Despite The Walking Deadbeing the biggest success in AMC history, an unsealed deposition reveals that the shows early days was marred by unexpected budget cuts, creative disagreements and mismanagement. The revelations comes straight from Frank Darabont, the Shawshank Redemption director who developed and produced the shows first season before he was abruptly fired. In his deposition against AMC an effort to recoup profit share from the massively popular show the former showrunner admits that he has a tremendous lack of respect for the network executives, The Hollywood Reporter writes.
Darabont accused AMC executives of hiding in air-conditioned offices during the hot Atlanta shoot. By the time they reached production on the Season Two premiere, there were crisis-level problems arising. When AMC decided to part ways with Darabont, he alleges that they concocted a reason that he was shirking on some showrunner responsibilities, a claim he denies to fire him. Because of when he was let go, Darabont only received 7.5 percent of profits from the series, as opposed to the 10 percent he was initially entitled to.
5 Things We Learned From 'Walking Dead' Season 6.1Thurston Moore: 5 Songs That Influenced Me Early OnFlashback: Cream Play 'Brave Ulysses' at Final Concert
Elsewhere in the deposition, former Walking Dead showrunner Glenn Mazzara, who took over on the series after Darabonts exit, said that he felt AMC execs treated his predecessor unfairly. I believe that Frank was executing his responsibilities and duties and there was a personal rift between [co-creator Robert] Kirkman and Darabont, and between Darabont and the AMC executives, Mazzara said, later adding that he only stepped in as showrunner during the second season to save the show.
In a statement, AMC told The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Darabont has made it clear that he has strong opinions about AMC and the events that led to his departure from The Walking Dead. The reality is that he has been paid millions of dollars under the terms of his contract, which we honored, and we will continue to vigorously defend against this lawsuit.