Jonathan Ford, Managing Director, Abacus Media Rights
Abacus Media Rights has launched pre-sales for a brand new, premium drama series "Robin Hood" created by Jonathan English (Ironclad) with John Glenn (Seal Team) as showrunner. Produced by English/Glenn Media and Balkanic Media, the series will be shot at PFI Studios, Belgrade, and on location around Serbia. Head Gear run by Phil Hunt is onboard to finance along with the Serbian incentives program run by Serbia’s Ministry of Culture.
“All around the world, people have heard of Robin Hood. There have been many, highly successful iterations of the English hero of folklore yet none has recreated the ruthless, tyrannical atmosphere of the time. This is a universal story of survival, conflict, and love with spectacular action sequences set to strongly appeal to global audiences,” Jonathan Ford, Managing Director at AMR said.
The 10 x 60’ authentic and gritty drama series will present the most realistic version of Robin Hood yet, set against the backdrop of a cruel, corrupt and mysterious medieval land. Robin was born about 100 years after Anglo-Saxon England was conquered by the Normans, who brought Christianity, stone castles, and taxes with them. It was a mythical period in history when England was covered with forests and old pagan beliefs were quashed by the might of the Norman sword. At this very dark and highly dangerous point in history, the enigmatic Robin and his savage outlaws were medieval avengers. Fighting the oppression of their Norman overloads.
Jonathan English is a writer, director, and producer whose breakthrough came with "Ironclad" in 2011. A hit with critics and at the box office, the film stars Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox, Sir Derek Jacobi, and James Purefoy. In 2018 Jonathan moved into television and became a producer of "The Outpost" a medieval fantasy for CW Network and NBCU which ran for four seasons. Jonathan has produced episodes of "Seal Team" for CBS starring David Borreanaz and is currently producing the first season of "The Ark" for NBCU/SYFY. “I wanted to show the world the real Robin and researched the original ballads and justiciar records that still exist from the 12th and 13th Century. They reveal a far more gripping and dangerous figure, a Robin that is gritty, authentic, and deeply rooted in history. This is the VIKINGS or PEAKY BLINDERS version of Robin Hood,” Jonathan English has added.
Glenn is a writer, director, executive producer, and Showrunner whose credits include "Eagle Eye," "SEAL Team," "Allegiance," "Hatfields & McCoys," and "The Lazarus Project" amongst others. He is currently mounting a series adaptation of "The House on Hoarder Hill" for Sam Raimi and Wiip Studios and is working on an original feature script "CUT & RUN" with Jake Gyllenhall attached to star and Elevation, which he wrote and is producing with Brad Fuller (Quiet Place / The Purge). “This is a version of 'Robin Hood' I’d never seen before. Historically accurate, full of characters rich and complex, timely themes, and loaded with action and intrigue. There are no damsels in distress, no men in tights, it frankly reads more like 'Peaky Blinders' than any 'Robin Hood' I’d ever seen," John Glenn stared.