Indie Spotlight: ‘O, The Ennui’ Turns Minutiae Into Existential Crises

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.

Many indie web series focus on the irritating minutiae of daily life. They hit on frustrating jobs, awkward romances, obnoxious roomates, etc. O, The Ennui turns those minor problems up to eleven. It brings an overblown, existential lens to mundane annoyances, thus creating a smart deadpan comedy.

Two episodes of O, The Ennui have been released thus far on Funny or Die. In the first, two roommates use a bowl of suspect-looking guacamole as a basis to discuss the ephemeral nature of life. In the second, a haunting paranormal experience turns into a discussion about Netflix passwords. These combinations succeed thanks to the deadpan deliveries of actors Mark Millner and Sutton Dewey, who also serve as the series’ writers via their production company, Grey Hour Media.

At least one more episode is planned, but O, The Ennui has boundless potential. Any and all small inconveniences have the potential to become their own episodes. The world is putty in Gray Hour‘s hands; they only need to treat it with moody lighting, mournful indie music, and a faux-serious delivery in order to turn it into comedy gold.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• You Make Art Dumb. Smart, artistic people talk about times where they have made mistakes and discuss the ways those mistakes have influenced their creative processes.
• Good Medicine. This smoky web series, set at a marijuana dispensary, fittingly released its first episode on 4/20.
• The Jasons. This sketch group is led by two comedy writers named Jason. The latest sketch makes fun of family friends who think they know how to write comedy.
• Local Attraction. Tinder is one of the hottest dating apps on the web, so it is spawning a few web series inspired by the awkward dates it sets up. This is one of the more noteworthy ones.

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.