey provided a pivotal illustration of Oliver’s points about the unfair pay and tipping practices in American restaurants compared to other countries — points that Griswold says line up with heartening accuracy to those she was making in her documentary.

“Oliver’s approach through comedy is really effective,” says still-shocked “Last Week Tonight” fan Griswold. “Especially on topics like this issue. He brought home that eliminating federal taxes on tips without first eliminating the sub-minimum wage (where servers are paid below minimum wage, assuming customer tips will make up the difference) only opens opportunities for employers to cut wages even more. Given our current system, while people do need those tips, their living needs to not be reliant on the customer tip model.”

As for her unexpected contribution to that week’s episode (available to watch for free on YouTube), Griswold, while made to sign an NDA in advance of broadcast, freely admits to being delighted at the remuneration she received from the show. “It was a lot higher than I expected for 20 seconds of footage.” (Which is only fair, since Oliver routinely spends HBO’s money on everything from Russell Crowe’s “Gladiator” jock strap to the contents of an entire shuttered Red Lobster franchise to make his provocative jokes land.)

Still, for an aspiring Maine filmmaker, seeing her work folded into such a high-profile, multiple award-winning series is a head-spinner. “Yeah, it’s a total shock,” said Griswold. “Part of the reason it was so not expected was that this is so niche, so focused on a small community of servers here in Portland.”

Elora Griswold and her filmmaking team interview Dan McCluskey for her documentary “The City of Servers.” Photo courtesy of Travis Harden

That may be, but with Portland constantly attempting (and largely failing) to reconcile its image as a hub for food and culture with the needs of the people who sustain that economy to actually, you know, eat, “Last Week Tonight”’s choice of Griswold’s film is another of the series’ canny and insightful creative choices. The cost of living for working people in Portland is simply far too high, as it is in many other places where luring higher income residents and consumers is clearly the overriding priority. Focusing on workers’ place in that economy is a way of steering local governments through public opinion. And to that end, Griswold is at least a little hopeful.

“Since the premiere of the movie, things died down pretty quickly,” the filmmaker explains. “I stopped getting much feedback, even though the screening hosted by Restaurant Workers United went great, and the feedback I got from restaurant workers was too.” But since this month’s “Last Week Tonight” swept “The City of Servers” into its larger call for pay reform in the industry, Griswold says that encouragement train is rolling once again.

“I definitely got supporting messages from people who worked with me on the film and people who’d called in to the anonymous tip line we set up for the film” (as Oliver shows in his main story, restaurant workers face enormous pressure from employers not to shake up the current, owner-favoring status quo).

Apart from more welcome and deserved personal congratulations, Griswold also notes that her film has garnered a surge in YouTube views as well. And, as any restaurant worker knows, good word of mouth is key.

You can watch “The City of Servers” for free on YouTube. “Last Week Tonight” airs Sunday nights at 11 p.m. on Max. And don’t forget to tip your servers — well.

Watch the documentary