This post first appeared on Ren’s Patreon page.

The nice thing about making an ongoing series, especially starting a new season so soon after the last, is that you accumulate both useful things – from medieval carts to pop-up tents – and enthusiastic people. There was almost no need to advertise for an art department this year, as so many lovely folks from Season Two and even Season One were keen to get involved again. Early this month they all assembled on a Zoom call to meet new production designer Kaja Jedrak (top left). I’m still overwhelmed by the team we’ve built up: sculptors, carpenters, designers, graphic artists and more.

A few days later Kaja, Ross and I went back to the farm with 304 director Ash Maharaj to decide exactly where we’re going to film that episode. After a lot of location research, we had decided that weren’t going to find a location that looked right for the episode’s setting – none other than the infamous Helgoth. Instead we’re going to build it, because that’s the kind of silly thing we do on Ren.

302, on the other hand, looks like it will mostly be shot on location away from the farm. Here again the benefits of an ongoing series are felt. Currently there’s a good chance that 302’s main location will be one we considered last year but didn’t use, saving on research and recce time.

One thing I wish we had from previous seasons is the set. We have some of the pieces from around the staircase in the Heretics’ Market but nothing else structural, and the village set from Season One is of course long gone. So the other day Dale, Jeremy and I took a trip to South London in a van and collected some secondhand set flats and wooden pillars from a streaming series that’s just wrapped. We don’t have access to the farm buildings yet, so on returning to Cambridgeshire at 10pm we played an interesting game of Tetris and jammed them all into Ross’s garage while trying (unsuccessfully) not to wake his newborn. The poor man won’t be cutting his lawn, barbecuing or 3D printing any time soon. We did leave him access to the fridge though. We’re not monsters.

IDFight once again kindly lent us the use of their studio in East London to hold auditions. Block One has seven new featured and speaking roles, and we auditioned almost 30 people from over 100 submissions. Dan Edgar, a.k.a. Screed from 204, came along to read opposite the candidates (and incidentally received several compliments on his excellent beard).

The following week a Ren contingent gathered at MCM Comic Con London to deliver a panel about how we make a fantasy show on a teeny tiny budget. The audience seemed genuinely interested and had some good questions for us at the end. We screened the trailer and a clip from 202, hopefully catching the eyes of the many people passing by the Live Stage. We also had our first Ren cosplayer — Eva Wörz — who had recreated in amazing detail Ren’s costume and the Mark makeup. So it was a really good con overall, but we should definitely stick to making web series; our team’s efforts in a Fall Guy tournament and in a “Dungeons & Dragons in real life” game were pretty abysmal. I spent all of the latter turning pointlessly invisible and getting dominated by a Beholder.

You’re up to date, but before I go – did you know there is a Ren Wikia? You can find it here.