Hollywood production company Prospect Park, which bought “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” after ABC pulled the soaps, has closed deals with the Hollywood unions to air their revivals on the Online Network.
Prospect Park Owners Jeff Kwatinetz and Rich Frank released a statement that said they signed agreements with the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the DGA to make it possible to air the soaps.
In November, 2011, the Prospect Park scrapped its effort to keep the canceled ABC soaps alive online, citing problems in finding backers to pay for the shows and contractual demands from talent unions. Said Frank and Kwatinetz at that time: “After five months of negotiations with various guilds, hundreds of presentations to potential financial and technology partners, and a hope that we could pioneer a new network for the future, it is with great disappointment that we are suspending our aspirations to revive One Life to Live and All My Children via online distribution. It is now becoming clear that mounting issues make our ability to meet our deadlines to get OLTL on the air in a reasonable time period following its January 13, 2012 ABC finale impossible.”
Now, the soaps’ legendary Creator Agnes Nixon will serve as a consultant, while Ginger Smith will return to All My Children as an executive producer (she previously produced the series) and Jennifer Pepperman has been upped from director to an EP, reports Entertainment Weekly.
Prospect Park also found financing to begin production in February on the web editions of both soaps. “We thank the loyal audience and new generation of fans of both shows who have demonstrated that passion and exciting story lines are not just reserved for traditional television,” the statement said. “Their enduring support encouraged us to move forward each and every day. We look forward to sharing more details including our launch air date and additional specifics in the coming weeks.”
In late 2011, Prospect Park had to abandon plans to air the soaps online after failing to reach guild deals to make the soaps’ run on the internet a reality. Arrangements with the unions are necessary if Prospect Park wants to also sell the soaps to cable. It’s also economically unfeasible to pay guild wages for an internet show that would generate a fraction of the revenue it once did on ABC.
Prospect Park is not yet ready to reveal what actors will stay aboard for the online venture.
See The Entertainment Weekly story here
