With the brotherhood that once united
three men of different kingdoms now dead, a Danish warrior who once wore the Saxon seal must attempt to stop an old ally
and future king from war before a new empire is born from blood.
A 40-minute pilot for a historical drama series, set in the fractured kingdoms of early Britain, where alliances are fragile, borders are drawn in blood, and the cost of peace is always personal.
Three young men from three kingdoms grew up as brothers.
Edmund, the Saxon prince, heir to the throne of WessexCynewulf, the son of a freed Danish slave, raised as Edmund’s shield-bearerOwain, a Welsh prince and friend to them bothWhen Owain is murdered, Saxon forces scramble to find the killer before suspicion falls on Edmund.
In the chaos, Cynewulf finds his mother dying in a Saxon raid on her Danish village. Consumed by grief, and convinced the future he dreamed of is slipping away, he runs into the woods.
Three months later, Edmund and Cynewulf meet again.
Fragments of the past reveal the friendship that bound them together and the loss that drove them apart. As old wounds resurface, Edmund and Cynewulf confront the truth about loyalty, identity, and the price of power. With war on the horizon, their last encounter becomes a reckoning with the people they once were and the men they have become.
An heir burdened by the weight of his father’s crown. Torn between his loyalty to the throne and his bond with his friends, he must choose between duty and brotherhood.
A Dane caught between worlds, neither of English blood nor of any Danish creed. His outsider’s eye sees what others cannot, but belonging may cost him everything.
A fierce warrior whose enthusiasm for his kingdom is contagious. His loyalty runs deep, but he longs for a life outside the walls of Waelas.
A Danish woman who survived displacement and loss. She understands long before Cynewulf does that he belongs to neither world completely, and that each of them is part of who he is.
A revered lord of Cornwall. Weary of war and of the politics of Britannia, he hosts banquets for the leaders of rival kingdoms to keep the peace in his land.
Tale of Old follows one shield-bearer from the Saxon court to the Danish throne, across the decades in which England was forged.
The pilot ends as a hidden hand in Waelas begins moving the pieces toward war.
When a friend’s murder unravels into war, a freed slave raised as servant to a Saxon prince must choose between the crown that made him and the Viking people he calls home.
Pilot in productionBefore the slave-born shield-bearer can claim his long-lost place among the Danish royals, he must prove he belongs to the people he was taken from, on the eve of the great war to come.
In developmentThe saga continues.
“With rising nationalism and fractured alliances across the world, and a constant fear of war, pre-unification England offers a powerful view of our own time, at enough distance to reach a wide audience.”Michael Weinberger, Director & Co-Writer
Divided identity, the push to build a nation, and the pull of fate.
The corrupting nature of power, friendship against duty, and the burden of legacy.
Class that refuses to stay fixed, the lingering wounds of war, and idealism against political reality.
“This is a story about questioning our place in the world and our search for identity.”
Tale of Old began over lunch, when Cristian Bisbal and actor-producer Andy Dooley decided that waiting for the right opportunity wasn’t enough. They would have to build it themselves.
A bookstore trip into Arthurian legend, Celtic myth, and Norse culture led them to the tragedy of Sir Balin and Sir Balan, brother knights fated to kill one another, undone by a world that kept them from recognizing each other in time. That image of kinship severed by circumstance became the seed of the series.
Every frame on this page comes from the production.
Warm autumn color carries the flashbacks to the brotherhood’s happier days. The present turns cold, blue, and close.
A Chilean-born actor and writer based in New York and a BFA Acting graduate of NYU Tisch, with further training at RADA, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, MetFilm School London, and the Atlantic Acting School. A horseman and student of history and myth, he created the world of Tale of Old.
A multi-hyphenate from Katy, Texas, and an NYU Tisch graduate in drama with a minor in film. He brings grounded truth to a story of epic scale, balancing the world’s political texture with the actor’s impulse.
A New York–based Hungarian cinematographer and NYU Tisch graduate who has shot independent and higher-budget work in the US and Europe on digital, 35mm, and 16mm. In 2026 he received the ARRI Volker Bahnemann Award for achievement in cinematography.
A producer and actor drawn to bold, character-driven stories. She interned at Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, produced NYU Tisch thesis films, and freelances for 286 Productions, Rise Studio, and Flowering Dogwood Productions.
An actor, producer, and filmmaker from Connecticut studying acting and the business of entertainment at NYU Tisch, with training at the Atlantic Acting School and Stonestreet Studios. He has worked in commercial production with MikeTeeVee and across theatre as a builder and designer.
Original score.
The pilot is being made in two shoots, followed by post-production. The full budget and schedule are in the pitch deck, available on request.
The flashbacks between the three brothers. The footage in the trailer.
The siege of the Danish settlement and the scenes that need a larger ensemble, trained extras, and stunt coordination.
Sound design, color, and an original score by William Haddad.
For the pitch deck, the script, or a conversation with the team, write to us.