Although AMC stopped short of giving “The Walking Dead” companion show a straight-to-series order, the network is serious about branching out the franchise while it remains the biggest scripted drama on basic cable. And now a director is in place.
Deadline is reporting that Adam Davidson has signed on to direct the currently untitled “companion series” for “The Walking Dead,” which will feature brand new characters in a different setting during the zombie outbreak. “The Walking Dead” co-creator, Robert Kirkman is also co-creating the companion series with Dave Erickson (Marco Polo).
Davidson has previously directed episodes of “Community,” Hell on Wheels,” “Low Winter Sun,” “Fring,” “Parenthood,” ‘Grey’s Anatomy” and “Friday Night Lights. He also won an Oscar in 1991 for his short film, The Lunch Date.
Related: Andrew J. West on ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 5
“The Walking Dead” executive producers Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will retain their executive producer roles alongside Kirkman. The first cast list of characters from the companion series was recently leaked, but it included no one who has previously appeared on the show before. However, the two “Walking Dead” shows may exist concurrently, even though AMC has resisted calling the potential new series a spinoff.
If “The Walking Dead” companion series gets picked up, it will likely debut on AMC in Spring or Summer 2015, to help fill the gap between “The Walking Dead” Season 5 and Season 6.
