Last night in Sydney we hosted the world premiere of the latest YouTube Originals series, SHERWOOD - a 10 part animated series set in the dystopian future of 2270. It’s based on the mythology of Robin Hood and follows 14 year-old Robin and her friends’ as they battle with the wealthy Upper City in their efforts to overcome inequality and fight for justice. You can watch it now too, on YouTube Premium.

SHERWOOD World Premiere, hosted in Sydney	Audiences attend the World Premier of Sherwood in Sydney
Nadine Zylstra with Nanette Miles, Bruce Carter, Diana Manson and Megan Laughton	A panel discussion with Bruce Carter, Diana Manson and Rachel House, moderated by Nadine Zylstra

It is a truly global production, created by an ensemble of talented cast and crew from far flung parts of the world. Produced by Baby Octopus (Australia/US), Toybox (New Zealand) and Giant (Ireland) - Diana Manson and Megan Laughton serve as executive producers, Jan Stebbins and Nanette Miles as producers, Bruce Carter is the director and Jonathan Clarke the animation producer - while head writer Justin Trefgarne worked with writers Craig Martin and Shea Fontana to shift the legend of Robin Hood into the future and bring it to life for a new generation.
The all-star voice cast also transcends countries, featuring Anya Chalotra (The Witcher, The ABC Murders, Much Ado About Nothing), Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf, Truth Or Dare), Aneurin Barnard (The Goldfinch, Radioactive, Dunkirk), Jamie Chung (The Gifted, Big Hero, Gotham), Neneh Conteh, Rachel House (Whalerider, Thor, Moana), Ade M'Cormack (Lost, Heroes, NCIS), and Darrill Rosen (The Misogynists, Richard’s Wedding, First Person Singular) with guest star Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale, Elizabeth, Shakespeare In Love).
To help imagine this future world and what it meant for design, travel, technology and society, we convened an advisory council with Google’s Computer Science in Media team as well as thought leaders from organisations across Google. This collaboration and their insights helped shape SHERWOOD and let us test theories and ideas - like what a key in 2270 might look like… biological, of course.
Beyond the brilliant team behind this stunning animation, it’s a thrill to finally share this series (which has been four years in the making!), as it addresses some topics close to my heart. In this modern telling of Robin Hood, Robin is a girl who uses technology and code to battle the sheriff of SHERWOOD. We hope it can inspire people - young women in particular - to be excited by code and technology and the ways in which it can play a part in their own lives.
We’ve seen this before - a Thicket Labs research report on young girls who watched season one of the YouTube Originals series Hyperlinked, revealed that they were 11 percent more likely to consider a career in Computer Science after watching the series.
This week the work YouTube is doing to inspire the next generation of STEM innovators was acknowledged at the IF/THEN Conference where both Hyperlinked and SHERWOOD were showcased as examples of positive portrayals of women and girls in Computer Science and Technology.
As Geena Davis says ‘If she can see it, she can be it’ and with Robin I believe we are giving girls all over the world a leader who they would want to be. I am excited for my 12 year old daughter to binge the series this weekend!
SHERWOOD is available on YouTube Premium now. Check out the trailer or watch the first episode.

Posted by Nadine Zylstra, Head of Family Entertainment and Learning, YouTube Originals