AMC and OLTL Will Move Online!

[JaneAusten]

I understand, My enthusiasm with each announcement I read convinces me Frons and his minions still have their hands in this. On the positive side I do think they will be forced into changes because the online audience does not or will not have the tolerance or patience to put up with the BS these shows have been airing. They have a lot less patience than the 40 year soap watchers network TV currently holds.

[ER Tosh]

Yeah that number sounds right. I would sign RH, Bob Woods, JVD, ES, MA, KDP, The kid who plays Shane and maybe Rama and Vimal.

[Vee]

I'm not sure where you guys are getting Frons' influence from this thing. I haven't heard anything of the sort.

[Eric83]

Anyone who attended or knows anyone who attended the OLTL event please post actor statements regarding the online move. Thanks in advance

[marceline]

Mad at what? I'm just out of interest. So many of these reports change the next hour, day, week and I just don't care anymore. I wish I did. But if have to hang on to January, I'll just watch Mad Men.

[Vee]

"Out of interest?" You ranted to anyone who could listen about how this was the resurrection and the life for weeks. You knew these shows were not starting up in September. You claimed you were these shows' biggest cheerleaders in the new format and that anyone who didn't like it could suck it because you were sure you would finally get yours. I can only conclude that when you heard these shows were being reinvented, you thought they meant reinvented to your exact whim. Like every other soap fan. Me, I think I'll wait and see. I'm still pretty excited.

[marceline]

I haven't heard anything about what these shows are going to be. That's why I'm out of interest. When they get around to discussing the specifics, then maybe I'll go back into cheerleading "suck it" mode.

[CouchTomato]

There's a rumor going around this weekend that "PP was at the OLTL studio this past week," whatever being "at the studio" means. Saying "Hi!" to anyone who happened to be on the set that day (or just silently observing operations)? That would exclude those who weren't scheduled to work, are finished taping or are on vacation (like ES who takes her annual month-long vacation during August). Has anyone heard that PP actually did send a rep or reps to the OLTL studio?

[dragonflies]

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Jacob-Young-Bold-Beautiful-1036391.aspx

I think Jacob Young makes a good point here:

TV Guide Magazine: Were you open to doing this internet version if the B&B offer hadn't come along?

Young: I sat in on the meeting with Prospect Park and was listening, that's for sure. I applaud their ambition. I think [the move to the internet] has a chance but my biggest fear is all that time in between.

TV Guide Magazine: It's a legit concern since it now appears the reboot won't be ready until January at the earliest. Millions of viewers failed to return to their soaps after all those preemptions for the O.J. Simpson trial.

Young: It will take a lot of advertising to bring awareness that the show has moved to the internet and to keep interest going during that gap. Also, this idea of the show moving to a Hulu-type [platform] is confusing to a lot of people. I took a little poll of my mother-in-law's friends — all of them watch AMC — and almost none know what Hulu is or how that sort of thing works. But these Prospect Park people are very credentialed and they told us they'd been developing a Monday-to-Friday serial of their own when AMC and One Life to Live were cancelled. Their take was, "This is exactly the format we're looking for. It has a built-in audience. Why don't we buy the rights, buy the sets, lease the building and see how it goes?" Hey, it's the future. Even if they lose money on this, it's the pioneer effort that will pave the way for everybody else.

a bit more:

To let opportunity pass by during this time of uncertainty is just kind of silly. I couldn't wait around. I spoke to some of my cast members and advised them all to get out there in the business and see what's crackin'. Anybody with common sense would do that. I've talked to a lot of the AMC production staff and they're saying that if these deals with Prospect Park aren't put in place by September so that the production and the writing can get back up and rolling, it's going to be very difficult logistically. That January launch date would be very optimistic, to say the least.

TV Guide Magazine: There are still so many questions. What will people be paid? How restrictive will the contracts be? What about benefits and insurance? There's still a union deal to be struck.

Young: It was weird. At our actors meeting with the union, our union rep said, "So tell me what you want us to be fighting for?" And I was, like, "What the hell do you think you should be fighting for? Isn't that what unions are created for? You're asking us?" I've been paying for a pension since I was 18 and I'm not going to let that go. I had to strike while the iron's hot.

[KMan101]

So Prospect Park was developing their own soap before AMC/OLTL were cancelled? WOW!!

[JaneAusten]

Which leads me to believe they already had the grant funding secured. I always felt it was ludicrous to think PP just all of a sudden decided to do this when the shows were cancelled and they miraculously got grant money when that process normally takes months and even years to secure.

JY brings up a valid point. I keep hearing about how many people watch online but there are more people who have no idea or what the heck any of this is or means. I think it would actually be exciting to be part of being on the ground floor of this but I can understand any actor, writer, or producer wanting to stay with something more secure and stable.

[DRW50]

A lot of people have said that about how few viewers may switch to online-only; I just wish they'd asked him if he'd heard anything about cable channels.

So do I, but he won't be getting that at B&B, which dumps most actors after a year or recurs them into oblivion. He'd be better off trying Y&R or primetime.

[JaneAusten]

Unions wow.

He's lucky they still get secured pensions as 90 percent of the US workforce out there's pensions have been eliminated. Makes me feel a lot less sorry for anyone in the entertainment industry as someone who's company eliminated pensions 8 years ago.

[SFK]

I really had to stay focused on the rest of the interview after I read that part. That's amazing that there are people out there still interested in launching a 5 days a week serial. If this venture is successful, we may see that new soap come to fruition, which is something many of us never thought we'd see again.

Meanwhile, I didn't know that JY had been officially/out in the open been made an offer by B&B.

[Eric83]

Wow I hope if our shows are successful online they launch their own soap. I guess the rebirth of the soap genre could be happening sooner than we imagined.