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.
New Orleans is a city known for its unique environment and its fantastical feel. Now, a new web series is capturing the essence of The Big Easy. Chris Sheard is the creator of Easy, which serves as a love letter to New Orleans.
Easy stars Sheard and his brother Matt Sheard as (you guessed it) Chris and Matt, a pair of losers who are looking to change their lives. After Chris’ busking attempts go awry and Matt loses his job for accidently calling his boss “The Italian Stalin,” they team up to form their own record label. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of characters, from a mysterious bar patron with a braided beard to a loan shark named Gravy Train.
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Here’s the first part of the first episode, which begins with a clever sequence showing Chris’ life as a busker:
Easy is filled with all sorts of absurd touches that fit its wacky characters. Take, for example, the New Orleans Saints shrine where Chris and Matt go to seek repentance; it’s located inside the freezer section of a corner store.
“Living in New Orleans is like being in love with a schizophrenic,” said Sheard. “The way the city gives you everything you want, then takes it away, then gives it back again. That’s really the aspect of life here that we’re trying to capture with this project.”
There’s plenty of fun in Easy‘s first two installments, and more are hopefully on the way; through a Kickstarter campaign, Sheard hopes to raise $6,000 to fund more episodes.
OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT
- Meals With Mary. A blunt old woman and her young assistant teach viewers how to cook in this comedy.
- Seeing Other People. A pair of couples must find new friends after they “break up” with each other.
- Smarter Than You. This web series, shot with a handheld camera, follows the relationship of its starring couple.
- Space Dogs. The crew of a spaceship argue with each other in this sci-fi comedy.
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