At tonight's Saturn Awards, I was able to get a few minutes with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman on the red carpet.  With the show currently shooting season 3 in Atlanta, Kirkman says they're about to start filming episode eight, which is the mid-season finale.  However, the big news for fans of the show came towards the end of the interview.  With the show getting huge ratings around the world, I asked if that has led to an increase in the production budget.  Kirkman said:

"I think you might see a few more dollars on the screen in the third season. It's gonna be bigger."

Needless to say, this is awesome news.  Hit the jump for more.

During the rest of the interview we talked about the comic, Comic-Con, Kirkman's passion for original Transformers, raising the bar in terms of zombie kills, are future seasons mapped out, and more.

I've time indexed the interview so you can watch the parts that interest you.  Look for a lot more video interviews from the Saturn Awards all weekend.

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Robert Kirkman Time Index:

  • 00:10-00:45 - The massive success of the 100th issue of The Walking dead.
  • 00:45-1:05 - What was this year at comic-con like?
  • 1:05-1:55 - Kirkman's passion for transformers.
  • 1:55-3:00 - Raising the bar on violence in the series. And raising the bar for human stories.
  • 3:00-3:45 - What to expect from season 3:

"We begin filming episode 8 next week, our mid-season finale. And you know, we're trucking along."

  • 3:45-4:20 - How specific is the plotting of the show before production?

"We got Merle coming back, we got the Governor, Michonne; all that stuff is known. I'm trying to think of some buzz words or something that I can slip in there that AMC won't get too angry about. I think there is an escalation that began at the end of the second season and there's not any kind of drop off. We kind of start off at that point and it gets a little bit bigger and a little bit crazier moving into the introduction of the Governor and all the new elements that are coming in this season."

  • 4:20-4:55 - What's the budget for season 3.

"I think you might see a few more dollars on the screen in the third season. It's gonna be bigger."

  • 4:55-5:48 - Are future seasons mapped out?

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