Monday, November 28, 2011
Unions Reject Blame for Soap Deal's Death
Backstage: It looks like there will be no second life for the long-running soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.” In a pointed statement released Wednesday, executives Rich Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz of the company Prospect Park announced that its plan to turn ABC’s two canceled daytime dramas into Web series had fallen through. The failure was blamed in part on unions representing the series' talent.
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I have some sentimental attachement to soap operas. Specifically, General Hospital. My mother watches it somewhat regularly, and I've been known to get pretty into it for a few weeks at a time. No shame.
I don't understand why unions representing people working on these shows would strike down turning All My Children and One Life To Live into web series. I suppose that isn't the ideal; but media is obviously shifting to the web. It might actually give these shows somewhat of an advantage.
Aside from feeling bad for all of the people who grew up with soaps in the background, I feel terrible for the cast and crew who've worked on them for years. I think rather than dismissing the possibility of a web series, they should fight harder for better pay and conditions along with the change in media.
I don't know these soaps at all, but I'm sure a lot of people are disappointed they won't be revived. It seems like communication broke down between the union and Prospect Park. It seems possible they could still work out a fair deal, but in reality they probably won't. However, I think even the attempt to turn a tv show into a webseries is a great idea, consistent with the direction technology is going. Maybe this show broke some new ground getting there, and other shows can use their path and their mistakes to make it work for them.
From this article, it does not sound like it was the unions' fault at all. The other company, "Prospect Park," was unresponsive and there was nothing the unions could do about that. Also the article said that Prospect Park did not have the funding for the project. This seems like a perfectly legitimate reason to pull out of the project. I understand the wanting to transfer these well loved soaps to a web-series, but if the producer is not working well with the unions, it does not seem like a good match.
I, like Rachael, am not hugely familiar with soap operas, but I am surprised that after such a long existence they could collapse over something like union negotiations. I felt the same way when Law and Order was finally cancelled after 20 seasons. Is viewership on soap operas down all that much since the 1990s, or whenever their "heyday" was? I guess it must be, with so much TV being watched on the internet and things like that. It's a shame because like L&O, soaps were a great way for stage actors, directors, writers, and designers to make some extra money and allow them to keep living the less comfortable new york life, while doing broadway and other stage work, which as we all know tends to pay less than Hollywood.
Another one-sided union article, where the author really only tells one side's story, even though both are mentioned. Unless the network was looking for a reason to let the shows go, I find it very hard to believe that they would not respond to negotiations and communications from AFTRA. Yes, union costs are high, but these costs could have easily been projected long-term, making it not a last-minute surprise to the producers that it seems to be in the article. Perhaps the producers knew well before re-negotiations that they couldn't afford to do the show any more so simply chose not to bargain?
It is hard to understand why the deal fell through. I often flip flop between pro union and against unionization. In this case, I think the unions saw something that was unsettling in the agreements and passed. AFTRA and the writers guild were most likely doing what was in the best interest of their members, even if we can't see it now.
It doesn't seem like the company is blaming the Union. The article says there were other reasons for the cancellation and that it was the companies who weren't really communicating with the Union. It said the negotiation was going fine, it just kind of stopped. It seems like the companies had more pressing matters that if they weren't resolved they wouldn't be needing to negotiate with the Union anyway. The Union just seemed confused as to why the negotiation halted. It seems to me like outside issues, and it doesn't look like anyone is trying to blame the Unions.
I understand why people are so upset about moving a television show to the web but I think we all need to realize in the film and theater industry that the web is the place to go now. The world has changed a lot since we started doing theater, film and television. And so many amazing things now are coming out of the web. I myself don't even pay for television anymore and I just relay on the web to see my favorite television shows and movies. I do feel terrible for the cast and crew but the web is now dominating our culture and we should try to take advantage of it like so many other people have.
It's interesting that this article comes up now that we are talking about unions and representation of workers in tech management class. We were just talking today about fair representation from the union and how that can effect the company as a whole, how damaging it can be to a company or production when a union does not adequately represent their members. Not that the union is completely to blame for the death of these shows, but they certainly contributed to the decline. This is just another example of how they can be both a blessing and a curse.
The death of the soap operas is just another stab in the very violent death of scripted television. the fact of the matter is, scripted television is too expensive or at least not as profitable as other forms of entertainment. the saddest part of the death of the soap opera is the fact that soap operas stood as a major stepping stone for many actors and designers and artists breaking into the television and film industry. the removal of this step is going to make merging into these industries even harder.
I don't quite understand why unions representing actors would choose to turn down the possibility of more business. I mean, if the purpose of the guild is to protect the rights of the people it represents, why would they turn down the possibility for them to perform in the web series, as opposed to not having a job at all. I wonder what the actors involved have to say about it- were their opinions.choices reflected in the decision of the union? Perhaps the point of this denial is to effectively say "Hey, that's not good enough!" to the studio, but this is just a possibility, not one I entirely believe.
I feel that this issue is very interesting. I do believe that all shows much die eventually, and these shows have been running long enough that retiring them may not be a bad thing. But I do feel that blaming the unions for that demise is interesting. To be sure, working with a union can be much more expensive than working with non union members, but there is good reason for that. The union exists to protect the workers, which takes a more money. It makes sense to me that working with union crews may have put the venture over budget, but I seriously doubt it was the main factor.
It is hard to tell from this article what was really going on with these discussions. I can understand that monetizing a web series can be hard. But writers can't eat "Likes." These are people who have been attached to these projects for awhile, and they are used to dealing with TV budgets. If you want to produce a web series, then cool. But keeping in mind the cost of your talent is paramount. If you want to put on a community theatre show you would't expect U2 to play all of your lead roles, would you?
It seems to me like the television channel was just looking for an excuse to cut the two shows. Yes, soaps may not be as popular anymore, but aren't you giving the actors the same chance to publicize their work on the web as you would on television? If the problem with the representative unions was a fairly large issue, then the entire idea of producing the show on any media outlet would be cancelled altogether.
I think it’s clear we are not getting the full story. Both WGAW and AFTRA say they were either waiting on prospect park or close to a deal. If that were true, why did it fall through? It sounds to me like either prospect park was taking a cheep shot at the unions and they just didn't have the funds or the unions wouldn't compromise with some basic nature of the new agreement. The latter sounds more likely to me. The soap operas were already under big budgetary constraints and the switch to a web show, a traditionally much smaller production, would create less revenue. I am curious how they planned on paying the actors and crew the same amounts as soap operas on TV would pay with just the reduced web-based revenue. I am not saying it’s the union’s fault. I just think that there is something bigger than “we just don't agree on the details” going on.
Coming to this article two years later where just this past spring the shows began its second life on the web, expresses the ideal that nothing is set in stone. The hurdles Prospect Park faced two years ago were now able to be moved past and the show is thriving online. Being a fan of All My Children since five years prior to its television death, I was very disheartened when reading this article two years ago. The idea of a web show had brought me hope that the drama would live on, but I read the article that it was just too difficult to produce on the web and I was crushed. Now its on the web and I love it and I think that Prospect Park made a deal with OWN network to put in on their channel so it is technically back on tv. I am excited and now I now two years ago people just were not ready for an online soap opera. But everyone needs to understand that the internet is where we are headed. If you look at Dr. Horrible's Sing- Along Blog, the response for the internet musical was amazing and it is still generating capital today. I feel like I can solidly predict that the 10's are the years of the internet.
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