'Part Timers' Find Work Online

Web Series Focuses on Trials of Temporary Jobs
Donald Lierman
Contributing Writer

From martinet bosses to empty-headed co-workers to a pay check that barely pays for a value meal, the daily struggles of the under-employed challenge many to not give away their souls for their daily bread.

Local filmmakers have created a comedic Web series, “Part Timers,” to address the trials and tribulations of making it in this not so brave new world. Each episode will feature four twenty-somethings living and working, and trying to work, in the economically struggling region of southeast Michigan known as the Blue Water Area.

The inspiration for the series is the ennui that transforms one’s self when an individual is forced to subsist in these modern times.

“When one applies for part-time work, one feels it will only be short term. Nobody applies for a temporary job unless it is absolutely necessary. But what happens when the job becomes no longer a short-term gig?” said Ryan Falcheck, who stars as Chris in the series. “These characters have come to the grim realization that this part-time job has become their lives. They deal with the despair of wondering, ‘How much longer is this going to go on?’”

Series co-creator Jesse Dunsmore, Randy in the series, based “Part Timers” on a short-story he wrote in high school about when he worked at a department store.

“The story grew from one person’s experiences. It became a tale of a group of men in their early twenties who are trying to grow up and be successful in an area that invites people to settle for mediocrity,” he said. “The series almost feels like a documentary. The issues Randy deal with are ones that I have either gone through or am going through.”

The plot revolves around four characters that are on the lower end of the economic food chain: Chris (Falcheck), Randy (Dunsmore), James (Rob McCollister) and Abe (Joe Liniarski).

Falcheck character, who also narrates, is a “friendly, well-intentioned dreamer, who works as a server. Chris is the glue that holds the group together. While other characters show their uncertainty, Chris does his best to hide it and maintain,” Falcheck said.

Dunsmore’s character, Randy, is a recent college graduate with a journalism degree seeking work in his chosen career path. “He was once very idealistic and wanted to save the world. The stress of attempting to find a job has made him very numb. He bottles up his emotions,” Dunsmore said. “In another life, Randy might have ended up as a sniper if he snapped.”

The characters of James and Abe round-out the cast. McCollister’s character, James, “works at a movie theater and is the sort of person who aspires to be a Jedi. James has the best intentions of being everything a nerd would want to be,” Falcheck said. “James is also a dreamer: he wants a girlfriend but doesn’t have the nerve to get one, he wants to make the next ‘Star Wars’ but does not have the nerve for that either.”

Abe, played by Joe Liniarski, can’t hold a job for more than a month.

“Abe has a new job every episode,” Dunsmore said. “The other characters live together in Abe’s house, but Abe doesn’t live there. He is a type of cartoon character. He gets along with Chris and Randy, but has a strained relation with James.

“Abe and James are so much alike, yet they can’t get along. Abe is the sort that lives on the seat of his pants without any goals for the future.”

The series is set to be released Saturday, June 19, at 11 a.m. and will be submitted to area film festivals. The first “Part-Timers” episode may be viewed at the Facebook page for the series: "Part Timers" episode one.

“We are not of the traditional Hollywood mode,” Dunsmore said. “We are just regular guys from the area who love to tell stories. This series is about doing those things and discussing their world the way local guys would.”