A Chat With Gale Anne Hurd, Producer of 'The Walking Dead'

Gale Anne Hurd has built her Hollywood name on the broad backs of terminators, the goo of aliens and most recently, the shuffling feet of zombies.

She's also the reason you can get a great bison burger in Old Town.

The prolific film producer and Hollywood Walk of Fame honoree is one of the driving forces behind "The Walking Dead" television show, and she's the owner of Vertical Wine Bistro on Raymond Avenue in Old Town Pasadena. The show's third season is nearing its Sunday premiere on AMC, and Hurd took a few minutes to chat with Patch about food, life in Pasadena, and death on TV.

Patch: How did Vertical Wine Bistro come about?

Gale Anne Hurd: I moved to Pasadena in about 2004, and I was looking for a place where I would feel comfortable hanging out. I found one, but came back one day and, to my horror, found out they went out of business. So I decided that since I actually own a couple of buildings in Old Pasadena, one of which had vacant space, that it would be great to create a place of my own. Of course, I didn't realize at the time how difficult the restaurant and beverage business is. 

Patch: So it's a different universe, basically?

GAH: It's different in that, up until I started doing "The Walking Dead", my primary experience was as a feature film producer. That kind of project has a beginning, a middle and an end. With a restaurant, it's an ongoing enterprise. We're open six days a week. It's similar to the film business, in that you work incredibly long hours and it's all about the people you bring on to the team.

Patch: What's your favorite item on the menu?

GAH: Right now, I'd say it would have to be the fried chicken dinner we have on Sunday suppers. 

Patch: I had the M. Bison Burger the last time I was there ...

GAH: Oh, the bison burger's fantastic. That was one of those things where I encouraged Laurent (Quenioux, Vertical's chef) to add to the menu because my husband and I spend a lot of time in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where bison burgers are pretty standard on the menu, just as they are in Montana ... and I just couldn't find a good one in Los Angeles. One of the perks of having your own restaurant!

Patch: How about a favorite wine?

GAH: My favorite one is probably Sassicaia, the Tuscan wine.

Patch: What is it about Pasadena you enjoy the most as a resident?

GAH: The first thing I love about it ... I live in a condo and everything's within walking distance. I never step foot in my car, I walk everywhere. You have that urban experience without that overwhelming concrete jungle. And I love that it's multicultural and diverse. You can just look at the clientele at Vertical, and it's a real representation of the United States. It's Latino, Asian, African-American ... all different ages and all types of careers in one melting pot. 

Patch: That's interesting you bring up diversity, because looking back at some of your work, like "The Walking Dead" and  "Aliens" ... there's always a variety of characters. Which of the "Walking Dead" characters do you think would enjoy Pasadena the most?

GAH: This season, I'd probably say The Governor.

Patch: See, I was thinking Glenn. 

GAH: Oh, he'd fit in, absolutely. I think Herschel would miss the farm too much. I think that Rick and Lori would enjoy a romantic evening out at Vertical. 

Patch: Daryl, maybe not so much.

GAH: No, we don't serve squirrel yet.

Patch: Talking more about working on "The Walking Dead", what drew you to become a producer on this series?

GAH: I was a fan of Robert Kirkman's comic book. I read it in 2006, and at the time the rights weren't available. I kept checking on it, and finally, four years ago, it turned out the rights were available. I'm a longtime sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic book fan, so it was a natural fit.

Patch: At any point, during the process from getting the rights to the comic to airing the first pilot, was there anything that made you think, "This is it. This is going to be huge."

GAH: No, there wasn't. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a fantastic show ... I knew that based on Frank Darabont's work and the script he had written for the pilot and Kirkman's underlying comic book, but we expected that it would be more of a niche show, delivering to audiences that were typical of AMC at the time. We were really hoping to crack 2 million.

Patch: What is it about "The Walking Dead" that made it explode and reach audiences the way it did? Is it the fact that it offers a lot of powerful, emotional dramatic elements that don't have anything to do with gore and zombies?

GAH: I think that's it, but I think there are a couple of other things. I think it's this sense of inevitability that we're on the brink of some kind of apocalypse, and you don't want to really examine the real thing ... financial apocalypse, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis. This is a way to kind of explore that kind of drama and conflict without having to experience something that's very unlikely to happen to any of us. 

Patch: I have to ask about Michonne, who made one hell of an entrance in the last episode. You go from a bunch of survivors running for their lives and now comes this hooded, sword-swinging woman bearing two chained zombies ... what's it like trying to integrate that character into the current dynamic of everything else?

GAH: She's not going to be a cartoon character. She's going to be a very serious loner who only engages when she has to. She's not going to be out there lopping off zombie heads for fun. 

Patch: If there's a theme you could pick for this upcoming season, what would it be? How would you best describe it?

GAH: I think part of the theme is that now that the zombie apocalypse has been going on for a while, how does that change humanity, and how does that change each one of our characters?