AMC announced Friday that it has green lit a pilot episode for a companion series to their highly rated show, The Walking Dead. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert, producers of The Walking Dead, are all on board as executive producers for this new project. AMC studios will produce the two series concurrently. Sons of Anarchy's Dave Erickson, who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, will return as an executive producer and show runner.

The as-of-yet-named series will be set in a different location than the current show and will feature an entirely new cast of characters.

"Almost from the beginning of The Walking Dead on AMC fans have been curious about what is going on in the zombie apocalypse in other parts of the world," said AMC President Charlie Collier in a statement. "In fact beyond requests for zombie cames, it's the question I get asked the most. obviously, we all take our stewardship of the original franchise incredibly seriously and we, along with Robert, Gal, David and now Dave are all proceeding with extreme care in order to ensure that we are offering fans something truly compelling, engaging and distinct. We're thrilled to be taking this next step with these remarkable partners."

Further details for the series remain scarce, but it has been confirmed by Kirkman that the series will be a change of setting from the series norm. "It definitely won't be set in Georgia- I can at least say that. It's important to us that this show exists on its own," Kirkman told IGN. "The spinoff has to be a show worthy of existing or else we've all sold out. So that's something we're all working hard towards doing and I think we can pull it off. I think the ideal situation is, when you're watching the spinoff, you're like, 'Wow this is a really awesome show.'"

The new show will enter production in late 2014. No additional casting or plot details have been released.

The Walking Dead is set to return for its fifth season on Oct. 12.