In a lawsuit that will be watched closely in Hollywood, several producers of The Walking Dead on Monday sued AMC — the cable network that broadcasts the hit TV series — seeking a greater share of the profits.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims that AMC has been holding back a significant amount of money that traditionally would have been handed over to top producers once a show has been as successful as long as The Walking Dead has been.
The suit lays the groundwork for what should become a remarkably strained relationship between the show’s principal producers and AMC executives as The Walking Dead closes in on its eighth season premiere this year. The suit also involves spinoff series like Fear the Walking Dead and Talking Dead.
The move follows a similar lawsuit filed by Frank Darabont, one of the show’s creators, who was fired during the second season of the show. Darabont is seeking more than $200 million (Dh734 million) in damages.
The plaintiffs in the suit include Robert Kirkman, a creator of the show, and Gale Anne Hurd, Glen Mazzara and David Alpert, all producers. Last week, Kirkman announced he was leaving AMC Studios for Amazon, a sign that something was amiss in his relationship with the network.
With flagging ratings and more TV shows than ever, networks in recent years have been building out and buying more shows from sister studios, rather than going to outside studios like Sony or Lionsgate.
The suit claims that AMC set up a sweetheart deal with its own studio, AMC Studios, robbing The Walking Dead producers of a greater share of profit participation that has traditionally been showered on producers and actors of successful, long-running TV series.
In a statement, AMC said: “These kinds of lawsuits are fairly common in entertainment and they all have one thing in common — they follow success. Virtually every studio that has had a successful show has been the target of litigation like this, and The Walking Dead has been the No. 1 show on television for five years in a row, so this is no surprise. We have enormous respect and appreciation for these plaintiffs, and we will continue to work with them as partners, even as we vigorously defend against this baseless and predictably opportunistic lawsuit.”
