It's looking more and more like Prospect Park really wants to make the best of its second attempt to get All My Children and One Life to Live online. Documents leaked from within the organization offer insight into the company's finances, its plans for airing the two beloved soaps, and -- if you can believe it -- the plans for spinoffs from both soaps.
The leaked documents were first obtained by Nelson Branco's Soap Opera Uncensored through various sources.
Prospect Park plans to shuffle production of All My Children and One Life to Live back to the East Coast. The company has chosen Stamford, Connecticut, as the home base for both series. Studio space and sets are said to already be in the design process.
Prospect Park's licensing deal with ABC is 15 years for both shows. Once the shows roll into production and begin airing, the licensing fee is $4.5 million per year for All My Children, and $4.0 million for One Life to Live. There are sliding increases built into the licensing fees beginning in 2015.
Initially, both AMC and OLTL would air online four times a week, and each show would run about 30 minutes. The shows would be broadcast with limited commercial interruption (if any), and that would put their length on par with a network-televised 60-minute soap. All My Children and One Life to Live both had about 37 minutes of content during their final ABC-based broadcasts. Prospect Park also mentions that, if successful, both soaps' schedules could be ramped up to more days per week or longer episodes.
There are also plans for a "recap style" show for both soaps on Friday.
Additional plans seem to include platforms beyond just the Internet. The company's leaked financial information indicates that there have been discussions with at least one cable outlet and other online platforms that could charge a subscription-based service for fans wanting a more in-depth experience.
In an effort to lure sponsors for the online project, Prospect Park is offering product placement advertising as well as title sponsorship, similar to the way that college football games are often associated with consumer products.
Perhaps most interestingly, there are indications that Prospect Park wants to expand the All My Children and One Life to Live franchises, including "other soap franchises, spin-offs, [and] new digital content." If popular, certain characters or couples could, at least in theory, be given their own series. The mention of other soap franchises already has fans of other canceled soaps pulling for Prospect Park's relaunch of AMC and OLTL to be successful.
Financing has been secured, and, according to sources, there has been more interest in funding production of the two soaps that was needed by Prospect Park.
Prospect Park has already started contacting folks with past experience with both shows to become involved in their reboots.
Daytime Confidential reports that Ginger Smith, a former writer/producer with 24 years of AMC experience, has been tapped as the new executive producer of the web-based AMC.
All of this new information comes a week after the non-soap media leaked word of Prospect Park's re-reboot plans. It comes more than a year after Prospect Park abruptly abandoned its plans to revive All My Children and One Life to Live online, citing an inability to strike deals with the various unions representing the on- and off-screen talent involved in creating the show.
Prospect Park has so far declined comment.
More of the leaked information is published in Issue 57 of Soap Opera Uncensored.
