Indie Spotlight: Mischievous Friends Pair Up In ‘The Digressions’

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. 

This edition of Indie Spotlight is sponsored by Tongal.

The Digressions shows us how far an interesting concept and a tight script can take an indie web series. As it plays out across a series of two-person encounters, it reveals key traits about characters who aren’t on screen, creating a compelling character study.

The Digressions follows a quintet of friends (Winslow Corbett, Andrew Dahl, Jordan McArthur, Eric Pargac, and Aubrey Saverino) who weave through what the show’s description calls “the detours that happen on the road to adulthood.” On paper, this seems like a fairly typical concept, but it is livened up by The Digressions‘ unique wrinkle: Only two of these characters appear on screen at a time, and each episode spans a single-scene conversation between the two present characters.

This allows the show’s script to shine. In addition to its dry wittiness, the writing in The Digressions does a splendid job of revealing information about characters who are off-screen. On-screen characters tend to paint themselves in a positive light while slandering those who are off-screen, a narrative decision that feels authentic.

This authenticity ultimately drives The Digressions, while each dialogue provides steady amusement. A Kickstarter campaign funded season two, and I hope to see its starting five return for a third round of gossip.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT:

• Bad Indian. Creator Janaki Tambe quit her job in aerospace to move back in with her parents and write this web series about life as a first-generation Indian-American.
• Tales From The Kraka Tower. A web series that takes on the presence of privilege within the halls of higher education.
• Day Drunk Gays. The only thing flashier than the brunch conversations in this web series is its characters’ collective dress sense.
• The Other Room. What’s cooler than a sci-fi or fantasy web series? A web series that is both sci-fi AND fantasy.

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This edition of Indie Spotlight is sponsored by Tongal. Tongal is changing the way creative work gets done, by making it accessible to people everywhere. For brands, studios, and causes, Tongal’s innovative platform provides continuous access to a global network of creatives, offering fresh ideas and insights, and top filmmaking talent to bring them to life. Tongal’s collaborative, merit-driven process enables everyone to focus on the work they do best. The result is outstanding content delivered with great speed and efficiency. Tongal is based in Santa Monica, California.