Saturday, July 9, 2011

Lots of Questions, Not a Lot of Answers

Since the announcement Thursday that AMC and OLTL have been bought by internet based Prospect Park, there have been tons of questions and even more speculation.  How could this possibly work?  Who will make the move with the show?   How can they pay the actors, crew, production costs, etc.?  Will we have to pay to watch it?  Just what the heck is going on!?  Both Prospect Park and ABC aren't saying much and a new article in the LA TIMES addresses these concerns without any answers.  I know I've heard that the actors contracts end August 31 and that Prospect Park will have to renegotiate with each actor they want to continue with the show.  That will most assuredly mean pay cuts.  And what about how it seems that none of the actors knew this deal could be in the works.  It stands to reason that some, if not all or most, have started making other arrangements for themselves, whether it be auditioning for other roles, negotiating a return to a former soap, moving back to NYC... any number of scenarios.  Hopefully the coming weeks will shed more light onto this very confusing story!
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5 comments:

  1. Little LibbyJuly 10, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    I was so thrilled with the news that our show would continue, I didn't take the time to think about the "who's" and "what's", so you and the article raise great questions. That coupled with your post about Debbie Morgan has set me back quite a bit. If AMC doesn't have the actors that I've grown to love over these past 41 years, then, I'm not sure I'll be watching. I would think that Michael would stay around and some of the "less face time" actors, but I don't see Susan, Alicia or Ricki continuing. It's bittersweet.

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  2. j.l.o.theoriginalJuly 10, 2011 at 6:44 PM

    I'd rather have no "all my children" than a diminished webcast calling itself "all my children"

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  3. liveforloveJuly 11, 2011 at 3:20 AM

    I had a feeling something was up....Seems like they are not finishing up a lot of storylines. I'm just so happy it will still be on and I pray they keep Kendall and Griffin on there. Also, does anyone know of any facebook AMC pages? Great job as always Kathy!!

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  4. sonjaJuly 11, 2011 at 5:15 AM

    I hope they invest their money in good writers and maybe pare down the cast and sets if they have to save money. Having all the actors but crappy stories will suck (we know that already, don't we?) a lot more than having half the actors but very good stories.

    Yeah, I don't see how they're going to make it work. The WSJ article said they're paying ABC/Disney millions a year just to have the show. I'm not currently aware of any exclusively online show that makes that kind of money - let alone paying for the cast and all that.

    My understanding is that Venice, Chrystal Chappell's online soap, which charges a $10 subscription fee, had 11,000 subscribers, which means $110,000 and it cost $90,000 to produce. Of course Venice is a different kind of soap in that it is only 12 episodes a year, and those 12 episodes are only 12 minutes long. But still...

    We shall see. I sure hope they can make it work. They must have some sort of plan.

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  5. NuttyAboutSoapsJuly 11, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    To be honest, I don't see any way this will be profitable unless:

    1. the cast is trimmed dramatically

    2. the remaining actors accept significant pay cuts

    3. they make it a weekly or monthly show, rather than a daily soap (due to costs)

    4. they load the episodes with commercials (ala Hulu) or charge an annual or seasonal subscription

    These changes will all change AMC in ways that the viewers may not accept. In the end, it might have been preferable to give the show a worthy ending on ABC, rather than see it seriously diminished in this format change.

    Nevertheless, I could be wrong about all of this.... and I really hope that I am.

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