AMC and OLTL Will Move Online!

[marceline]

My first thought was that this is a lousy day for the actors to hear this news. They wrapped Friday and now the day before Thanksgiving they find out they signed on to a fail. But you're right, from a PR standpoint this is a perfect time to break this. Offices closed, people on planes, it's perfect.

[dragonflies]

Plus soap fans possibly out of town, less backlash as well LOL

[Soapsuds]

So Frank Valentini's job is kaput?.....lol.....Does RC go back to GH for its last few months?? I am hoping that OLTL had a decent ending....not dependent on the PP online stuff.

[Marco Dane]

Thanksgiving EVE

http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/on-the-brink-prospect-park-may-be-forced-to-pull-the-plug-on-oltl-amc/

EXCLUSIVE: This is potential very bad news for soap fans who feel thankful this Thanksgiving that canceled ABC series One Life To Live and All My Children may continue online. That now may not be happening. It was considered a bold and risky move when Rich Frank & Jeff Kwatinetz’s Prospect Park in July made a licensing deal with ABC to keep OLTL and AMC alive for online distribution. The transfer from broadcast TV to the Web proved far more difficult than anyone anticipated. I hear that Prospect Park self-financed extensive research and its principals held dozens of meetings with potential investors for their Online Network, which was originally slated to launch in the first quarter of 2012. (The latest plan has been for Once Life To Live to go on first, with All My Children put on hold.) In a sign of potential hurdles, Prospect Park in late July issued a statement that it was “in the process of working out the essential terms of our proposed collective bargaining agreements with the appropriate guilds and unions, which we must do prior to firming up deals with above- and below-the-line talent.” I hear that those negotiations proved difficult, mostly because there is no existing template for a broadcast program transitioning online. Word is that the guilds have been looking to hold OLTL and AMC to broadcast terms, which is somewhat understandable as the Prospect Park-ABC deal calls for the two series to “continue to be delivered with the same quality and in the same format and length.” But shows produced on broadcast terms are impossible to support with online vs. TV advertising. (ABC, which makes extra money on its soaps from off-network sales to SoapNet and foreign territories, claimed it was still losing money on OLTL and AMC, leading to their cancellation.) To make the target launch date, the soap writers hired by Prospect Park were supposed to start work earlier this month but they haven’t as there is no deal with the WGA. And all pacts with actors from OLTL and AMC that Prospect Park made over the past few months were contingent on clearances by the unions. I hear that Prospect Park principals are still trying to find a last-minute solution to keep the soap online venture going but feel pressed into a corner after exhausting every possible avenue and may decide to pull the plug as soon as today.

[JaneAusten]

OK I am confused. Are they saying the unions are to blame?

They still own the rights to both shows for 10 years right

As for RC and FV being out of a job I bet Prospect Park keeps them

[~bl~]

Yes I feel for the people involved, happy Thanksgiving you won't have a job. And this isn't just the actors, but the crew people.

[dragonflies]

ABC owns the rights, PP is leasing them. Richard from SID is saying they have no money at all, so even being on cable is out of the question

[marceline]

Well they can't blame Susan Lucci...

[Soapsuds]

Huh...I thought they did have some money...??

Let's stop this madness and just release some DVDs from these soaps......

It can still happen...lol

Jacob Young better ask BB for a longer contract at B&B. Good thing he didnt sign with PP.

[JaneAusten]

NO offense but how does Richard know?

[dragonflies]

Probably the same way Jamey does LOL, sources

From SOD

http://www.soapoperadigest.com/content/oltl-no-go

Several actors who have signed on with the TOLN venture remain cautiously optimistic. "It's still up in the air," Jerry verDorn (Clint) told Digest last week on the set but the mood after the wrap party was "not very hopeful," according to one attendee. Look for the full story in an upcoming issue.

[JaneAusten]

Well didnt Nelson Branco promise to find a way to keep OLTL going. Heres his chance.

[dragonflies]

LMAO Jamey is venting, but I agree with him somewhat

https://twitter.com/#!/Jamey_Giddens

[JaneAusten]

I cant take him seriously. What does Frons have to do with Prospect Parks inability to raise the money needed. THis could actually be a godsend. Maybe PP finally looks at ways to evolve these shows so the end result is something more than SSDD. The current model is not working why would it suddenly work online.

[juppiter]

Watching OLTL right now.... I'm in a gap right now where I just finished a job Nov 4 and don't start my new one until Dec 12 so I've been watching all of the soaps more than I have in years and OLTL is by far the best show on the air. Just a shame if they don't continue There is still so much this show could do.