Nicely spotted by
/film, lead director and show-runner
Frank Darabont has warned in a recent T.V. Awards season
THR roundtable that the proposed AMC budget cut negotiations could harm the soon to be shooting second season of
The Walking Dead that returns this October for a 13 episode run (more than twice the size of the six episode season last year). The news comes on the back of a report late last year that
Darabont had let go all the full time writing staff from the first season to instead write the scripts himself along with creator
Robert Kirkman and other freelancers when required. At around the 7 minute mark of the full interview, Darabont says;
Creatively I have no complaints thus far But I believe if they do move ahead with what theyre talking about, it will affect the show creatively in a negative way. Which just strikes me as odd. If you have an asset, why would you punish it?
We have embedded the full video below, along with news of more characters who are to be added to the second season. If you remember, The Walking Dead finished it's first season with our survivors leaving Atlanta on the hunt for a new safe haven. It's being reported by
TV Line that the second season will open with the Hershel farm from the comics which will mean the introduction of three new characters (I guess
spoiler warning if you are super sensitive about such things); Hershel Greene, owner of the farm and a former veterinarian. He is white and a fit 55 year old in the comics. Maggie, daughter of Hershel and a typical southern farm girl. She would be a young adult and is a skilled horse rider who is likely to be setup as a romantic interest for one of our characters (at least that's how it goes in the comic series). And then there's Otis, 'Otis, the middle-aged ranch foreman whos such a sweetheart that he all but loses it when he accidentally shoots a fellow survivor.' I imagine there will be plenty of other new characters for the second season but those are the ones reported so far. The Walking Dead Season 2 will enter production soon and hopefully Darabont is able to negotiate a deal where the second season doesn't suffer. From the sounds of things
Boardwalk Empire showrunner Terence Winter is having the same kind of problems;
Looking at some of the proposed cuts the wishlist for the budget, I had to remind people the show is called Boardwalk Empire and we cant afford a boardwalk or an empire for that price.
Watch the budget cut portion of the interview... Or watch the full interview below...