Royal Guards Interview: A New Twist on the Zelda Parody Web Series

There are many fan projects all over the internet, but one we fully believe in is Royal Guards, a comedy/adventure fan web series based on the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. At least… for season one. We had a chance to sit down with the people behind this webseries to discuss how it came to be, and what the future holds. Of course, this series is still under crowd funding with just a week left, so if you’re convinced by the end of this interview… why not support it?

Zelda Informer: Tell us a bit about yourself. What inspired you to get into filmmaking?

Derek Howard: I’m the guy who watches everything on the DVD/Blu-ray and again with all the commentaries. I grew up all over the US and spent a lot of my youth writing every chance I could. I was always coming up with crazy stories. I was obsessed with movies from an early age but I always wanted to star in them. I would write scripts for movies so I could act them out. Eventually I realized that what I really wanted wasn’t to act in movies but make them.

ZI: How does gaming tie in? Do you find games make good subjects for film?

DH: I grew up with gaming and it’s a big influence. There are so many great stories and characters in games that it’s very easy to be inspired by them. Games have amazing and rich stories, but it’s a very different medium. It’s a lot like making a book into a movie, you can get the spirit of it right, but it will never be quiet the same.

ZI: Most fans who attempt to bring The Legend of Zelda to life attempt a short film or movie. Why have you decided to attempt a web series instead?

DH: Lots of reasons but the biggest being that the story was too big for a short and a web series really fit the way we wanted to tell it. As well as the fact that we wanted to have the option do more in the future as well.

ZI: What was the inspiration behind this project? What made you go to indiegogo for support?

DH: My ridiculous devotion to Ocarina of Time for one, but mostly out of a conversation I had one day where I was joking with a friend about what happened to NPCs after the hero went through their town. I made a joke about the guards getting fired because a little boy made it past all of them and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Before I knew it I had a first draft of season one and and outline for more seasons.

Filming is always expensive, even when people volunteer. Indiegogo was suggested as a great way to not only help fund it but to always get other fans interested and be a part of the project too.

ZI: What made the Royal Guards stand out as the best choice as the main characters for this series? Did you consider focusing on other NPCs or minor characters?

DH: I always knew that I wanted to focus on the guards, but I had a lot of fun exploring the idea of other NPCs for supporting roles. I focused on the guards partiality because we knew so little about them. So many NPCs in Zelda have really defined personalities (even with only a few lines of dialog) but we know next to nothing about them. It made it perfect for them to be the “average guys” of the world. That’s why we named them Phil and Gary while everyone else has a Zelda-like name. They’re just those average guys, working their day job in a fantastic world.

As for other NPCs, we talked about it quiet a bit. Early on we talked about focusing on the members of the Lon Lon Ranch instead but we just kept coming back to the guards.

ZI: Where do you hope to go with the series long term? Are there any obstacles you’re particularly worried about in the production itself?

DH: Hopefully a few seasons covering multiple games. Each season is written as one complete story with a defined beginning, middle and end with each taking place in a different game. This lets us always keep things fresh and not drawn out.

The biggest potential obstacle is Nintendo’s reaction to it. That’s a very legitimate concern and while we can’t say what they will do, we are taking every step possible to avoid any issues with them in multiple ways, the most noteworthy of which is not taking any profit from it. Every cent on Indiegogo is a donation that is going only to the production. We really hope that Nintendo will see this for the labor of love it is. Made by fans for other fans to enjoy.

ZI: If the project doesn’t reach its funding goal, will you still attempt to create something? Can we expect at least a pilot episode of sorts?

DH: We’re really excited about this project and we are going to do our best to make it a reality even if we don’t reach our goal. We aim to do all of season one but at the very least a pilot. We’ve already put a lot of our own money into to and if we have to fund almost all of it ourselves we will. Hopefully without cutting too much out.

ZI: What will make this a unique and enjoyable experience for fans, both of Zelda and video game web series?

DH: We don’t just want to make another Link/Zelda story, but explore the world they live in. We’re fans too and we really want to make something that we would love to see ourselves. Our biggest goal is to tell a good story. It will be filled with things that only Zelda fans will understand but still be something that any non fan would be able to enjoy. We’ve also thrown in some great things for the hardcore fans in particular.

ZI: Any final thoughts you would like to share with the fans?

DH: Keep an eye on our Youtube channel. We’re planning on adding a lot in the next few months. Thanks so much to everyone who supports us in any way!

We at Zelda Informer would like to thank Derek Howard for taking the time to sit down with us and talk about this very promising web series. It’s certainly exciting knowing that whether or not they reach their funding goal, they are still going to push through for at least the pilot episode, if not the entire first season. Maybe that pilot will be all that is needed to gain additional funding? Who knows! I know I just pledged some money to the project right here.