‘Robin Hood' series creators on filming in Serbia: “The crews are world class”

Robin Hood may be synonymous with the UK but for the heroic outlaw’s latest screen iteration, the creators opted to shoot the 10-episode series in Serbia.

“It would be quite difficult to make Robin Hood of this scale in the UK.”  says co-creator and exec producer Jonathan English. “The wilderness of Sherwood Forest is still there but it’s quite small now and has a pretty big tourist footprint.”

Instead, the show was “specifically designed” to film in Serbia, where English, whose previous credits include 2011’s Ironclad and its subsequent sequel, has lived for eight years. He and fellow co-creator and exec producer John Glenn already had a production company, English/Glenn Media, set up in the country as well.

“I've worked all over the place and when I came over and I worked in Serbia with Jonathan about four years ago, I was just blown away by the experience,” says Glenn, who is based in Los Angeles. “We wanted to take advantage of the production possibilities there.”

Robin Hood is produced by Lionsgate Television for MGM+. Production took place from February 2025, on location in Serbia and at Belgrade’s PFI Studios.

English and Glenn speak to Screen Global Production about extensive location shooting, impressive Serbian crews and giant mosquitoes.

How much of Robin Hood was shot on location?

Glen: It was probably about 50/50. There was a huge amount of location shooting in these beautiful, almost untouched forests.

English: There we two main areas we filmed in. The first was Fruška Gora National Park, which was an absolutely incredible, ancient forest. Then we also shot in an area just south of Belgrade called Sumadija as well as Gornji Milanovac. It was this beautiful rolling countryside that looked like Wiltshire or Gloucestershire.

What were the challenges of shooting on location?

English: We did things that typically a lot of productions can’t afford to do these days where we built sets on location as well. For Locksley Manor [Robin Hood’s family estate], it was a fairly remote location and that requires a lot of logistics and coordination to have a construction team there building throughout the winter in a hilly area with quite high altitude. 

Glen: Shooting in the forests as well. It’s not just a small wood behind a studio, it’s big ancient forests. It’s almost like being in the jungle, especially with the mosquitoes. It was like the biggest mosquitoes you’ve ever seen.

English: We wanted the forest to feel like the way the countryside feels in Pride And Prejudice. It’s very romantic and takes you into the world. It was important the forest felt alive. and you could only do that by filming around trees that are 100, 200 years old. That takes a lot of planning and risk assessments, especially when big branches are falling out of the tress all the time…

What soundstages did you use at PFI Studios?

English: They have eight purpose-built soundstages, the two largest are 20,000 square feet. We used three of them. They’re proper soundstages, you could be anywhere in the world. They also have a great back lot. A lot of Nottingham town and castle was basically built on that backlot. It’s a very large set, around 10,000 square metres.

Did you take advantage of the Serbian tax credit, which offers a 30% rebate for projects with local expenditure of over €5m? How straightforward was the process?

English: Yes, it’s a very good rebate. It’s based on the Hungarian tax rebate, and, in a way, the UK rebate. The application process and the documentation side of it is all straightforward. It’s very reliable and consistent and even now, it continues to pay out every year on all the projects that I’ve been involved with.

Did you use local crews and if so, how many?

English: It was all local crews and heads of department; we didn’t bring in people from anywhere else.

I had worked with the production designers many times, Jovana Cvetkovic and Jelena Sopic. They designed the entire show. The set dressing, the props, everything was handmade for the show.

The thing about Belgrade and the industry in Serbia, is that people still make everything. They have big workshops and all the sets and the props and the costumes, everything is meticulously handmade to an unbelievably high standard.

Glenn: I don’t think many people understand that [Serbia has] such a rich tradition of family and television. The crews and HODs are world class. It’s like any filming community you’d find in New York or LA. They’re that good and they’re very, very passionate as well. That’s the real secret to the sauce.