Fear is leaving Texas - unfortunately. "Fear The Walking Dead, the AMC series which has shot its last four seasons in Austin and the surrounding area, is leaving Texas on Dec. 17. The popular spin-off of the smash zombie series "The Walking Dead" is expected to relocate production for season 8 to Savannah, Georgia.
The Austin Chronicle reports the producers of FTWD were "extremely happy with the crew base and facilities in Austin - unmatched anywhere in Texas - and the show was expected to remain here for the duration of its run. This made the decision to pack up a surprise for many."
“To say this is a significant loss is an understatement,” Austin Film Commission director Brian Gannon told the Austin Chronicle, who noted that the show “created consistent, well-paying jobs for close to five years.” With a production budget of $50,000 per hour and a shooting schedule of nine months, Gannon observed, “That money goes to a lot of local businesses in Austin - lumber yards, grocers, camera rental vendors, facilities, hotels, vehicle rental companies, the list goes on.”
This is not the first time that the FTWD production has moved locations. The show was filmed in California for the first two years, then relocated to Baja California and Mexico for season 3. Season 4 of FTWD was first shot in Round Rock, Texas - and has since filmed in Bartlett, Lytton, LaGrange, and Manor. The producers had reportedly been scouting for Season 7 locations in Galveston and Corpus Christi.
Texas Motion Picture Association executive director Paul Jensen told the Chronicle that Texas is losing big productions like FTWD because the state government is cutting funding to rebate programs like the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program. He said, "This program is really wildly underfunded, and that we're losing projects - is indicative that there's a huge amount of media production that wants to work in Texas, and we're not supporting that."
For more, read The Austin Chronicle's report:
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