Indie Spotlight: ‘Roommates’ Banter, And We Laugh

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. 

Sometimes, with a web series, simplicity is key. Roommates, a new offering from creators Greg Barris and Michael Pomranz, doesn’t try to do too much, but what it does, it does well.

The stars of Roommates are Barris, a New York City comedian, and Bridey Elliott, an actress we’ve seen around these parts before. As you might guess, their characters, Greg and Fiona, live together. They’re not, however, romantically linked. Instead, they verbally combat each other with quiet, steady, dialogue. The first episode, which concerns Fiona’s crush on a maintenance man, has a bunch of strong lines and manages to knit itself together very nicely in the end. It’s also, as Bedford + Bowery points out

, based on one of Barris’ stand-up comedy bits.

Roommates won’t blow you away, but it should do just enough to get you to stick around. Keep an eye on its YouTube channel if you want to see new episodes as they come out.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT

• That Reminds Me. This family comedy has the look and feel of a classic sitcom.
• What Exit? The latest series about young people trying to find themselves takes us to New Jersey.
• AutocorrectFU. The funniest autocorrect fails on the Internet are brought to life.
• Unfinished Stories. Dark, shadowy camera angles populate this horror web series.

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.