The first picture under the production pact between Ian Ziering’s I.Man Productions and Darby Parker’s Stronghold Entertainment titled Zombie Tidal Wave will have its world premiere on SYFY on Saturday, August 17 at 9/8c.

This sci-fi feature stars Ziering and was directed by Ziering’s frequent collaborator Anthony C. Ferrante who helmed all six of Ziering’s Sharknado film installments, the franchise that brought ratings records for SYFY.

Here, Ziering and Parker, producing from an original story by Ziering and Thunder Levin, and a script by Parker, Ferrante and tyro scribe Josh LeBlanc, move from the fantastic world of shark-slinging tornados to one where zombie-slinging tsunamis offer a special brand of maritime mayhem, going from bad to worse when they make landfall.

Ziering and Parker see this as the first of many installments where we follow lead Hunter Shaw (Ziering) as he contends with the ocean-borne outbreak which threatens his seaside island community, the rogue, veteran sailor leading a disparate group of locals to uncover the origins of the undead pandemic while battling the growing horde of infected before it can reach the mainland.

Shot on location in Krabi, Thailand in collaboration with Benetone Films, the film was financed by Piguant Pictures and The Wonderfilm Media Corporation, Wonderfilm’s Kirk Shaw and Imprint Entertainment’s Michael Becker also serving as producers on the film.

The production pact between Ziering and Parker finds the two producing a slate of originals, including family and holiday fare in addition to thriller and other genre titles, it was negotiated by attorney Michael Kernan of The Kernan Law Firm, who also handled the license deal with SYFY on behalf of Ziering and Parker.

In addition to Zombie Tidal Wave, Ziering recently completed work on James Wan’s original DC Comics/WB series Swamp Thing, and is currently shooting the new 90210 along with all his original cast mates.

While these projects and others find Ziering busy as an actor, the production pact with Parker serves a broader goal, Ziering summing it up as, “Zombie Tiday Wave offered the opportunity to see my original concept through to release, it is incredibly satisfying to be a creator and work in all facets of the process beyond my contributions as an actor. Darby and I want to continue to curate more projects together in this hands-on manner, and I can’t wait to bring more of my acting and directing peers, and new production partners, along with us.”

Parker added, “Moving ahead, my company’s multi-picture pact with Pierre Andre-Rochat’s Daro Films, and our equity partners here and abroad, Ian and I can put projects together with greater flexibility than solely working as domestic network producers-for-hire. Additionally we are also always looking to identify more network, financing and distribution partners who share our desire to re-invigorate the traditional MOW model in terms of story, talent and execution to keep up with the ever-evolving quality and quantity of scripted series against which these films have to compete for viewership.”