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N O S A F E H A R B O U R

SEASON TWOPRESS KIT

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03 SYNOPSIS04 CAST & CHARACTERS23 PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES28 INTERVIEW: DAVE ERICKSON EXECUTIVE PRODUCER & SHOWRUNNER

31 PRODUCTION CREDITS

CONTENTS

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Last season, Fear the Walking Dead explored a blended family who watched a

burning, dead city as they traversed a devastated Los Angeles. In season two,

the group aboard the ‘Abigail’ is unaware of the true breadth and depth of the

apocalypse that surrounds them; they assume there is still a chance that some

city, state, or nation might be unaffected - some place that the Infection has

not reached. But as Operation Cobalt goes into full effect, the military bombs

the Southland to cleanse it of the Infected, driving the Dead toward the sea.

As Madison, Travis, Daniel, and their grieving families head for ports unknown,

they will discover that the water may

be no safer than land.

SYNOPSIS

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CAST & CHARACTERS

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MADISON CLARK In many ways, the Madison of season two is the same woman we met in the pilot - a leader, a moral compass - but in a whole new devastated, apocalyptic world. As the season plays out, Madison will be faced with a world that often has no room for empathy or compassion. Forced to navigate a deceptive and manipulative chart of personalities, Madison’s success in this new world is predicated on understanding that, at the end of the world, lending a helping hand can often endanger those you love. She may maintain her maternal ferocity, but the apocalypse will force her to make decisions and sacrifices that could break even the strongest people.

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KIM DICKENS Madison

Kim Dickens has proven herself to be a versatile actress portraying a vast array of complex and powerful characters throughout her career in television and film. Dickens was born in Huntsville, Alabama and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in communication. Soon after graduation, she moved to New York City to continue her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. She later graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Art’s two-year performing arts conservatory in New York City.

In 2001, Dickens starred opposite Gabriel Mann in Allison Anders’s The Things Behind the Sun. Dickens’s role garnered her recognition with a 2002 Independent Spirit Award nomination. Dickens played a local rock singer in Florida whose band became increasingly popular, largely because of a controversial song.

From 2004 to 2006, Dickens was seen in HBO’s Golden Globe Award Winning drama series Deadwood. Starring Timothy Olyphant, the show was set in the late 1800s and revolved around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota, which was fraught with corruption and crime. Dickens played the depressed and self-loathing Joanie Stubbs who, aside from being a madam, was Cy Tolliver’s (Powers Boothe) former lover.

In 2005, Dickens co-starred in the Golden Globe Award Nominated satirical comedy Thank You for Not Smoking. Dickens played Nick Naylor’s (Aaron Eckhart) disgruntled ex-wife, who lobbies for the Academy of Tobacco Studios.

From 2006 to 2009, Dickens had a guest arc in ABC’s Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series Lost. Dickens played a love interest to James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway).

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From 2008 to 2009, Dickens co-starred in NBC’s smash hit Friday Night Lights, which depicted the trials and tribulations of a small-town Texas football team, their friends, family and coaching staff. Dickens played hair stylist Shelby Saracen, the mother of Matt Saracen’s (Zach Gilford).

In 2009, she appeared in John Lee Hancock’s Oscar® nominated The Blind Side. Dickens portrayed an insightful high school teacher who fights to allow Michael (Quinton Aaron) into the school.

From 2010 to 2013, Dickens co-starred in HBO’s award winning drama Tremé. Created by David Simon, the series focused on life after Hurricane Katrina as the residents of New Orleans tried to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture in the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in the USA. Dickens portrayed a struggling chef, Janette Desautel, who tries to keep her restaurant open while waiting to pay for her losses. Dickens along with the cast of Tremé was nominated for a 2014 Primetime Emmy® Award in the “Outstanding Miniseries” category.

In 2014, Dickens co-starred in David Fincher’s critically-acclaimed psychological thriller Gone Girl, opposite Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Based on the bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn, the story follows a man’s quest to find his missing wife. Dickens played the tough, yet sometimes sympathetic Detective Rhonda Boney. The thriller was released by 20th Century Fox.

In 2015, Dickens became an Ambassador for the National Women’s History Museum. The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM), founded in 1996, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting, and celebrating the diverse historic contributions of women and integrating this rich heritage fully into our nation’s history.

Dickens currently stars in AMC’s smash hit Fear the Walking Dead, the companion series to The Walking Dead. This critically-acclaimed series, set in Los Angeles,

became the No. 1 rated cable series premiere on record with 10.1 million viewers. The series also smashed records internationally, premiering across more than 125 territories for AMC Global, the largest ever day-and-date release for a US series. Fear the Walking Dead didn’t disappoint and set global ratings records for AMC. By the season finale, Fear the Walking Dead averaged 11.2 million viewers, clocking in as the highest-rated first season in cable history.

Vanity Fair writer Richard Lawson explained he was “intrigued by the terrible unfolding of doomsday, and further drawn in by the show’s stellar cast.” He went on to describe Dickens as “one of the most reliably appealing actors working today.”

Dickens recently completed production on Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The 20th Century Fox film is an adaptation of the classic novel and stars Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Ella Purnell, Allison Janney and Samuel L. Jackson. Based on the Ransom Riggs novel, the film follows a teenager who finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers. The film is set for release in December of 2016.

Dickens resides in Los Angeles.

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TRAVIS MANAWA The weight of killing his ex-wife weighs on Travis as he tries to care for his son, who just lost his mother. Daniel urges Travis to see what he did as a mercy that not everyone is afforded in the apocalypse - but Travis is haunted, not just by the woman he killed but also the by the danger of becoming divorced from his humanity. He promised Liza that he would protect their son at all costs - but will the promise to protect one compromise his ability to defend many?

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CLIFF CURTISTRAVIS

A successful film and television actor with a varied body of work, Cliff Curtis encompasses a wide range of compelling performances spanning more than two decades.

Cliff Curtis was born in Rotorua, New Zealand and is of Maori descent. He attended the New Zealand Drama School, and then the Teatro Dmitri Scoula in Switzerland. After returning to New Zealand from Europe, his first-ever role was in the Academy Award-winning film, The Piano. Subsequent roles in New Zealand include: the camp melodrama Desperate Remedies; the grueling urban drama Once Were Warriors; and the lighthearted comedy Jubilee.

In Hollywood, Curtis has played an array of diverse roles and ethnicities ranging from a Colombian in Blow opposite Johnny Depp, an Arab in Three Kings opposite George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg, and a Latino in Training Day opposite Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Other film credits include: The Insider alongside Al Pacino and Russell Crowe; Runaway Jury alongside John Cusack; Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead; and M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender. Curtis also played the role of Paikea’s father Porourangi in Whale Rider.

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In 2007, Curtis turned his hand to producing and among his credits are Taika Waititi’s debut feature, the geek comedy Eagle vs. Shark starring Jermaine Clement, and later another Waititi feature, Boy, which became the highest grossing local film in New Zealand history.

On television, Curtis appeared in Fox’s Gang Related as Javier Acosta and as FBI Agent Dax Miller on ABC’s Missing.

Curtis’s most recent releases include the Sony feature Risen, the epic Biblical story of the Resurrection, opposite Joseph Fiennes, and the upcoming The Dark Horse, an inspirational true story which Curtis also executive produced. In The Dark Horse, directed by James Napier Robertson, Curtis plays Maori chess prodigy Genesis Pontini, who coached underprivileged, at-risk youth while suffering from bipolar disorder. The Dark Horse won the Audience Best Picture Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and the Seattle Film Festival, as well as Best Actor for Curtis at the Seattle Film Festival.

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NICK CLARKThe new world surrounds and devours, yet it provides a strange comfort and fascination for Nick, who has found a sort of confidence and balance when we meet up with him in season two. Everyone is hell bent on survival, but Nick seems to embrace the chaos - a perfect child of the apocalypse. His moment of clarity in the finale of season one will be put to work in season two.

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FRANK DILLANENick

Frank Dillane trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), graduating in 2013.

As a child he played Christopher Henderson in Welcome to Sarajevo, directed by Michael Winterbottom (Channel 4/Miramax/Dragon Pictures).

When he was sixteen he played Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and later Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Warner Bros).

During his first year at RADA, he filmed the role of James Papadopoulos in Papadopoulos & Sons (Double M Films).

Immediately upon graduating, he played Eugene Marchbanks in Candida (Theatre Royal Bath). He then filmed the role of Coffin in In the Heart of the Sea, directed by Ron Howard. (Articulated Productions Ltd). After this, he went on to film the role of Keyes in Viena and the Fantomes directed by Gerardo Naranjo and which will be released in 2016 (Lola Pictures).

For television, Dillane played Shugs in season one of Sense 8, directed by Andy and Lana Wachowski and was then cast in AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, playing the part of Nick. He then shot season one in 2015 and is currently shooting season 2. During the hiatus between seasons, he recently filmed the lead role of Alex in Astral, directed by Chris Mul.

Aside from acting, Dillane is part of the band Tinker Wright.

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ALICIA CLARKLike her brother and her mother, Alicia is well connected to the fatalism inherent in their new lives. Ever present are memories of her long lost father, the suicide of a cherished neighbour, and the loss of her boyfriend, Matt. The only way to survive in a mad world is to embrace it - but what happens if you clutch at normality, and hold to the past so hard it breaks you?

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ALYCIA DEBNAM-CAREYAlicia

An Australian native who made her feature film debut in Rachel Ward’s Martha’s New Coat, Alycia Debnam-Carey recently starred alongside Rufus Sewell in the thriller Where the Devil Hides and in the action thriller Into the Storm with Richard Armitage. She has also appeared in such short films as Jigsaw Girl, At the Tattooist and The Branch. Debnam-Carey will star in the upcoming Warner Bros. German feature film Unfriend.

On the small screen, Debnam-Carey is currently starring in the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead, the official companion series to The Walking Dead. She portrayed Lexa in the second season of the CW’s THE 100 and will reprise her role in season three, which will air on the CW in January 2016. Among her TV credits are roles in the popular series McLeod’s Daughters and Dance Academy, and she appeared in the telefilm Dream Life. She also played the female lead in the AMC telefilm Galyntine.

Alycia was a runner up in the 2012 Heath Ledger Scholarship, touting Australia’s new young talent, and was recently named One of the Actors to Watch in the Australians in Film trade magazine. Debnam-Carey currently resides in Los Angeles.

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CHRISTOPHER MANAWA The optimistic and idealist son in season one is on a different path this season. Chris was resentful of, and angry towards, his father, but he shared his father’s sense of hope and promise. The weight of his father killing his infected mother is a crushing reality. Rage and sorrow burn beneath his skin. How far will Chris go?

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LORENZO JAMES HENRIE Christopher

Lorenzo James Henrie has an impressive body of work alongside some of Hollywood’s most prestigious producers, directors and actors. His most recent role is on the AMC television series, Fear the Walking Dead, prequel to the megahit The Walking Dead. Lorenzo plays the series regular Chris, a 16-year old trying to balance his resentful feelings toward his father for divorcing his mother, while needing his guidance to survive the chaos of the apocalypse. Prior to that, Lorenzo was seen on the big screen in Sony Pictures, Paul Blart: Mall Cops 2, starring Kevin James.

Lorenzo Henrie recently shot the lead role in the feature film Warrior Road about a young man’s journey for strength and courage in the face of a painful past. Other roles in feature films include the lead role in Riding ’79, where he plays an American teen who is sent off to live with his grandfather and grandmother in Puerto Rico after the death of his father.

Henrie started acting at the age of eight and had his first feature film debut in Arizona Summer. Playing the lead role of Jerry in this fun-filled, kids’ summer camp movie, Henrie won over the heart of the film as Jerry comes to terms with a father who has no time for him and a mother who abandoned the family.

Henrie went on to work on various roles in television including a recurring role on the WB’s 7TH Heaven, as Jeffrey, the adopted son to Chandler (Jeremy London) and girlfriend Kendall (Leighton Meester). He would soon work alongside Meester again in a guest star role on CSI: MIAMI.

Other guest star roles include: NCIS, Cold Case, Malcolm in the Middle, Wanted, LAX with Heather Locklear; and Ghost Whisperer with Jennifer Love Hewitt, where Henrie played the role of Rat, the leader of a pact of boys from the 1950’s, whose lost spirits perished in an orphanage fire.

In 2009, Henrie was cast in JJ Abram’s Star Trek feature film as a Vulcan bully. At age 16, he landed the leading role of Ted Wheeler, in the film Almost Kings, alongside Portia Doubleday and Alex Frost, which had its worldwide feature debut at the 2010 LA Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt wrote the following about Henrie and his co-star’s performance in Almost Kings: “Henrie and Ramm stand out as the two freshmen who must experience a sharp learning curve their first year, and that’s not in the classroom. Henrie often needs

little if any dialogue to convey a welter of emotions he is going through when the full realization of his brother’s many betrayals becomes increasingly clear to his character. Ramm also conveys much with looks or gestures. These two might be the real discoveries in the film.”

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DANIEL SALAZARDaniel was forced into this situation because of his beloved wife Griselda’s generosity. Were it not for her kindness, he never would have let Travis and family into his shop; their story would have run a very different course. In Daniel’s mind, the sins of his past have been visited on his wife and his daughter. Daniel knows his relationship with Ofelia may never be as it was before, but that won’t stop him from doing everything he can to protect her. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.

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RUBEN BLADESDaniel

Ruben Blades is an unbelievably distinguished artist whose work spans many mediums and arenas. He can be seen starring in Hands of Stone opposite Robert De Niro, Edgar Ramirez and John Turturro. He recently appeared in Ridley Scott’s The Counselor opposite Michael Fassbender.

In film, Blades has played memorable roles at the helm of such acclaimed directors and talent as Robert Redford in The Milagro Beanfield War, Robert Rodriguez in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spike Lee in Mo’ Better Blues, Alan Pakula in The Devil’s Own and Jack Nicholson in The Two Jakes. He can also be seen in the Universal Pictures

feature film Safe House, opposite Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. He was nominated for two Emmys for his work in the television movies, The Josephine Baker Story (1991) and Crazy from the Heart (1992).

In addition to his film work, Blades is one of the most successful vocalists in the history of Panamanian music. He has won 12 GRAMMY® Awards, including one in the World Music category. He holds degrees in law and political science from the University of Panama and Harvard Law School. He ran for President of the Republic of Panama in 1994, coming in third place with 18% of the vote. Blades epitomises a true Renaissance man.

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OFELIA SALAZAR It is an odd thing to love the one you trust the least - even odder when it is your flesh and blood, your father. Ofelia had no idea who her parents really were; she wants to know now. In season two, hardened by the death of her mother, Ofelia will grow stronger, more independent than ever before.

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MERCEDES MASONOfelia

Mercedes Mason portrays Ofelia Salazar on AMC’s hit series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Born into a multi-national family, Mason moved to the United States from Sweden at the age of 12. She was quickly discovered by Ford Modeling Agency, which launched her into an international modeling career while she was still attending high school. Following her years of modeling as a teen, Mason began acting at the age of 22, first appearing on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live.

Mason has appeared on over 20 network television series. She starred as the lead of the FOX’s Bones spin-off The Finder opposite Oscar®-nominated Michael Clarke Duncan and Geoff Stults. Mason starred alongside Emmy® Award winner Terry O’Quinn and Emmy nominee Vanessa Williams on ABC’s mystery series 666 Park Ave. Mason has appeared on critically-acclaimed series such as HBO’s Entourage, The Closer, Castle, and in a recurring role on fan favorite series, Chuck. Additionally, Mason starred in a major arc in the final season of Showtime’s Californication. She continues to recur on CBS’s NCIS: LA as DEA Agent Talia Del Campo.

Additionally, Mason starred in the horror film Quarantine 2 and in the romantic comedy Ana Maria in Novela Land.

Mason resides in Los Angeles with her husband, David Denman.

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VICTOR STRAND Strand starts at the helm - literally and figuratively in season two. Call him Victor because he never loses. As he did with Nick, Victor Strand is evaluating which of his newfound “crew” will serve him best in the New World. Strand is an expert in defining new currency. It’s his boat - but he needs labour and support. Will he share his end game with the rest of the group?

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COLMAN DOMINGOStrand

Colman Domingo is an award-winning actor, playwright, and director who is a triple threat in 2016 with anticipated TV, film and theatre projects.

Domingo will reprise his role as Victor Strand on season two of AMC’s hit show Fear the Walking Dead.

Next up, Domingo joined an all-star cast in Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation, opposite Armie Hammer, Gabrielle Union and Nate Parker. The film is a biopic of slave-turned-revolutionary Nat Turner and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

As an Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, and Drama League Award-nominated actor and OBIE and Lucille Lortel Award-winner, Domingo has solidified himself as a Broadway veteran. Domingo’s newest play Dot premiered at the Humana Festival in Louisville last year and premiered Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theater in 2016, directed by Tony Award winner Susan Stroman.

Domingo’s theatre career took off when he starred in the critically acclaimed rock musical Passing Strange. The off-Broadway ensemble cast received an OBIE Award in 2008, and Domingo reprised his roles in the film version of Passing Strange, directed by Spike Lee, in 2009. He made his British and Australian debuts with his self-penned solo play, A Boy and His Soul. This production originated at New York City’s Vineyard Theater and won him GLAAD and Lucille Lortel awards in 2010. Domingo will once again revive, and direct, A Boy and His Soul in August of 2016 for the Guthrie Theatre.

In 2010, Domingo starred as Billy Flynn in Chicago, the longest revival on Broadway, and in the award-winning The Scottsboro Boys, a role which he originated on and off Broadway. Domingo was nominated for a Tony Award, Olivier Award, and a Fred Astaire Award for his role in The Scottsboro Boys. Additional theater credits include the Off-Broadway revival of Blood Knot and Wild With Happy.

As a director, Domingo recently staged the Off-Broadway Alliance Award-winning production of A Band of Angels and

helmed August Wilson’s Seven Guitars for the Actors Theater of Louisville in the fall of 2015. He also directed the critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway productions of Exit Cuckoo and Single Black Female.

Additional film credits include Ava DuVernay’s Selma and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Joe Roth’s Freedomland and Clint Eastwood’s True Crime, Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Ana and Red Hook Summer, and the first-ever screen adaptation of a Ralph Ellison story, King of the Bingo Game, among others. His TV credits include: The Knick, Lucifer, Law & Order, The Big Gay Sketch Show and Nash Bridges.

Domingo is on the Board of the Directors of the Vineyard Theater in New York City. He is also on faculty at the National Theater Institute (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center) and guest-lectured and mentored in many colleges and universities around the country. Domingo directed for Berkeley Rep as well as the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.

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PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES

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DAVE ERICKSONShowrunner/Executive Producer/ Co-Creator/Writer (Ep. 201)

Dave Erickson has written and produced long-form and series television since leaving University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in 1998. Among his credits, Erickson has served as executive producer on Marco Polo for Netflix and The Weinstein Company, co-executive producer on FX’s hit series Sons of Anarchy, and creator and producer of the series Canterbury’s Law for FOX.

ROBERT KIRKMANExecutive Producer/Co-Creator

Since entering the comics’ scene with his self-published cult-hit Battle Pope in 2000, the Kentucky native has risen to fame as one of the most successful names in comics and entertainment.He is the creator of many popular comic books, including the Eisner Award- winning The Walking Dead, long-running Invincible, all-ages Super Dinosaur, and the atmospheric exorcism comic, Outcast, which was released in June 2014 and recently received a series pickup for CINEMAX with Fox International. Kirkman will serve as creator, writer and executive producer of the series that is slated to release in Summer 2016. His success and passionate advocacy for creator-owned comics led him to become the first person invited to become a partner at Image Comics since the company’s inception twenty-four years ago.

In 2010, Robert saw an opportunity to create a transmedia entertainment company that would nurture creators, and give them the resources to create content while retaining creative control of their properties. Partnering with longtime collaborator, and fellow executive producer of The Walking Dead franchise and Outcast, David Alpert, Skybound Entertainment was born.

That same year, Kirkman continued to expand his presence in the entertainment industry, becoming a creator, executive producer and writer on The Walking Dead television show. The show has become the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time and to date is #1 on television among the coveted 18-49 demographic.

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GALE ANNE HURDExecutive Producer

In 1984, after working in various capacities for legendary producer Roger Corman, Hurd produced and co-wrote her first feature film, The Terminator. The film was a box office and critical success, and has since become a genre classic. This success was quickly followed by Aliens, which received seven nominations and two Academy Awards, and the Academy Award-winning films The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Ghost and the Darkness. Hurd’s additional feature credits include the Academy Award®¬nominated Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk, Tremors, Dante’s Peak, Æon Flux, The Punisher, Dick and The Waterdance, which won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and both the Audience and Screenplay Awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Hurd is an executive producer of The Walking Dead, which currently reigns as the most-watched scripted drama, beating all broadcast and cable series among adults 18-49. With 19.1 million viewers tuning into the season six mid-season premiere, The Walking Dead will begin filming its seventh season this Spring. She is a consulting producer on AMC’s top-rated talk show, Talking Dead, which recently logged 7.5 million viewers and is the second highest rated cable show on Sunday nights, behind only The Walking Dead. Hurd’s company, Valhalla Entertainment, has an overall deal with Universal Cable Productions to develop new television and digital programs. Her newest series, Hunters, will premiere this April 11th on Syfy. She is also an Executive Producer of USA Network’s recently announced drama series, Falling Water.

Hurd has held numerous leadership positions at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences where she has served on the Academy Board of Governors and chaired the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, the Investment Committee, as well as the Executive Committee of the Producers Branch. Hurd currently serves on the Academy’s Investment and Festival Grants Committees and is an Officer of the Producers Guild of America. In 2015, Hurd was awarded the prestigious David O. Selznick Award for Achievement in Motion Pictures by the Producers Guild of America, joining past honourees Clint Eastwood, Kathleen Kennedy, and Steven Spielberg. She is also the current recipient of the 2015 Jaeger-LeCoultre ‘Glory to the Filmmaker’ Award from the 21st Annual Los Angeles Film Festival. The National Women’s History Museum honoured Hurd at their annual 2015 ‘Women Making History’ event, along with Oscar winner Viola Davis. She was inducted into the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame in 2014, which includes such honourees as Rosa Parks, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Audrey Hepburn. In 2013, she accepted the Cartier Award at the Deauville American Film Festival, along with Cate Blanchett and Nicolas Cage, and was the 2013 recipient of the DiGamma Kappa Award for Distinguished Service in Broadcasting from Grady College at the University of Georgia, home of the Peabody Awards. In 2012, Gale received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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DAVID ALPERTExecutive Producer

David Alpert is a prolific television and film producer. A few of his credits include: The Walking Dead, the Robert Kirkman–created Outcast; BBC America’s Dirk Gently; and features including: Air, starring Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou, American Ultra, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, and the George Lopez film Spare Parts.

David Alpert is also president of Skybound Entertainment, the multiplatform entertainment company founded alongside long-time collaborator and creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman. As president, David oversees operations and development of cross-platform properties at Skybound, including Samsung Milk VR’s Gone, the first ever, narrative virtual reality series, and YouTube Red’s Scare PewDiePie.

David is an honours graduate of Harvard University and New York University Law School.

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GREG NICOTERO Executive Producer/Special Effects

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Born in Pittsburgh, it was a hobby turned career that lured Greg Nicotero into the fascinating world of special effects. After seeing Jaws and later Dawn Of The Dead, he had no doubt about what he hoped would become a job in the effects field. Nicotero was offered an apprentice job on Day of the Dead where he worked with directing legend George A. Romero. He diverted from his then pre-med career to follow his path to Hollywood.

KNB EFX GROUP was founded by Nicotero a few short years after he moved to LA in 1985. Within two years, he was moving from location to location, designing and supervising make-up effects films alongside the very filmmakers that inspired him, including Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and Wes Craven.Nicotero pushed KNB into broadening their abilities by creating hyper-realistic cadavers, replica heads and articulated animals. As the company continued to grow, so did Nicotero’s love for movies and desire to collaborate with the best artists in the field, including Frank Darabont, Sam Raimi, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. He provided second unit direction on several features, including Land of the Dead, The Faculty and The Mist, where he was able to refine his filmmaking skills even further.

Nicotero’s most recent work can be seen in Warner Brother’s feature Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayers, and providing effects for AMC’S Preacher, Better Call Saul and of course, The Walking Dead. To date, Nicotero has directed 15 episodes of The Walking Dead, while executive producing and supervising its Emmy® Award-winning special make-up effects on location in Atlanta. Nicotero shares these experiences with his wife of 15 years, Shari, an assistant director, and their two children, Deven and Alyssa.

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How is Fear the Walking Dead distinct from The Walking Dead and is it easy to become hooked on Fear if you’ve never seen The Walking Dead?

It’s definitely easy, and you don’t have to know anything about The Walking Dead to become hooked on Fear. Speaking with lots of people - with the actors, the producers and some viewers - they all agree that the way we approached the story means you don’t need any prior knowledge of the comics or the other series. But we’ve structured it in such a way that if you are a fan of the original graphic novels and you watch The Walking Dead, you’ll immediately recognise the mythology and you’ll see how the stories are layered. But you’ll also appreciate the different approach that Fear takes; the different point of view it has.

For season one, we talked quite a lot about the idea that we were covering the timeframe in which Rick Grimes was in his coma at the very outset of The Walking Dead. Viewers were getting a window on what he missed. But if you actually look at the breakdown of season one of Fear, it wasn’t a case of ending on a final frame in the finale from which you could have cut to Georgia just as Rick was about to wake up. If you look at the timing, we’re actually still shy of that point by a couple of weeks. So, what’s interesting in how we structured the first season and as we head into the second season, our family has been relatively insulated. We’ve gone from their realisation that things are falling apart and that the world is changing in the first few episodes to the arrival of the National Guard and essentially being stuck in an internment camp. They were trusting that things were being repaired in the world outside. So, it wasn’t until the finale that

they saw how things were falling apart in such a profound way

That’s what’s great about heading into season two: the bubble has burst! They’ve had to flee from what they initially thought was the safety of the military and they find themselves on the coast with the desolation and the disaster playing out around them. So, what our blended family now has to do is work out exactly how bad things are. How far has this spread? Is it something that’s taking over the entire country? The entire world? That puts them in a really interesting position where they’ve learned a lot about each other and their natures throughout season one and what they’re prepared to do as things go from bad to worse – but how far will they go to put that into practice?

INTERVIEW WITH DAVE ERICKSONEXECUTIVE PRODUCER & SHOWRUNNER

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Each family in season one experienced some tremendous loss. Will this unite them in season two and does it help them try to figure out how to survive?

Well, it’s interesting because one of the things that was important to Robert Kirkman when we started to develop the drama was the theme of violence and how each of the characters would approach it. And that doesn’t just mean the ‘deaths’ of the infected but how would each of the characters react when they had to put someone infected down?

By the end of season one, they’ve experienced a zombie horde and most of them (with the exception of Travis, Chris and Alycia) have had to fight one of the infected and put one down. So it becomes a question of the effects of that violence and about the morality of each person - how will they learn to process everything as we go into season two?

They’ve also witnessed what is tantamount to the fall of Los Angeles. The scenes in which they drive through a desolate, abandoned, dead LA mean that they’re leaving their home behind. They’ve lost their home, their friends, their neighbours and it’s catastrophic. I think that initially they’re all quite shell-shocked by it and then it becomes more about the connections they develop and, of course, their relationships with violence.

Now, in season two, they’ve landed on Strand’s boat, on the ‘Abigail’, and I think what we’ll come to realise, very quickly as we move into the first couple of episodes, is that they were not the only people with this bright idea. They’re not the only ones that have decided to become refugees from Los Angeles and make a break for the water. That’s going to create additional conflicts. It’s going to be twofold: what do they do when they’re confronted with the infected and what will they do when confronted with other survivors? How do they approach them and where does the greater danger lie?

Strand said at the end of the season one: “The only way to survive a mad world is to embrace the madness.” So how does this actually play out in season two?

I think a big theme for season two of Fear is that once we’ve established that the world is really gone, once we’ve established that there’s no turning back, what kind of person will each of the characters become? Will they be able to surrender to it? Will they be devoured and consumed by the apocalypse or will they change their base nature? Can they really continue to fight against it and try to hold onto their humanity?

That was something we began in season one, specifically with Travis, and I think we’ll see it continue in season two. One of the things that both Liza and Madison said about Travis was if he had to put either one of them down, it would break him. I think one of the interesting questions for this season is, did that act make him a broken man or will he be able to hold it together, not just for himself but for Chris, specifically, who’s just lost his mother?

It’s a fragile but violent rebirth for each of the characters going into season two and I think you’ll see elements of that ‘madness’ in a number of characters – Nick, Travis, Daniel.

Speaking of Daniel Salazar (played by Ruben Blades), there were some very dark moments about his past hinted at in season one. Will more of this be unveiled during season two and how will that affect his relationship with his daughter Ofelia (played by Mercedes Mason)?

In season one, we came to realise that Daniel was definitely not a humble barber. The truth is, he’s committed atrocities; he’s committed some truly violent acts in his past. His wife Griselda knew. She didn’t necessarily know the details but she knew. But she was willing to support him and even offer him absolution but now she’s gone. But his daughter Ofelia has only just become aware of this side of him and she’s looking upon him with judgement. Ofelia has spent much of

her life protecting her immigrant parents, feeling that they were a bit backwards; that they were of ‘the old world’ and that they struggled to assimilate into their lives in the US.

She’s really devoted a lot of energy and time trying to take care of them and now she’s come to realise that they were far more capable than she ever thought. She’s also come to realise that she really had no idea who her parents really were, or who her father is now. She’s now trying to understand who he is, while he’s looking to her for some kind of redemption and forgiveness. She looks at her dad and looks at what happened to her mom and really sees it as the sins of the father having been visited upon the mother. Emotionally, there’s a huge amount going on for that family in season two.

There is a revelation from Nick (played by Frank Dillane) in the season one finale that he admitted to living in his own apocalypse as a drug addict and that other people were now starting to catch up. How important is this to his character development in season two?

It’s a huge part of his development. At the end of last season, Nick essentially has a moment of clarity. He sees the world falling apart and, for the first time he’s clean from drugs. He’s not going to be able to score again. So, he realises that he’s somebody who should have died many times over in his previous life and now has to ask himself how and why he survived.

I think he has a certain sense of awe and fascination. He’s really intrigued by what’s now happening around him. He’s really intrigued by the dead and by this thought that he’s been given a second chance in this new world. Because he’s more adept at living on the fringes, he feels more comfortable in this new world. So, it’s an opportunity for him to look at the apocalypse through a filter that we don’t see elsewhere. He’s had a different experience of that pressure to survive and now he has a very different vantage point.

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The infected in Fear are in much less of a decayed state than the zombies in The Walking Dead. How does this affect the way in which the characters react to them?

Well, we’re a little bit further along in season two so they’ll have decayed a bit more and atrophied a little. And there are other factors and elements. We’re in salt water in the ocean and under a baking hot sun. So you’ll see a progression in their appearance but fundamentally they’ve recently become the infected and it’s very difficult to put one of them down. That takes its toll emotionally. We’re actually humanising the dead, and we want to continue to show the weight and pressure that puts on our characters when they have dispatch these ‘people’. Some of our characters still want to recognise the infected as having some degree of humanity left and perhaps some intelligence or understanding. We had our first zombie horde at the end of last season and we’ll definitely have lots more infected in this season. But we still want to hold onto the idea that Robert established - we never want the dead to become just ‘cannon fodder’. I think that adds a real perspective to the storytelling that we can explore. So, even if they look more gross, we want to hold onto their human qualities.

Why is it important that the infected don’t become just “cannon fodder”?

Something that’s really interesting about the whole genre is that you can project any human anxiety, any phobia or any fear onto the undead. The thing about the zombie genre is that you’re then allowed to kill your fears. I do think there’s a certain catharsis to it: it allows you to take all the things you hate and all the things that keep you awake at night and then put them down in a very permanent fashion.

I also think we want to avoid a situation where we just have wall upon wall of the infected and they’re being mowed down and there’s no real impact on the

characters. Fundamentally, there needs to be something going on emotionally. Whenever there’s any kind of interaction with the dead, we want to make sure it’s serving a purpose or developing a theme for the character involved and driving the narrative forward. The violence should do as much injury to the characters who are committing it as it does to the infected that they’re putting down.

What was it like to shoot in Mexico?

Well, shooting in Baja, we have a crew that is partly American alongside a lot of technicians and artists who came out from Mexico City and a lot of folks who are working locally in Baja. It was a giant endeavour and, as far as I can recall, there really hasn’t been anything like this done for television before. It was new ground for all of us, for the writers, for the directors, for all the producers and for the network. That’s a really rewarding feeling and I think we’re going to give the audience an experience that they haven’t had before.

Fear is a really diverse show and that’s really important to us. When we were shooting in Los Angeles, it was in East LA, exploring neighbourhoods that don’t appear on TV or in films too often. Working in Mexico has continued that theme. It’s been great to be able to work with Mexican directors, writers and craftspeople and Bernardo Trujillo, our production designer, is based in Mexico City and he has been remarkable with his energy and his unique, invaluable perspective.

I think that diversity is deeply embedded within the entire show. We have an incredibly diverse cast and crew and I think it gives us a very interesting edge and a different perspective. It makes for a really rich show.

Is there anything else that you’d like to share with fans about the upcoming season?

I think the most intriguing question is this: We all know that we’re going to be on a boat because we saw that at the end of season one but... where are the characters going to go?

I think we’ll quickly realise that the ocean is no safer than land and that there’s a very different level of adversity and threat on the water. It forces the characters to set their sights on a destination. But where will that be? North to Vancouver or south to Cabo? This is a boat that has a really incredible range and a full tank of gas so, feasibly, they could head out across the Pacific for 3,000 miles or more and make it to Hawaii. We could even end up doing zombies in paradise! [Laughs].

That’s the intriguing question for the first few episodes of the new season: what harbour can the characters find and when they get there, will it be safe or not?

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DAVE ERICKSONShowrunner / Executive Producer / Co-Creator / Writer 201

ROBERT KIRKMAN Executive Producer / Co-Creator

GALE ANNE HURD Executive Producer

DAVID ALPERT Executive Producer

GREG NICOTERO Executive Producer / Special Effects Makeup Supervisor

ADAM DAVIDSON Co-Executive Producer / Director 201, 202

ANDREW BERNSTEINCo-Executive Producer / Director 207

DAVID WIENER Co-Executive Producer / Writer 207

KATE BARNOW Co-Executive Producer / Writer 202

ALAN PAGE Producer / Writer 203

FRANK HILDEBRANDProducer / UPM

PABLO CRUZ Producer (Mexico)

ARTURO SAMPSON Producer (Mexico)

BRETT C. LEONARD Creative Consultant / Writer 202

STEFAN SCHWARTZ Director 203

MICHAEL UPPENDAHL Director 204

CRAIG ZISK Director 205

KATE DENNIS Director 206

MICHAEL MCDONOUGH Director of Photography 201, 202, 204, 206

PATRICK CADY Director of Photography 203, 205, 207

KATE ERICKSON Story Editor / Writer 204

CARLA CHING Staff Writer / Writer 205

BRIAN BUCKNER Consulting Producer / Writer 206

VICTOR DUBOIS Editor 201, 204, 207, 210, 213

CHRIS MCCALEB Editor 202, 205, 208, 211, 214

TAD DENNIS Editor 203, 206, 209, 212, 215

BERNARDO TRUJILLO Production Designer

MARY JANE FORT Costume Designer

JAY B. AROESTY MIZRAHI Supervising Art Director

JORGE BARBA Set Decorator

COLIN THURSTON Property Master

JIMMY O’CONNELL Marine Coordinator

TERE CHÁVEZ Key Hair Stylist

TRACEY ANDERSON Key Makeup Artist

ISAAC PINEDA GONZÁLEZ Location Manager

MANUEL CAMPILLO Location Manager

MARK NORBY Stunt Coordinator

SANTIAGO NÚÑEZ ROJO Production Sound Mixer

BOYD SHERMIS VFX Supervisor

PRODUCTION CREDITS

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Photographs in this Press Kit were produced byRichard Foreman Jr / AMC Frank Ockenfels 3 / AMC Justin Lubin / AMC

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