HOOD

The Story

Nottingham. A city in crisis. A city starving. With the King lost, presumed dead, to the folly of a far-off war against a land of magic wielders, the crown now sits with King John, whose increasingly autocratic laws are enforced with brutal efficiency by the head of his secret police, the city’s Sheriff. Outside the city walls, amid the creaking decay of failing farms and abandoned industry, Will Scarlett’s insurrectionists are a band of the angry and dispossessed with a talent for blowing things up. Visionless, their leader obsessed by personal vendetta, their failure is inevitable.

But there is hope. For, against all expectation, Robyn Loxley is returning to a home she will barely recognise. Robyn Loxley, the People’s Champion, beloved of the masses. Robyn Loxley, who always stood for justice and fairness and equality. Robyn Loxley, the best marksmen in East Mercia, who never backs down from a fight. She is the city’s hope. With her, she carries the seeds of its salvation. 

But seven years of war and imprisonment have taken their toll. This is no longer the Robyn who left, the Robyn that the people of Nottingham think they know. She has returned but she is not alone, and with her she carries not only the seeds of salvation, but also of the city’s destruction.

Hidden agendas, unlikely alliances, supernatural forces, and family drama weave in and out of this reimagining of Robin Hood and his famous band of outlaws. 

Production

In August 2021, we went to set with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign to shoot seven short videos introducing the main characters of our story. With a budget of just over £3000 and a bunch of committed artists, we embarked on our quest and spent two incredible (but exhausting!) days on set in London.

Though we had little money to spend, we wanted to create the highest possible production value, which would do justice to the world we envisioned. And for this, location was key. After much searching, we were lucky enough to find the amazing Crossness Pumping Station, which provided locations for five of our characters. From the luxury of King John and Marian, to the dishevelled dereliction of our rebels Will and Alana and the rural landscapes needed for Ewan – Crossness had it all! Not only did the location provide stunning scenery, but they let us use a train as a dolly for our improvised rolling shots of Ewan and Robyn. 

The second day was not quite so easy, however. Not all of the stellar crew we had on the first day were available due to last minute difficulties in securing the locations. We had to scramble for new crew members in less than 48 hours, booking our last member literally the night before the shoot! This left us with a few grey hairs, but it’s all part of the game and, in the end we got all the footage we needed. 

After the two-day shoot came the intense months of post-production. Most of our budget went into the time on set, so we immersed ourselves in the world of post-production by learning, failing, and trying again. We taught ourselves to edit using DaVinci Resolve and plundered the Audiio website for music and foley, then hired an amazing colourist to finish it all off – even we had our limits!

Quivalon is immensely proud of what we’ve pulled off thanks to an incredibly dedicated team, and the blood, sweat and tears (not to mention time!) they gave to create these character videos despite our limited resources – and they turned out bloody brilliant, if we do say so ourselves!

Intrigued? Check out the trailer below and watch all the promos and behind-the-scenes footage on our World of HOOD website. For credits go HERE.

Multi-media

The world around the Hood TV series is so vast and full of stories that it’s almost impossible to do justice to it in one TV show. That’s why we created the World of Hood project that includes all kinds of spinoffs of historical and present in-world characters and events.

• The Clash of the Cousins brings to life the 12th century battle for the English throne. In this in-world podcast we explore the moment we break away from real history, entertaining the idea of an alternative, matriarchal society. Listen in as Empress Matilda claims back her rightful crown and ushers in a new world with the First Age of Hycath.

• Nottingham News is an in-world news channel reporting on events set a year before the TV series. Although it prides itself on independent journalism, it is very much the mouthpiece of the state. Reporting on events in and around East Mercia, it has a strong bias towards supporting the King’s regime and demonising anyone who speaks out against it – especially Will Scarlett’s rebellion.

• Outlaw Radio is an in-world pirate radio station that focuses on the rebels and rebuffs any fake information spread by Nottingham News. Broadcasting from Greenwood, it shines a light on the lives of people outside the Inner Circle and doesn’t let the audience ignore that there are always two sides to any story.

• Do you want to know more about Robyn’s past, learn about Hycathism (a new nature based religion) or discover how the Anarchy war was reshaped and ushered in The First Age of Hycath? You can find it all in our own created Wiki pages, where you have access to over a hundred articles. Fair warning: it’s a rabbit whole that is difficult to climb out of!

• HOOD Origins: Escape from the Promised Land is a radio play that covers Robyn’s travels on her way to Nottingham and picks up right before the events of the TV series. Robyn and her companion fight through many adventures before they can set foot in her beloved homeland. Inviting the audience to these adventures is our way of introducing our main characters and the world of Hood. 

• Hood: The Return of Robyn is the novel version of our TV show. Return of Robyn is designed to be the first book within a series to be published in two volumes. The volumes combined will cover the TV show’s first 10 episodes. Follow the link to read the prologue of the novel!. 

• Next year we hope to be on set again to shoot a Short film depicting an altered scene from the first season. In the story of the short Robyn and King John have to find an understanding to prevent civil war, but a rebel attack complicates their already strained relationship.