Indie Spotlight: ‘Grip & Electric’ Plugs In Some Film Set Comedy

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.

There have been an uncountable number of web comedies about show business, but there’s still room for fresh new content in that genre, especially when it delivers its jokes from a fresh point of view. Grip & Electric, directed by Kerry Harris and co-written by Harris and Andrew Burlinson, accomplishes exactly that. Through the eyes of detached, sardonic crewpeople, it satirizes the excesses of the film and TV industries to great effect.

The six episodes of Grip & Electric take place on a music video set run by the zany helicopter parent of an eye-rolling teen starlet and crewed by our intrepid heroes. The personalities of the show’s cast range from laconic to high-strung, but they all seem to approach their jobs with the same philosophy in mind: It’s not glamorous work, but it pays the bills.

Harris previously worked on the web series DRYVRS, which gained millions of views thanks to a maniacal turn from Macaulay Culkin. Grip & Electric has a former child actor in its cast as well: Henry Thomas, who played the lead role in E.T. His co-stars include noted voice actress Janet Varney and Burlinson, a TV vet in his own right. The experience of the cast is evident, and they script they’re working with flows with a snappy rhythm. Put everything together, and Grip & Electric is a well-made little web series.

OTHER UNDER-THE-RADAR SERIES TO CHECK OUT 

• Kyloki. A man’s life is full of exasperation because his roommates are noted movie villains Kylo Ren and Loki.
• Guitar Guy. This series is a comedic look at that guy who always pulls out his guitar at parties.
• Fantasy Hospital. Doctors save their patients from magical maladies in this animated 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.