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Books The Walking Dead Chronicles: The Official Companion Book The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor Rise of the Governor The Road to Woodbury (comic spoiler) The Road to Woodbury (comic spoiler free) The Fall of The Governor Part 1 The Fall of The Governor Part 2 Descent
The Walking Dead Chronicles: The Official Companion Book
The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
Rise of the Governor
The Road to Woodbury (comic spoiler)
The Road to Woodbury (comic spoiler free)
The Fall of The Governor Part 1
The Fall of The Governor Part 2
Descent
Toys Funko’s vinyl figures Michonne’s Pet Walkers
Funko’s vinyl figures
Michonne’s Pet Walkers
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Interviews Norman Reedus (October 17, 2011) Greg Nicotero (January 6, 2012) Sonya Thompson (February 6, 2012) Glen Mazzara (February 23, 2012) Gale Anne Hurd (March 27, 2012) Eric Brown (August 30, 2012) Michael Rooker (September 19, 2012) Fred Berman (November 26, 2012) Jay Bonansinga (November 27, 2012) Glen Mazzara (December 17, 2012) Charlie Adlard (January 18, 2013) Glen Mazzara (February 26, 2013) Andrew Lincoln (March 8, 2013) Glenn Gamble (March 19, 2013) Scott Wilson (March 28, 2013) Lew Temple (October 6, 2014) Emily Kinney (October 10, 2013)
Norman Reedus (October 17, 2011)
Greg Nicotero (January 6, 2012)
Sonya Thompson (February 6, 2012)
Glen Mazzara (February 23, 2012)
Gale Anne Hurd (March 27, 2012)
Eric Brown (August 30, 2012)
Michael Rooker (September 19, 2012)
Fred Berman (November 26, 2012)
Jay Bonansinga (November 27, 2012)
Glen Mazzara (December 17, 2012)
Charlie Adlard (January 18, 2013)
Glen Mazzara (February 26, 2013)
Andrew Lincoln (March 8, 2013)
Glenn Gamble (March 19, 2013)
Scott Wilson (March 28, 2013)
Lew Temple (October 6, 2014)
Emily Kinney (October 10, 2013)
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I recently spoke to Glen Mazzara, showrunner for The Walking Dead, about how it feels to be showrunner for such a successful show, season 3, the comic, the future and a lot more. Here is what he said.
Lilja: We talked back in February and then you where quite new at the job as showrunner for The Walking Dead and now you have worked for more than a season. How is it different now compared to when we talked in February?
Glen Mazzara: How is it different? It’s been a great, great ride for me. I’m so happy to work on a show that I really love. I get to work with really great people, a terrific cast, fabulous crew and just being able to tell stories that are not being told anywhere else on TV. It’s just been really exciting and rewarding and I’m just having the time of my life.
Lilja: And it’s a huge success. Did you dare to dream it would be such a success when you took the job as showrunner?
Glen Mazzara: No, I was just trying not to fail. The fact that the audience has shown up on such a large scale every week and the fact that we have such a passionate fan base that cares so much about these characters and our story is really flattering and humbling but it wasn’t really something I thought about. I just wanted to focus on getting the job done and making sure that we were doing the very best TV show we could.
Lilja: And I read that the mid-season finale was seen by 10.5 million viewers.
Glen Mazzara: Yeah, I believe that’s right.
Lilja: That’s quite amazing. 10.5 million is more people then there are people living in Sweden [laugh]
Glen Mazzara: [laugh] Yeah, that was a fun episode and I can guarantee that the back half of our season, which begin airing in February, is just as exciting, just as interesting and now that we have all of the characters and settings up, now that everyone is up on stage and everything is up and running we can have some fun so I hope people respond as well to the back half of the season as they did on the front half.
Lilja: Yeah, I think they will. And it must be fun that everyone is so positive to the show. Everyone likes it. Both the fans and the reviewers, everybody.
Glen Mazzara: Yeah. We try to make the show as much of a thrill ride for our fans as possible but I think the critics respond to that we have interesting dilemmas for our characters, that they have to make desperate choices and I think the show has come together nicely. It’s entertaining and fun and what’s been really exciting about it is that people tend to sit down and view it together. It’s a communal experience. People watch it with their family, they watch it with their friends, with their co-workers and people talk about it. And that’s fun. Everyone has an opinion about it and it’s been exciting.
Lilja: When we spoke last you said you wanted to get the TV show closer to the comic. Do you feel that you have achieved that?
Glen Mazzara: Certainly. We have introduced Michonne, The Governor and Woodbury. We have certainly taken these essential storylines and characters and have worked them into the show. We recently introduced fan favorite Tyreese and I think that has been a big part of the show’s success, to bring in elements from the comic that the audience really wanted to see.
Lilja: Yeah, and I find it amazing that you manage, even though I read the comic, surprise me. Basically both stories end up in the same places but the TV show takes a different way there then the comic do. Is that something that you plan? To keep the fans of the comic in suspense or is that something that just happens when you write the scripts?
Glen Mazzara: That’s interesting. No one has ever asked that in that way before. We set out telling a story and we have certain things we want to say about the characters and the story just develops on its own. If something’s in the comic book and it works for where we are we use it. If the story diverges we do take liberties and we are free enough to do that, that is actually something Robert Kirkman has encouraged but we never make a choice to through of the comic book fans. We just go where the story takes us. It’s more of working from the inside out instead of trying to guess what the audience is going to respond to or not. We don’t do it like that; we just try to tell the best story that we can.
Lilja: How much pressure did you feel when you brought in Michonne and The Governor? They are both extremely loved characters from the comic. Where you afraid that the audience would have to high expectations on them and that you wouldn’t be able to live up to that?
Glen Mazzara: Actually no. We spent a lot of time developing those characters with the actors Danai and David and we had particular thoughts on who those characters were but we always had their arcs in mind so the only pressure we felt was that if we were to develop someone over time, like say The Governor, we quickly wanted to establish that he were a character capable of evil so in the first episode it was important that he attacks the national guardsmen, slaughters them and then we see the fish tanks. Two episodes later we see his daughter Penny so it was important for us to establish: yes this is our version of that character. This is not a different character that is completely unrecognizable to the comic book fans. We did feel an obligation to say these are trades that the comic book character has but here is how we tell it, here is how we do it, here is how it fits into our story. So for example Michonne is very quickly established as a badass who’s a very strong warrior and now in the back half of the season we’re going to start pulling back those layers. And we already did that in the mid-season finale, in episode 8. We are going to see a little more heart there, a little more vulnerability, other sides of her but we needed to establish the trades the audience were expecting first and then use that as a springboard.
Lilja: Also, and we spoke about this the last time, no one is safe in the TV series. That everyone can die and you have certainly proven this so far in season 3 both by killing of regular characters and some of the prisoners that many probably thought would live for a long(er) time. Do you see it as a problem that you have such a big and changing cast? It’s quite different from the original cast.
Glen Mazzara: No, that is our show, that is our story. I think we’re being true to our self. I don’t think we just kill of characters. We kill them of for story reasons. And as long as we’re telling a story and being true to the character I think that’s important. This is a very ambitious season, there are a lot of characters, there are new characters, there’s the setting, but that is just how we’re telling it. I look at this show as an historical novel and there are many, many characters coming in and out and living and dying and I think the audience is responding tot that.
Lilja: Yeah, I personally love the fact that you can never know if anyone’s safe.
Lilja: I want to ask you about T-Dog. Myself and a lot of fans thought that since he had such an anonymous part in season 2 that he would have some greater purpose here in season 3 and I was quite surprised that he was just killed of like he was. Was that the plan all the time or was it something that developed over time?
Glen Mazzara: That was something that we decided this season. All the material you see this season was developed this season. So we had this character T-Dog that, last year when I took over, the character hadn’t really been developed. The show focused on other dynamics so that character got short drift. So as we’re bringing in new characters and developing new characters we looked at; what is this story that we want to tell? And unfortunately we didn’t want to continue to have a character in the background that wasn’t being explored and we have these new characters that we have to explore. So we had very lengthy discussions about that character and his faith and it came up that he would die heroically and once we did that it felt right. It felt like a good and emotional story for that character. You always look for good storied for the characters. Unfortunately this resulted in his death. But I think it was an important story to tell and I think it was the right ending for that character.
Lilja: I have read in several interviews with the cast members that they get scared if they get a call from you…
Glen Mazzara: I’m sure they are [laugh]
Lilja: …that it’s their death call. How does that work, do you plan it all at the start of the season or does it develop as you shoot?
Glen Mazzara: We do plan the entire season. We plan to the end and then we go back and plan the first half in detail and we have markers and a concept for the back half. Then as we shoot we go back and fill in the back half. But we’re always open to surprises; we’re always open to making changes. The show I think is a living art form in a sense and you have to go where the energy is going. You have to go where the energy takes you. Not necessary plot it all out and not be able to take a great idea that suddenly comes to somebody. Because we have so many talented people working, pitching out ideas and I like to have the freedom to diverge from the plan and go of in a more surprising direction. So the major deaths are usually planed upfront and we take them very seriously and I sometimes I call people ahead of time to let them know and sometimes if I’m not sure if their death is appropriate Im will wait until the script is actually written to call them because there has been a few instances where I have called people and told them their dying and then they don’t. And that is always an unpleasant conversation. It’s a fantastic cast and people love working on the show, most of the cast is at the highlight of their career so it’s hard and I’m the only one who calls people and as you can see I have had some very difficult calls to make. But I feel it’s my job as the show runner to do that.
Lilja: I know you planed on killing Hershel in season two but changed your mind. Have there been others that have been close to being killed of but then saved?
Glen Mazzara: Yes, in the first half of the season I did tell Melissa McBride that Carol was going to be killed of. I told her that and then we came up with a better plan that was that if T-Dog had saved her, if T-Dog sacrificed his life we felt that that sacrifice was only worthwhile if Carol lived. But we didn’t want to reveal that Carol was alive at the end of that episode because we were really going with the devastation of Lori’s death. And we were just embracing the mournful aspect of that last scene where Rick breaks down and we did not want to undercut it with the positive of “oh, here is Carol”. So it took a little while until we came up with “what if she locked herself in a cell and couldn’t get out and she was dehydrated and horse from screaming” and then she was saved by Daryl two episodes later. But I did tell Melissa McBride that she would be killed of and then when I called her back and told he she was not being killed of she was very, very happy.
Lilja: I can imagine…
Glen Mazzara: I will say that I think she has done a great job with Carol this season, the character has become a fan favorite, the character has really come along, she takes a lot of risks and Carol’s work when she sees the baby and then realizes that Lori hasn’t made it is one of the best scenes we have done all year and I give credit for that to Melissa and she is just a fantastic actresses.
Lilja: How much do you listen to the fans? Like if you plan on killing one of the fan favorites and you see online that the fans really like him or her, do you take that into consideration?
Glen Mazzara: No, we don’t listen to that. We can’t listen to that. All of these characters are now fan favorites. Lori was not a fan favorite and people cried when she died. So we tell our story, take that risk and I hear what the fans are saying but I have to remain true to what I think is best for the show. That is my job. My job is also to tell the best possible story and that is taking risks but I certainly want the fans to be happy. I care about what the fans say but I cannot allow anonymous people on the Internet to write the show, that would not be successful.
Lilja: Yeah, and I think that one of the reasons the show is such a success is that you are actually killing of characters that the fans really love so that they can react to that.
Glen Mazzara: I agree.
Lilja: Have you finished shooting season 3?
Glen Mazzara: Yeah, we’ve finished shooting two weeks ago and we have finished editing episode 14 and 15 and next week I start editing episode 16, the finale. And I’m happy to say that the back half of the season is just as exciting and take just as many risks as the first half and I just hope the fans continue to enjoy that show.
Lilja: Do you know why there is a break in the middle of the season?
Glen Mazzara: I believe that it breaks for network programming? And there is the season and the football playoffs. It strictly a AMC programming reason so you would have to ask AMC.
Lilja: Do you have any insight on season 4? I can’t imagine there won’t be a season 4 even though it hasn’t been announced yet.
Glen Mazzara: Well, I assume there will be a fourth season but as you say nothing has been announced yet.
Lilja: When you look ahead into the future how many seasons do you see of the show? Is it an always ongoing show or is there a limit?
Glen Mazzara: I don’t know. We have been really focused on making season 3 but I could see the show go the full distance, going on for 7 or 8 seasons but the last thing you want to do is overstay your welcome… But the story dictates a lot of what we do on The Walking Dead but if it ever felt that we were repeating ourselves, that we aren’t taking chances or told a story that wasn’t worth while I think it’s time to call it quits but right now I feel we’re just getting started, that we’re up and running and that we have a show that has a acceleration pace, storytelling, many characters and feels like an apocalyptic world. And there is a great deal of material in Robert Kirkman’s comic book to draw from so I think we have a number of seasons a head of us.
Lilja: Do you read new issues of the comic or do you feel it would have to much influence on you and where you are with the story now?
Glen Mazzara: I do read the comic every month. Robert is a great storyteller and I was very impressed with its 100 issue and fortunate we get new copies delivered to the office every month and I read it within the first 10 minutes.
Lilja: Do you get tempted to bring in character from the present comic into the TV series? Is it hard to stick where you are with the TV-series?
Glen Mazzara: There is a new character in the comic book named Negan and he is just terrific and scary and I don’t know what Robert is going to do with him so I’m watching him. But we got The Governor so it’s all very interesting but I would never want to bring in another characters to share the limelight with The Governor right now. I think The Governor is just getting started.
Lilja: You’re very active on Twitter, are you ever worried about spoiling stuff? The show airs all over the world so there are always someone that hasn’t seen the latest episode.
Glen Mazzara: No, no, I will not answer any questions that are related to the episode until it has aired on FOX in the UK? When I first started using Twitter I didn’t understand how it worked but now I’m very careful not to spoil things. I tell everyone on Twitter not to following me if they haven’t seen the episode incase something gets spoiled. So I’m very careful. I did have to learn the hard way though but now I’m very careful because I don’t want to see the show spoiled
Lilja: Do you have closed sets when you shoot the episodes?
Glen Mazzara: Yeah we have a whole security process and we are very careful to make sure that people on or around the set don’t spoil things for us.
Lilja: That sounds very good. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. I enjoyed it a lot.
laurissa macias I’m so happy he says he sees the show going full distance! I would be so happy if the show went on to a 7th or 8th season. Gives me hope! Hehe
I’m so happy he says he sees the show going full distance! I would be so happy if the show went on to a 7th or 8th season. Gives me hope! Hehe
Pingback: OMG! Mazzara had a plan to kill Carol off...but ()
Samuel Kidd I agree. I feel that killing Carol off would be a stupid move. Her character in the comic needed to die. She was week and crazy and was just a mess in her own mind. This Carol, however, has gone through enough to the point where her survival is a more likely thing. She needs to survive as her own character, but I feel that she is just a pawn for Daryl. She had what it took to get as deep in the prison on her own with nothing but a knife, I think she has what it takes to survive past the prison. I sure hope she does.
I agree. I feel that killing Carol off would be a stupid move. Her character in the comic needed to die. She was week and crazy and was just a mess in her own mind. This Carol, however, has gone through enough to the point where her survival is a more likely thing. She needs to survive as her own character, but I feel that she is just a pawn for Daryl. She had what it took to get as deep in the prison on her own with nothing but a knife, I think she has what it takes to survive past the prison. I sure hope she does.
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