According to a recent interview with Fangoria, "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman confirmed that the companion series "Fear the Walking Dead" is scheduled to premiere this August. 

He has not given any specific premiere date but releasing it in August, presumably by the last week of the month, means the series will end at just about the same time the flagship series will premiere its sixth season in October. Season 1 will start with only six episodes, making it the best schedule to transition over to the main series. 

During to the interview, Kirkman also addressed some of the differences that the show will have from the main series. The first thing he mentioned was that "Fear" would not visually be the same because it was shot digitally instead of the 16mm film cameras used for "The Walking Dead."  

The visuals are also different because of the plot and setting of the new companion series. "Fear the Walking Dead" is set in Los Angeles and starts off right after the zombie virus started spreading and will explore the first few weeks of the outbreak. This will cover the period when Rick Grimes was in a coma in the first season of the main series. 

While the companion series is set a few years prior to the current timeline of the main show, Kirkman has stated that the former might catch up to the latter in future seasons. However, there is very little chance that the characters of both shows may crossover with one another as he wants each series to be set in the same universe but to tell different stories. 

Kirkman also explained that the first season of "Fear" will be "more hectic" than season 1 of "The Walking Dead." There may be more action sequences since the first season does show the outbreak in its earliest days and it will occur in one of the most populated cities in the country. 

The comic book writer also stated that if "Fear the Walking Dead" is successful, then they may consider doing other spin-off series that are also set in the same universe.