A little over a week ago, I was contacted by Ebony Blanding of the House of June because she was digging my blog and wanted to know if I would be willing to review the House of June’s latest project. After reading their reasoning why they started this, I couldn’t help but say yes. With that being said, my opinions of this series are my own and are not influenced by outside sources.

House of June is “an independent art film house that produces creative content for web, film and television. Founded by Amber Bournett (“the lens”) and Ebony Blanding (“the pen”), HOJ’s mission is to create cinematography with original narratives for those seeking diverse cultural experiences (Source).”

“The Shrink in B6” is an art house dramedy that centers around the life of ex-Psychology grad student Nadia West and her roommate, Farrah. Farrah has given Nadia an ultimatum to find a job or be out on the street. This has led Nadia to post a Craigslist ad offering her services as an affordable counselor.

We get to see these characters go through everyday issues from finding ways to pay rent to interacting with friends and discovering more about themselves. In the first episode, the viewers are greeted with aesthetically pleasing shots of our lead character contemplating her chaotic life. It’s intriguing and draws you in.

Nadia is best defined as being in a constant state of disarray. She tends to give advice at inappropriate times which leads to her getting fired from her job. She isn’t very punctual and is still trying to figure out who she is.

Viewers get the sense that Farrah is pretty much the opposite of Nadia, but they’re best friends. She’s up tight, prissy, and knows where she’s going in life. At least that’s what she wants us to think. It’ll be interesting to see what more is revealed about her.

The first two episodes avoid the problems that many independent web series have; poor shots, extraneous scenes, and unbelievable settings. I was impressed by how professional the scenes looked and the fact that they were able to shoot on location (e.g. the pawn shop). Every scene had a point. There wasn’t random shots that took away from the overall story. The sound wasn’t horrible either. There’s a moment here or there where it was hard to hear and music or traffic drowned out the sound, but overall it was good.

The dialogue was pretty good as well and I liked the effects they used to help get certain points across. It’s a relatable story with interesting characters that you want to learn more about and makes you ask questions. Will Nadia redeem herself? Will Farrah chill out? Is there a love interest? Why is there always that one friend that doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut?

I believe that the thing that appeals to me the most is how House of June is breaking stereotypes that tend to rule the entertainment industry when it comes to black women. Nadia has at least one advanced degree and you can assume Farrah does as well. Neither are single moms, both wear natural their hair, and they aren’t on any assistance programs. It’s refreshing to see something like this. It humanizes us while combating the perception that we are just welfare queens, criminals, musicians, or athletes. Also, the Doug theme song cover is awesome.

Overall, I think that this is a web series to keep an eye on. I believe they post an episode once a month so check out their Facebook page that I linked above to stay up-to-date. Below are the first two episodes.

Thanks for reading,

*All photos and video belong to House of June*