Whatever this is. follows Sam (Hunter Canning) and Ari (
Dylan Marron ), two production assistants in New York, and Lisa (
Madeline Wise ), Sam's girlfriend.Sam and Ari are scraping by working on low or unpaid video production gigs thrown their way by Oscar (
Ross Hamman ), an existentially grumpy middle-man at a small production company. Making rent is hard enough; they barely have time to sneak toward their personal goals and personal lives in their off-hours.Lisa is a teacher and therefore unemployed for the summer. A chance encounter puts her on the road to a possible summer job, but she's not sure where it could lead - or if she's even qualified.Whatever this is. asks a tough question: how long are you expected to do work that you hate, for pennies, until it becomes something that you love that pays the rent? Is it even possible?