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High schoolers, in the early 2000s, and even high schoolers today, base the quality of a school day on the lunch menu. The best day is fried chicken day. Alan Smith, co-writer of the movie, “Fried Chicken Day” remembers those lunches fondly among his other childhood memories in LaGrange.

Smith grew up in town and was a Granger, graduating in 2001. Together with his co-writer John Williams, a former writing professor at LaGrange College, they used their experiences growing up and living in the city to showcase the life of a teenager living in a small southern town.

The independent feature film follows Kai, a Californian transplant in the fictional town of Grangeville, GA in the 1990s. Of course, Grangeville is based on the writers’ old stomping grounds and the film was shot on location. The first day at school for Kai, filmed at LaGrange High School, is the chaotic fried chicken day.

However, the movie is about more than lunch. The logline of the movie reads, “Kai befriends two local teenagers, Travis and Brandi, and their discovery of a mysterious map leads them on a quest to unveil the mysteries of a once-thriving village now shrouded in mystery.”

Smith has come a long way since his days at LaGrange High. He lives in Atlanta now and the film was produced through his production company Creative Cabin Studios. He said filming in his alma mater was nostalgic.

“Actually, Coach [Mike] Pauley let me in the school. He helped me get access to it when we needed to film. And he was my [basketball] coach in high school. So I would say it was a pretty special feeling. Yeah, it was kind of surreal. But, I mean, everything was the same, it kind of brought me right back. But it was really cool,” Smith said.

“My folks still live there, and I grew up there my whole life, so it was kind of a special place to do it,” Smith said.

The movie is set in the late 90s, when Smith was roaming the halls of LHS himself.

“[The film] has a nostalgic feel of when we were growing up in the middle of high school…Also as a filmmaker, locations and your settings are so important. So I just, you know, know every place in the LaGrange that I thought would be good for backgrounds and the scenes.”

The film will include some familiar faces.

“I thought it would be super important to include as many local people as I could. So Kim Barber from LaGrange College Theater helped coordinate a local casting session, and I was actually able to get two of the lead characters from LaGrange, they’re lead supporting roles.

Those locals are Savanna Hunt and Mark Huffman.

While the setting is unmistakably LaGrange, Smith said that the audience can relate to the small-town story whether they have stepped foot in Troup County or not.

The film is currently in post-production. Smith and Williams plan to enter it into festivals as well as sell to a streaming service. When it does come out, viewers will be able to see LaGrange on the big screen.

Smith, Williams and local cast members will be discussing the movie and the filming experience at the LaGrange Memorial Library, located at 115 Alford St., on Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.. The program is open and free to the public.