indie artists

by Cindy Marie Jenkins

About a year and a half ago I started getting really involved in the web series world, then created a site to connect potential audience with shows they might like.

I recently even went so far as to voluntarily watch every single show nominated for an IAWTV Award. From there I found even more shows that I love. Like anything independent, there is a ton of crap and a few that don’t quite make it to their potential. But wow, was I surprised at the gems that I found.

Here are a few great female helmed shows, coincidentally all with a lesbian bent. That is why I love the web series world. How often will you find so many incredibly different shows created by talented women showing their struggles – except perhaps in a play festival? The web series world is very akin to intimate theatre, especially in Los Angeles. Kiss a lot of frogs, you find a prince(ss) or two.

I hope you’ll give some of these shows a chance and let the creators know what you think. Share the ones you really like. Audience voice matters if indie artists are to rise above the mainstream.

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My favorite is Little Horribles. It took me a minute to get it. By it, I mean that it took me a second to sync – or perhaps sink – into Amy York Rubin’s brain. Once there, it was such a delicious train wreck that I couldn’t stop. When caller i.d. adds “Be Cautious” to the caller’s name, and Rubin still picks up the phone, you know there is drama.

Rubin’s specific brand of comedy makes each episode feel like really great improv, or incredibly relaxed banter. This could be a documentary, the conversations feel so real. Jokes tend to hit from the inside out, sometimes trailing your guts along for the ride.

Take a look. You’ll know within the first two episodes if this is a show for you. And if it is, I guarantee you’ll be a fan for life like me.

Little Horribles (http://LittleHorribles.com) is a Barnacle Studios (http://Barnacle.is) production in collaboration with Issa Rae.
http://LittleHorribles.com
http://twitter.com/LittleHorribles
http://facebook.com/LittleHorribles

Created + Written by Amy York Rubin @ayrubin
Executive Producer: Issa Rae @issarae

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Producing Juliet is by the same team I discovered last year with their pretty wonderful teen drama Anyone But Me. As its name suggests, many stories circulate around theatre artists. The fact that most of the main relationships are lesbian is just a fact, not a plot point or the butt of jokes like in most mainstream stories (vastly generalizing here). Writer Ward has developed a great craft out of writing for the web. With episodes lasting an average of nine minutes, she wields her ensemble well. We follow certain characters and in the next episode could be taken through the same time frame from a different vantage point which quite literally made me gasp once.

New series from Tina Cesa Ward Executive Producer/Writer/Director of “Anyone But Me” and star of “Anyone But Me” Rachael Hip-Flores.
Visit the website: http://producingjuliet.com/
twitter @ProducingJuliet
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/producingjuliet
tumblr: http://producingjuliet.tumblr.com/
instagram: http://instagram.com/producingjuliet#

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The Better Half is absolutely delightful. Everyone can relate to these woes and triumphs of being in a relationship, even if you’ve never had to have the “stop instagramming your poop” conversation.

http://thebetterhalfseries.com

https://www.facebook.com/TheBetterHalfWebSeries

https://twitter.com/betterhalfshow

http://instagram.com/thebetterhalfseries

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Lauren Hamilton pitched me her show as ” a web show about a dating expert who sucks at dating, for your consideration to be reviewed. It stars myself, Lauren Hamilton, and my dog Violet (pic attached)” so I automatically love her.