Indie Spotlight: ‘LARPs’ Is The Latest Spin On ‘The Guild’

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 web series to bear the label “Like The Guild, but…” is LARPs. The ten-episode comedy is “Like The Guild, but with LARPing”. It tracks a live-action role playing group as its members go on adventures and get their personal lives tangled up along the way.

As I noted the last time I invoked “Like The Guild, but…”, that phrase is not meant as a detraction. Felicia Day’s beloved comedy web series is a great starting point for any creator looking to bring his favorite nerdy hobby to the screen, so long as that creator adds enough original flavor to make his series more than a carbon copy. In the case of LARPs, director Julian Stamboulieh and the rest of the team at Beanduck Productions have focused their efforts to create an engaging visual setting, a lovingly-constructed cast of characters, and clean, sharp dialogue.

Like Geek & Sundry’s Unplugged, LARPs is carefully balanced so that it is appealing to LARPers and accessible to a general audience. Several of the actors are LARPers themselves, and the series is very clearly laughing with the LARP community, not at it. At the same time, web series fans will find plenty to enjoy, even if they’ve only ever expressed a passing interest in foam weapons and Medieval costumes.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• Aftermath. A car accident puts a young man on life support and leaves his friends and family attempting to figure out how to cope.
• Red Sleep. A psychological thriller in which an escape prisoner is given a psychoactive drug that drastically affects his sleep cycle.
• K & A. Two close friends try to help each other but ultimately end up getting in each others’ way for comedic effect.
• Preggers. Two foul-mouthed women work together to struggle through their respective pregnancies.

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.