Indie Spotlight: Here’s A Guide On ‘How To Make It In USA’

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. 

Looking to pursue your own American dream? How To Make It In USA has some tips–albeit poor ones–that can help you on your path. The new web series stars Joe Pera and Conner O’Malley as an unfunny comedian and an out-of-touch agent who banter with each other in the agent’s office.

What drives How To Make It In USA is its experienced stars’ assured deliveries. Pera, who previously starred in the MTV web series Pancake Breakfast Critic, crafts his character a meek, gutless comic with terrible jokes. O’Malley, who writes for Late Night with Seth Meyers, takes agent Max Gold in the opposite direction. His performance, which ends up halfway between Ari Gold and Mike Francesa, is the best part of How To Make It In USA.

As with many indie web series, How To Make It In USA‘s characters are fictionalized versions of their respective actors. “Conner used to perform on cruise ships with Second City improv, so he has some experience,” Pera told Decider. “If he did get me on a cruise line, I don’t think I would say no.”

Thus far, three episodes of How To Make It In USA are available. Check them out on Pera’s YouTube channel.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• Threesome. A couple tries to spice up their relationship by looking for someone to have a threesome with.
• Zero Point. This series, which brands itself as a “scientific thriller,” premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.
• Robbie the Space Raccoon. A raccoon puppet teaches kids about important issues.
• Tandem Bike Cops. Two cops. One bike. One sleepy Massachusetts town.

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.