Indie Spotlight: ‘Out Of State’ Sends The Indie Comedy Back To School

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.

There are a seemingly infinite number of indie web series chronicling the angst and uncertainty of twentysomethings trying to make it in the big city, but college remains a relatively unexamined setting. This is pretty easy to understand: There isn’t nearly as much potential for conflict in a time marked by bacchanalia and easygoing attitudes.

Out of State, a web series from creator Matt Giudice, makes me wish university was a more popular topic among indie creators. A comedy that recently began its second season, Out of State takes the character-driven humor typical of any good indie series and combines it with a fresher setting.

The series is centered around two friends who become estranged after the morally-loose half of the odd couple sleeps with the uptight half’s crush. There is a strong Scrubs vibe, with lots of internal monologues and a central bromance that drives the plot.

At the same time, Out of State is very much a college web series, and setting is important. The first episode’s main joke revolves around one of our leads’ attempt to find a roommate, as many of the funny callbacks in the first episode refer to characters introduced in that scene. After watching so many series set in the big city, a dorm setting is highly welcome–as is Out of State‘s strong writing and honest character development.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT:

• Twenty-Five. The latest web series about young adult life in the big city is written by Vanity Fair contributor Josh Duboff.
• Least Favorite Love Songs. An “almost romantic” comedy out of New Orleans about a woman who jumps from one vaguely sexual encounter to another.
• Fur Your Information. A puppet web series created by DoSomething.org that uses interviews to get young people interested in social action. The first guest is YouTuber Michael Buckley.
• History at Risk. This series explores the Fell’s Point neighborhood of Baltimore, one of the oldest communities in the USA.

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.