Ever heard of the saying that when no one gives you an opportunity, create one? If so, many have took that leap of faith and created endeavors for themselves to showcase their talent, creativity, sense of humor and imagination. We live in a generation that’s fueled by social media and its content and there’s no better way to take advantage of digital platforms to pursue your wildest dreams.
Web series have become a great way to have a constant stream of storytelling told to a huge online audience. A star like Issa Rae had the dream of creating The Awkward Black Girl web series and five years later, she’s now one of the biggest stars in Hollywood with a huge fanbase and developing the second season of her HBO show Insecure. Here are five web series making their stride in the online arena for 2017.
“The Power Circle Series”: Twenty four-year-old video journalist Tia Long knew the importance of having great minds come together with one sole purpose: to inspire and create conversation. “The Power Circle Series” gathers 18 young creatives including photographers, songwriters, hip-hop bloggers, radio personalities, and more to discuss various topics within the urban culture. “The Power Circle Series” has been paralleled to the BET classic talk show, Teen Summit. For Tia, having had over five years in the entertainment industry, creating the web series enabled her to expand her mind and talents without being limited to only one area in the entertainment industry, saying, “Each panelist provided a unique perspective to the discussion. We’ve all experienced life from a different lens but during times like now, I feel the obligation to showcase the many commonalities we do share. The Power Circle Series is the first step to unveiling my purpose as a creative, which is to lend a platform to great minds and document moments which otherwise may have not been sought out. Those are the moments in which we discover true greatness.” Catch up with “The Power Circle Series” here.
“Clever In The City”: From an early age, there was always something clever about Chloe Marcano, creator of Clever In the City. With a bubbling personality and vivacious sense of humor to match, Chloe is now taking her talents and quirky sense of humor to DinnerLand.TV with her hit web series. And what triggered Chloe to start the show was nothing but her strong love for her home, New York City. She said, “I wanted people who are not from NYC to see what it’s like, I wanted to show how creative the city is, how we can balance dating while chasing our dreams and not getting distracted.” With her loyal fans across every social media platform, Chloe not only wants viewers to get a taste of NYC creatives chasing dreams, but wants viewers to be inspired to chase their own. “I want people to never be afraid to put in the hard work, there’s always opportunity wherever you are, it’s just being bold enough to create or find one. For me, this show I’m giving back, I’m giving back to a city who helped discovered my passion,” she said. Catch up with “Clever In The City” here.
“Tough Love”: This series follows six millennials experiencing the struggles of life, relationships and love in New York City. With over 1 million YouTube views and a vast social media following, viewers can’t get enough of “Tough Love’s” unforgettable characters with their dramatic plot twists in each season. However, not all was peaches and cream for “Tough Love’s” cast and crew in the beginning stages. “Try to envision a small cast and crew running through NYC, hopping on and off trains, shooting in the middle of the street, filming early mornings to avoid crowds- doing anything necessary to get the job done. That’s how we produced Tough Love. We didn’t have a big budget and we didn’t have a large team. What we did have was a dream and the will to make it come to fruition.” Catch up with “Tough Love” here.
“Black Panties”: This series tells the story of womanhood and vulnerability colliding as four friends go through New York City experiencing love, mental illness, and the magic of womanhood through a woman’s intuition. “Black Panties” was written to give a platform to plus-size women to be honest with the world through storytelling and to open up more opportunities for female plus-size actors. For creator Francina Smith, it was her being fed up that led to the creation of the web series. “I was tired seeing plus size women as stereotype characters rather than real women. I wanted to open a place and room in our room to give viewers our perspective to real women. Were all different, we are not the same,” said Francina. Catch up with “Black Panties” here.
“Brown Girls”: This series tells an intimate story of two friends going through the ups and downs of life In their twenties. This Chicago-set web series follows Leila, a queer South Asian-American writer, and her bestie Patricia, a sex-enthusiast Black musician. “Brown Girls” is not your typical web series of over-the-top drama but more of an enriched experience of the tales of young women in their twenties going through life. “The young women remind me so much of the interracial friendships I have and how they really help shape the woman I am,” Bailey, the series’ director, told The FADER. “It’s rare for us to see women of color of different ethnicities sharing space together, especially in a loving way-without much conflict.” As far was what’s next for “Brown Girls,” the sky is the limit for them while referencing HBO show “Insecure.” “Both
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have writing rooms and directors/creators attached that are filled with people that look like the characters they’re representing, and I do think that makes a big difference,” Bailey added. Catch up with “Brown Girls” here.