DAVE ERICKSON Showrunner/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 KIRKMAN Executive 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.

GALE ANNE HURD Executive 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 6 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 honorees 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 honored 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 honorees 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.

DAVID ALPERT Executive 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 honors graduate of Harvard University and New York University Law School.

GREG NICOTERO Executive Producer/Special Effects Makeup Supervisor

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. While the early eighties hearted such films as An American Werewolf in London, The Thing and Creepshow, 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.