Indie Spotlight: ‘Sprinkles And Buttons’ Goes Inside The Canine Mind

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. 

The return of our Indie Spotlight column marks the end of the week, and what better way to send the week off than with some animal humor? The animal logic found within dog brains serves as the driving factor in Sprinkles and Buttons, a new web series.

Sprinkles and Buttons’ title refers to a pair of dogs who share the same owner. Their owner isn’t very communicative, so instead of following her, we zoom into their heads and listen to their canine conversations. Paul LeSchofs and series creator Steve Miranda, dressed in simple costumes, convert the dog talk into English. As it turns out, the two pets spend most of their time wondering if this is the day they starve to death.

The humor in Sprinkles and Buttons can be described as “a Sunday morning comic strip about pet ownership mixed with a BuzzFeed video sponsored by Purina.” The way the jokes are presented, on the other hand, more closely adopts the loose, improvisational feel employed by so many other series I’ve featured in this space. It’s a nice blend, and as a result, Sprinkles and Buttons is just plain pleasant. Even if you’re not a pet owner, you’re likely to find it amusing.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• Kosmos. An excellent cast and fantastic production values characterize this sci-fi web series.
• Skapparoneday. Music, comedy, and small town imagery meet in a single package.
• My Few Lives. A diverse set of New York City’s many characters share their stories.
• The Crew. Adventure filmmaking, with a distinct amateur vibe.

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.