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HUGO & CO.

Country: Czech Republic
Genre:  Social drama/Legal procedural
Type: Ongoing series
Format: 8x52´
Screenwriter: Tomas Plhon
Producer: Gordon Lovitt
Production company: NOW Productions
Language: Czech

Synopsis
Welcome to a forgotten corner of Bohemia. Poverty is rife and local inhabitants often struggle with debt and property seizures. Enter Hugo & Co, a law firm intent on championing those robbed or cheated by loan sharks and financial predators.

Fallen aristocrat Hugo – a brilliant legal mind, but flawed genius with an impenetrable moral code – is released from jail. Unable to practise in court, he hires Žofie, a sharp, idealistic – and pregnant – young lawyer. Her alluring empathy and idealism set the stage for a struggle with the diffident Hugo. A reluctant Robin Hood, misanthropic Hugo says his business is “not a bleeding-heart charity”. But, as they win one case after another, Hugo and Žofie come to realise that the curtain is about to rise on the identity of the puppet master behind the financial machinations, and he is closer than they could ever imagine.  

Each episode is built around a classic legal procedural drama, in which Hugo and Žofie unravel an individual case, often inspired by true events that resonate with a Czech and international audience. Characters include an intrepid reporter and the estranged son of the puppet master, supporting the larger story throughout the series as our main characters’ fight with the local oligarch reaches its climax.

Screenwriter
Tomas Plhon is writer/presenter of comedy show Vysoká škola života (University of Life) and stand-up comedian on Comedy Club (both Comedy Central). He is script editor on docu-realities such as Undercover Boss (TV Nova), writer for fan-favourite YouTube show Souboyz, and co-writer on a new series in development at TV Nova. He heads independent theatre project Arte della Tlampač.

Producer
Gordon Lovitt, Managing Director of NOW Productions, produces shows across genres for all major channels in the Czech Republic and abroad. He was Director of Strategic Development, then Programming at Czech Television, Head of Programming at TVR1, Romania, and Director of Programming at TV Prima and Prima Cool, Czech Republic.

Creators’ Quotes
Tomas Plhon, writer: “At the start of our project, there was a simple idea. What if there was someone, who would focus his whole business on exploiting those who exploit? Some kind of modern Robin Hood, who is probably rooted in the same materialistic grounds and at least pretends to put profit above all.”

Gordon Lovitt, producer: “In Hugo and Co, Tomas Plhon has created a wonderful legal odd couple in aristocratic misanthrope Hugo and empathetic Zofie in their fights against loan sharks and shady oligarchs.”