‘Walking Dead’ Faces Budget Cuts

AMC is trying several ideas to save money on The Walking Dead. The ideas were presented to Frank Darabont before he left the series. It’s being reported that Darabont was forced out becase he wouldn’t agree to aggressive budget cuts demanded by AMC.

Here are some of the ideas. The show would get a lower budget and the show would no longer get the benefits of filming in Georgia (a 30 percent tax credit per episode). Instead, the network would hold on to the money.

A source said: “To have a fight over a number when they didn’t know what the show was going to do didn’t make sense.” Among the ideas, shooting half of the series indoors, and devoting only eight days to each episode. “Four days inside and four days out? That’s not Walking Dead. This is not a show that takes place around the dinner table.”

One idea is that the audience would hear zombies, but not see them as much to save on make-up costs.