This month’s women-helmed web series picks are clever, innovative, and and wide-ranging in their representations of women.
By putting experiences usually cast aside front and center, the web series “Caring” uses its all-female creative team to explore the role of motherhood and children in a woman’s life. Erin Wagoner, creator of “Caring,” uses her experiences as a former nanny to write a comedic web series that follows two affluent women and their children’s nannies. The first episode introduces us to the four women of the cast, focusing on Kate, played by Hannah Dunne (“Mozart in the Jungle”). Kate is beyond broke, and aimlessly picking up her life after graduate school. The subsequent four episodes of the series focus on the other women. Each character is simultaneously charming and full of flaws in this entertaining series.
“Womanhood” is a series from Refinery29 presented as an advice show hosted by Jo Firestone and Aparna Nancherla. But the comedy duo is more interested in cleverly deconstructing female stereotypes than delivering sound guidance. Their deadpan delivery of cringe-worthy anecdotes and questionable recommendations makes for a giggle-inducing watch. If you are a fan of “Broad City” or “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” this web series’ brand of silliness, empowerment, and absurdity is for you.
Finally, “Full Movie Here” is flipping the script, quite literally. By adapting male-starring movies into films by and about women, the web series takes care not to cast women as only wives, girlfriends, and supporting characters. It shows what we at Women and Hollywood say time and time again — women deserve to be in the spotlight, both on-screen and behind the scenes.
Here is a more in-depth look at our picks for this month’s web series by and about women.
“Caring” — Created and Written by Erin Wagoner; Directed by Maggie Kiley
This web series debuted as an official selection at the Los Angeles Film Festival, which ended last week. “Caring” follows two mothers and their two nannies as they strive to have it all, representing a spectrum of experiences involved in motherhood and womanhood: a busy career mom (Lynn Chen), a stay-at-home mom (Mickey Sumner), a 20-something woman (Hannah Dunne) attempting to get back on her feet, and an immigrant woman (Diana DeLaCruz) who must take care of a family at her work and in her private life. According to the official synopsis, “Caring” offers “a story about being a woman and caretaker and the constant tug-of-war between responsibilities and dreams…and major disappointments!” You can watch the entire first season on Vimeo.
“Womanhood” is part advice show and part comedy series. Produced by Refinery29 and hosted by comedians Jo Firestone and Aparna Nancherla, the series is a primer in all things “womanhood.” With topics ranging from puberty to “ruining your body at a young age” and “entering your dirty thirties,” the series’ mix of silliness, whimsy, and dark humor encapsulates both comedians’ signature style and makes for a promising series. You can catch up on “Womanhood” by watching the first four episodes on YouTube.
Full Movie Here — Created and Written by Andrea Lee Christensen
“Full Movie Here” is exactly the kind of web series that proves the exciting ways women can harness the power of the Internet to distribute entirely new projects. The mission of “Full Movie Here” is to create women-centric stories by re-writing well-known films, genres, stories, and characters. Each episode will take on a different male-starring film and make a woman the center of the action. The first episode re-makes director Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 Daniel Day-Lewis vehicle “There Will Be Blood.” Creator and writer Andrea Lee Christensen’s loose adaptation of the film is witty and hilarious. You can watch the episode on YouTube. If you like what you see, there is currently a crowdfunding campaign to produce more episodes, with “Wolf of Wall Street” and “Finding Nemo” as inspiration.
