Prospect Park, a production company that plans to shift the soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life To Live” to the Web from television, has run into a contractual roadblock.
It is likely to interrupt production of “All My Children” for several months, a person briefed on the production said Monday.
“All My Children” was expected to end its run on ABC on Sept. 23 and start up on an unspecified Web site a few days later. But the person briefed on the production, who insisted on anonymity because of Prospect Park’s choice not to comment, said that “All My Children” could be placed on hiatus until the first quarter of 2012.
“One Life To Live” is scheduled to end its run on ABC in January 2012, so it is less likely that the negotiations would interrupt that show.
Shifting the soap operas to the Web from TV will require changes to production budgets, and those changes will require negotiations with the guilds and unions that represent the production staffs on the shows.
Prospect Park seemed to acknowledge this in a statement on Monday. It read in part, “We are in the process of working out the essential terms of our proposed collective bargaining agreements with the appropriate guilds and unions, which we must do prior to firming up deals with above- and below-the-line talent. We will provide updates as needed.”
ABC announced in April that it was canceling the two soap operas, much to the chagrin of fans. Prospect Park announced a deal three weeks ago to resuscitate the shows by licensing them from ABC and streaming them on the Internet.
The production company emphasized that the arrangement would not affect the quality of the shows.
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