Indie Spotlight: In ‘SNAFU’, The Situation Is Not Normal

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 latest indie web series to feature a misanthropic lead character is SNAFU. Creator Chloe Sanders‘ look inside the life of a recently laid-off woman is a steady comedy propped up by a few laugh-out-loud gags.

Sanders stars as Flo, who has recently been fired from her job after leaving a verbally abusive message on her boss’ voicemail. As the first episode goes on, we learn exactly why Flo was fired: She’s vain, self-important, and just plain snotty, even when talking to kids who are trying to raise money for their basketball team as part of the pilot’s best gag). She has a bickering but important relationship with her roommate Eli (played by Michael Pantozzi), who is working on a MacGyver-esque show called Crafty Assassin (this is the pilot’s second-best gag.)

SNAFU, which was funded last year by a successful $16,000 Kickstarter campaign, is best when it spares us the whimpering “why me”s that plagues so many web series. Flo is bad, she’s mean, and she spares no venom. This attitude turns SNAFU into a fun watch, and there are still three more episodes to come.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT:

• CATastrophes. A French cat shows up in America as an “exchange student” in this web series, which hopes to encourage viewers to adopt cats of their own.
• Not Looking. Drew Droege helms this parody of HBO’s Looking. There’s a Lance Bass sighting in there, too.
• Winners. A group of “creative” losers move in with an egotist who promises them free rent.
• Undergrad Chronicles. This series follows the lives of eight undergraduate students at historically black colleges/universities.

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.

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.