Newspaper carrier – a job we thought was already extinct as most of the information is now online, and only the nostalgics, the old people and the hipsters are still making it work. Back in the day, to be a newspaper carrier was a perfect first job, a way to make some money aside from what your family was giving you. It’s interesting to see how in such a short period of time some jobs perished like the remains of the Titanic in the cold waters or the Atlantic Ocean. Without acknowledging it, this fascinating profession was taken out of our lives, being replaced by a friendly newscast email.

 

Director Klifford Barkus recreated a world we are so familiar with, the world of our childhood, and for many, the world that seemed to never change. ‘The Survivor’s Guide of a Newspaper Carrier’ is a short comedy that will certainly make you laugh as it presents the dream job of every 80’s kid that you couldn’t possibly think of ages ago. The unique situations the carrier is encountering in his everyday life are hilarious, and frankly, we got really nostalgic, as it’s quite hard nowadays to see people enjoying their work as much as they did back then. When you work in a cubicle, in a corporate job, with the only human interaction being at the watercooler every couple of hours... well, we don’t think that the joyfulness level is that high as it is in the one presented in this short.

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While we loved the whole idea of Klifford Barkus' film, there was one thing that nagged us: the uneven sound editing. Let’s take, for example, the scene with the phone call in the beginning, where the voice we hear over the phone is louder than the actual character speaking in front of us, or where the ending credits score is way louder than the actual voicing of the short. With these minor elements fixed, there is no doubt ‘The Survivor’s Guide of a Newspaper Carrier’ will be a great competitor in the short section of any comedy festival around the world. 

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Written by Vlad A. G