We receive a ton of tips every day from independent creators, unaffiliated with any major motion picture studios, television networks, new media studios, or other well-funded online video entities. The Indie Spotlight is where we’ll write about and shout out to a select few of them and bring you up to speed on the great (and sometimes not-so-great) attention-grabbing series you probably haven’t heard about until now. Read previous installments here.
The neuroses of helicopter parents are played for laughs in a Chicago-based web series. Anna Maria Hozian and Brad Riddell, who are both screenwriting professors, are the creators behind Other People’s Children, a series that mines comedy from parent-teacher conferences.
Each episode of Other People’s Children details a conversation between Margot (Atra Asdou) and one or two parents of children in her second-grade class. The adults in the room are an eclectic bunch; some are overcritical, while others are wildly profane. No matter their quirks, Margot must do her best to convince them that she is giving their kids a strong education.
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Other People’s Children has a sharpness to it that Hozian and Riddell drew from their own experiences with ridiculous parents. Both of the show’s creators live in the suburbs and have school-age children, which means they interact with plenty of overbearing characters. As screenwriters, they are sharing their experience through the only format that makes sense: unpretentious, silly comedy.
OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT
- Save Me. The moments before 911 calls are depicted in this Canadian anthology series.
- Tinder is the Night. This dating comedy has received buzz and awards ahead of its launch.
- Agape. A good girl goes on a journey of self-discovery. High drama ensues.
Got a series you’d like to see featured in the Indie Spotlight? Be sure to contact us here. For best coverage, please include a full episode in your e-mail.
