HOLIDAY MIRACLE: Prospect Park Back On Track To Revive AMC and OLTL

[SFK]

HA! Good one!

[Jonathan]

I missed you Adam! <Erica Kane slap, hair toss>

I would've loved to see her write the show!

Burton Armus.

[EnglishTea]

Kay Alden was micro-managed by Bill Bell when she worked under him. However, when she was given the top spot on the show, she had very little interference from the network. They would give notes, but they were more like suggestions. Sony is now way more involved in the process.

Best guess is Kay and Frons did not see eye to eye on where to take All My Children, given Y&R's use of veterans.

I don't think that any fi-core writer presently employed right now would jump ship.

While Agnes may be a bit too senior to write full bibles, her involvement is still a great sign.

[EricMontreal22]

Right, which is also why Josh Griffith, nearlya year in, became co-HW. At the time Malone said he would never write a soap without Griffith again--and while Griffith doesn't seem to be great on his own either, even in Malone's shaky second period at OLTL the show was much stronger (and soap consistent) when Griffith was there too and only fell apart really IMHO when Malone was solo.

AGnes Nixon seems like she'll be involved--at least at first, in a more active consulting capability than she has been for a while. If someone from novels, theatre or movies was brought in to write, she could probably go a long wayhelping teach them the ins and outs of soap writing. As people close to her have said, despite some health issues, she's as mentally quick and smart as ever, and has more free time than she did back when she was nursing her husband, and then apparently looking after a grandchild.

[Vee]

Griffith was there in the first year of Malone II, featuring Mitchpocalypse, Victor's resurrection, and Flash/Joey/Jen. It didn't exactly go too far uphill from there.

[Dana]

I'm really surprised any of the actors are willing to sign on after the way PP screwed things up initially. Maybe there's a lot of things behind the scenes we don't know that makes a difference for them this time around.

[EnglishTea]

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that many of the actors haven't found any steady work since then. Notice that it is mostly 50+ actors who have signed on at this point.

For AMC, I would think that CM, AM, TK and RB, will be the hardest to pin down. 1) Because despite a deal with SAG-AFTRA, the pay will be less because the contact is new media and 1/2 hour format. 2) They have all had some success outside the genre in the year and a half since the show left the airwaves.

[Jonathan]

I'm ok with not having these initials attached to this project.

[John]

There is a minimum scale that these actors must be paid. It wont be peanuts

[Khan]

For some, silly reason, that reminds me of a hilarious quote from Michele Lee's interview with knotslanding.net ("Bite your tongue, I never worked for scale!," lol).

[EricMontreal22]

TO be honest--what do they have to lose, really. Most of these actors (all?) have not found steady acting work in the last year, and probably won't in the next. If the shows dowork out, it sounds like they'll be given a lot more downtime to pursue other projects, etc.

[Khan]

Their self-respect and sense of dignity? Oh, wait. They signed that away long ago. Carry on.

[EricMontreal22]

Last year they had a whole writing team in place who weren't allowed to be announced (though I know RC was announced as OLTL headwriter) until contract issues went through. If they have hopes that things with the WGA will work out, I suspect they have reached out to a number of names, who may even be doing story projections or ideas at this point.

[Khan]

If they have writers working right now on story projections and such, I hope the least PP will do is compensate them financially for their efforts, regardless of how successful they are this time in re-launching these shows. Otherwise, giving them the fruits of their creative labors on little more than hopes and promises is foolish.

[jfung79]

I wouldn't read anything in the ages. I think a lot of the younger actors have not been approached yet because they are not considered "core," for example Stephanie Gatschet. I hope she is approached though, and I'm glad she wants in! Also, I think both younger and older actors have had problems finding work, and I do agree whether or not someone has found other work would play a role in how ready they are to jump on the project.

I do think the project is further along than last year though and I think it is going to happen. Two of the union deals are in place, and costs are cut significantly by the 4 days a week, 30 minutes per episode, as well as filming in Stamford, CT.