It’s easy to see why web series are a preferred format for filmmakers these days. Now that traditional channels can be circumvented to get work into the public sphere, there’s no shortage of content available online. With high production values, star power and recent instances of pay-per-episode models, a feature film or a network pilot is becoming less an ends and more a means. Los Angeles has emerged as a natural epicenter for web series, hosting a variety of festivals and award shows and playing backdrop to the stories and ideas of our creative populace. Here are a few that continue to impress, five minutes at a time.
Tom Explores Los Angeles
In Tom Explores Los Angeles, Tom Carroll continues in the colorful tradition of Huell Howser and Charles Phoenix. While he might not have the huge personality to match these local luminaries, he unpacks the hidden corners of this city with a lot of the same love. Two seasons of his whimsical explorations are available on his YouTube channel, and he highlights landmarks that even dedicated Angelinos might have missed. The steepest street in California, the Sunken City in San Pedro and the faux-European St. Vincent Court are a few that he covers, and he includes Google Map links for your own urban expeditions.
Poetry in Motion
Each vignette from Eric Pritchard’s Poetry in Motion series cinematically examines poems that convey a specific time and place in the Golden State. In the first two installments, Pritchard provides visual accompaniment to Bukowski’s ode to the racetrack “9 Horse” and to the mystical beauty of Big Sur portrayed in Robinson Jeffers ‘“Oh Lovely Rock." Both are shot in black and white over original recitations of the poems, and he is able to trace the contours of the selections through dramatic reenactments and found footage. In "9 Horse," the film also works as historic document to a time when ponies still ran at the recently demolished Hollywood Park.
52 Ways to Break Up
The concept behind Megan Rosti’s 52 Ways to Break Up is simple but effective. With every installment Rosti plays one half of a relationship and illustrates the many ways that they can dissolve. A lot of the scenarios speak to the conditions of dating in 2015: Arguing over an episode of The Moth, listening to your boyfriend act like a scumbag on his podcast, problematic Tinder dates, etc. What’s special about this series is Rosti and director Will Lamborn’s ability to go from funny to dark to poignant at a moment’s notice.
The Fat One
In a city and an industry obsessed with skinniness, Katherine Alyse’s The Fat One is pretty damn subversive. The trailer opens with a montage of some of the dumb comments and advice directed her way. The series goes on to unflinchingly examine a society that can’t deal with Alyse's own self-acceptance. The end result is a series with a razor sharp wit and a heart of gold. Alyse manages to tackle the f word in a manner that is hilarious, rebellious and empowering all at the same time.