Fans of the popular zombie drama The Walking Dead are no doubt well aware of the heated interpersonal conflict that arose between show creator Frank Darabont and parent company AMC, which led to Darabont’s exit from the hit series in the middle of its second season. When tensions flared between AMC and The Walking Dead‘s designated creative director, Darabont was rather unceremoniously booted from the program, despite garnering some the very best ratings that the network had ever seen, leaving the fate of the program in the hands of studio executives.
In the past, Darabont has revealed enough to let fans know of the acclaimed director’s displeasure with both AMC and franchise creator Robert Kirkman following his untimely exit from the program, though it would appear as though he is now aiming to file a legal deposition against the television network for breach of contract.
As reported by THR, Darabont is currently seeking reparations against AMC, claiming that the network deprived him of tens of millions of dollars in profits following his exit from the show, with the defendant allegedly having illegally signed over the licensing of the program to themselves. The former showrunner is now calling out the network for concocting an erroneous reason in order to push the director, namely a lack of “directors tone meetings,” wherein he would meet with each director of every episode to go over the scripts scene-by-scene in order to convey the tone of the show.
If Darabont is to be believed, AMC pocketed all tax credits earned by the show, thus generating more money unto itself, and forced the cast and crew to suffer financially after, “busting their butts, leaving it all on the field, to earn.” The picture that the Darabont paints of his former employer is certainly not pretty, following claims that when the executives of the show would visit the set they would spend much of their time in the air-conditioned tents meant for the exclusive use of the cast and crew, and exuded “a rather icy manner” all around, which certainly lends some credence to the claims stipulated by his deposition.
It’s certainly easy to side with Darabont in this particular case, if only to rail against the system and side with the artist being downtrodden and exploited by the powers that be. Whether or not the outcome of said deposition will play out in favor of either party remains to be seen, though it’s unlikely that the show in question will be hurt either way in terms of ratings.
The Walking Dead returns with ‘No Way Out’ on Sunday, February 14th, 2016 at 9pm on AMC.
