In the run up to AMC/FOX’s new programme, ‘The Walking Dead’, Beam created the distribution and delivery in support of a global zombie invasion publicity stunt. The series airs in the US on 31 October and is closely followed internationally starting November 1st. In the UK, The Walking Dead will premiere on November 5th on the FX channel.

Starring Andrew Lincoln, (Love Actually, Teachers, This Life) ‘The Walking Dead’ is based on Robert Kirkman’s cult comic book series. Kirkman, along with three-time Academy Award-nominee Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) serves as writer, director and executive producer.

As part of the publicity building up to the series premiere, FOX and AMC staged a worldwide zombie invasion with different countries filming and editing their zombie event all at the same local time around the globe. With the help of legendary make-up artist Greg Nicotero, hundreds of zombies consecutively took over major cities worldwide during a 24-hour period. The global outbreaks centered around the world’s most iconic landmarks - from the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, Big Ben in London, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., the Prado Museum in Madrid, to the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul and the Acropolis in Athens - to name a few. The invasion began at daybreak in Taipei and Hong Kong on Tuesday 26 October, and moved across the globe where the stunt culminated in Los Angeles for the programme’s debut.

Beam uploaded all of the footage material from around the globe which downloaded in Rome - the production team base for the event - so it could be re-edited and posted back on Beam to play out straight away. This was repeated by each of the 26 cities taking part up to five times during the event.

Katie Camy, Client Service Manager at Beam explains: “It was an incredible stunt to be a part of - it isn’t often you get to manage footage of a global zombie invasion. It was a massive project; we managed all uploads and downloads; hosting all of the assets; providing real-time transcoding of all the material, including standards conversion of broadcast quality material; and the creation of Facebook, YouTube and other h.264 and flv files.

“The transcoded materials were ready within minutes of upload and it was pulled down to seeding sites, US & international press offices and US broadcasters as well as press outlets around the world.”

Alexandra Marinescu, Sr. Director of Marketing and Communications for FIC comments: “It’s not every day that you get to stage a worldwide zombie invasion. The reality of the undertaking is much, much more complex than one would imagine at first. Working with Beam on the delivery of all the content from around the world ensured that print, broadcast & online press outlets were supplied with materials in real time. Their around the clock support helped us spread the infection across media as it was spreading in real life across the globe. We couldn’t be more pleased with the service”.

Facts at a glance

• 26 cities around the globe uploading broadcast quality material to Beam at staggered times across an 18 hour window - over 340 uploads and press stills.

• Downloading the material in Rome and re-uploading edited material of everything, plus compilations.

• Real-time on demand transcoding all the material, including standards conversion of broadcast quality material and creation of Facebook, YouTube and other h.264 and flv files all centrally managed at our Beam HQ in London, meaning transcoded materials were ready within minutes of upload.

• 150 broadcast quality assets available for download.

• Over 350 beam-transcoded files available for download.

• Over 54GB of data available for download from Beam to the press.

• We created a staggered roll out with constant updates sent out from Beam so the press agencies could see the invasion spread from city to city as the day unfolded.

The Walking Dead - Global Zombie Invasion Attacks

New York City, USA Washington DC, USA Boston, USA Chicago, USA San Francisco, USA Los Angeles, USA Taipei, Taiwan Hong Kong Istanbul, Turkey Athens, Greece Sofia, Bulgaria Estonia, Tallinn Belgrade, Serbia Munich, Germany Madrid, Spain Rome, Italy Johannesburg, South Africa London, UK Lisbon, Portugal Sao Paolo, Brazil Buenos Aires, Argentina Santiago, Chile Caracas, Venezuela Bogota, Colombia Mexico City, Mexico Guatemala City, Guatemala

“The Walking Dead” premieres in the USA on AMC on Halloween, Sunday, October 31. For the first time ever, the series will begin to premiere globally a few hours after AMC’s U.S. launch. Similar to a theatrical film release, all FIC markets will launch the first episode during the same week, before the release of the second episode in the US. “The Walking Dead” will debut in 120 countries, air in 33 languages and be viewed in 250 million households when it premieres.

For further enquiries please contact:

Pip Lowe – Head or Press and Marketing
email: pipl@beam.tv
tel: +44(0)207 287 4041

Katie Camy – Client Service Manager
email: katiec@beam.tv
tel: +44(0)207 907 4431