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.
What do you do when you’ve just won nearly $300,000 at the World Series of Poker? If you’re Matt Carmody, you invest in a well-made web series. Carmody is creator of Man Jam, a web series that looks good, feels good, and rocks hard.
Man Jam follows its four protagonists–played by Carmody, Drew Powell, Justin Wade, and Joe Pascual–as they look to blow off steam by playing together in a hard rock band. This plotline is true to life; the four main actors often jam together in real life, and in Man Jam, they move their musical expeditions to the Internet while throwing in some broad comedy.
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By reading Man Jam‘s title, we learn which gender it’s primarily intended for, and sure enough, the series features plenty of jokes about women, booze, and rock. What it lacks in blazing originality, though, it makes up for with sterling production design. The series is shot with a crisp, clean lens, and strong sound editing causes the chugging soundtrack to burst out of the screen.
Obviously, not all web series creators will have big-time poker winnings at their disposal, but Carmody has used his money well, and the result is a series that he and his team should be proud of. The first season of Man Jam, which runs for 12 episodes, can be watched on the series’ website.
OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT
- The Outer Darkness. The team behind the web series Bloody Cuts is back with a horror anthology.
- Kill Em All. This web series, which combines a crime story with romance, is set to return for season two.
- Lost in LA. Life as a struggling actor in Los Angeles once again takes center stage in this web series.
- KymNonStop. This charismatic fitness guru puts her own unique spin on the workout genre.
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.
