Indie Spotlight: ‘Charmers’ Arrives Just In Time For The Holidays

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.

I regularly use this weekly column to spotlight cynical web series about cynical twentysomethings living in a cynical city. While that may be appropriate for 51 weeks out of the year, it’s currently Christmastime, and it’s only natural to opt for something a little more uplifting. Creator Joshua Sherman is behind Charmers, a musical series inspired by the golden age of Broadway.

Charmers is made up of musical shorts, each one hearkening back to the colorful musicals of the 1940s. They feature a plucky tunes, careful choreography, and uplifting themes like hope, love, and imagination. “Having a little imagination is what makes it worthwhile,” Sherman told Vermont Public Radio, “that’s the key with all of these and that’s what brings these together.”

The most recent installment is the only one that is literally about Christmas, but the previous three are all in the holiday spirit, and the third episode, which features a setting resembling a high school prom, is my personal favorite.

It’s also worth noting that musical theater is just a hobby for Sherman. He pays the bills by working as an internist, making him one of the most artistic doctors on the web.

Indie Spotlight will feature more big-city cynicism in a couple weeks. For now, ’tis the season for singing, dancing, and smiles, so let’s allow Charmers to set the mood.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT:

• The Curious Cook. Cher guest starred in a recent episode of this web series mixing LGBT conversation with food.
• Single And Dating In Vancouver. The title pretty much speaks for itself . Residents of the titular city will dig this one.
• The Hinterlands. A musical drama that tackles the subject of bullying.
• Noirhouse. An Australian noir series that recently received a government grant allowing it to make six more episodes.

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.