All My Children
Jeff Kwatinetz Takes Prospect Park and Investors To Court With Chief Complaint Over The Continuation of All My Children and One Life to Live!
Courtesy/N.Y. Times
There is always more to the story, and that would be true for those in front of the camera and behind the scenes who work in, perform in, or produce in soap operas! News broke today that Jeff Kwatinetz, who spearheaded the online revivals of the canceled ABC soaps, All My Children and One Life to Live is now suing the company he works for Prospect Park and its Boston-based investment group ABRY Investment Partnership, L.P., and ABRY Senior Equity Co-Investment Fund IV.
According to Deadline.com, “The catalyst of the complaint was a difference of opinion that Kwatinetz has with ABRY over the direction of the company, sources tell me. Specially, that disagreement has to do with the future of AMC and OLTL and whether they will continue or not. Kwatinetz was advocating the continuation of the two series. Having said that, the producer had his lawyer Michael Taitelman file the complaint not because he intends to leave Prospect Park, I’m told, but because he wants to explore his options in what is a very complicated and multi-tiered agreement. Otherwise, all parties seem to be in sync right now at the busy Prospect Park and Kwatinetz continues to work there.”
“Kwatinetz is seeking a declaratory judgment over non-compete clauses in a December 31, 2012 employment agreement he signed with Prospect Park when the Boston-based investors came on board late last year. Jeff Kwatinetz wants a judge to decide if the “unenforceable non-competition and non-solicitation provision” would actually prevented him from working for another company for 5 years and if Prospect and ABRY could get an injunction to force him to work for them for 5 years if he attempted to leave. “In addition, the Guarantee contains what is essentially a $5,000,000 liquidated damages penalty for a ‘breach’ of the unenforceable non-competition provision and employment term requirements in the Agreement,” the 10-claim complaint filed on November 21 in LA Superior Court adds (read it here).”
So, do you think based on this, Kwatinetz was angling for AMC and OLTL to return (pending that soaps court case with ABC) but his own company and investors wouldn’t back him on the soap projects anymore? What do you think about Jeff taking Prospect Park and ARBY to court? Weigh-in!
We the fans should spearhead a serious boycott against all prospect park programs (royal pains, Wlfred and others ) until they stop holding our soap operas hostage .
Don’t be so bitter..
PP is still fighting..
They have the investments in the soaps, all we needed to was watch, for free..
why would you be so heated malicious………………………….
(((PP is the only hope for the soaps ABC will never again air them and nobody but PP wants them..
Why? They are the ones that tried to save them. It takes money and support to keep them on the air.
I agree. I have nothing but gratitude for PP’s attempt to keep our shows alive. The villains here are the dirty scum (the alphabet network and mouse company) who cancelled the television broadcasts.
Yes, I agree I liked both soaps and I miss them… I furrious with ABC/DISNEY and PROSPECT PARK.. for doing this ABC for the crap that is on now during the day.. and PROSPECT PARK for screwing the soaps
It seems to be all about the money…I’m annoyed, and disgusted. I want ALL MY CHILDREN to return, albeit Lord only knows what actors will be available when and if it finally does. Part of me wants the show to continue on-line but I am not crazy about what Prospect Park has done with the show, and certainly not happy with their severe lack of communication. If I had my choice, I’d vote for the show to return to ABC-TV but this time as a half hour program. Unfortunately, it seems doubtful that will happen, but one never knows. I watched every single show on-line (including OLTL as well) and was hoping they would improve, and to a certain extent they both did. They really weren’t given a chance to find their actual ‘footing’ on-line or even time to attract new viewers.
I don’t know what else to think other than to hope that ALL MY CHILDREN can return and One Life as well.
Well of course it’a about the money! It’s a business; nobody air shows for humanitarian reasons. I don’t blame Kwatinetz…he’s onboard for the shows revival…but wants to ensure his own employment should the deals permanently fall apart. Why shouldn’t he protect his own legal rights just as any of us would.
It is about money. Nobody is going to pay from their own pockets just to keep them on. It would be really stupid as a business to pay for things yourself with no money coming in. I want them back very badly, but it does have to be cost effective for it to be done.
Of course, I realize it’s about money, it’s about turning a profit. But I hate to see the aesthetic value of a project superceded by greed. Part of me wishes that Prospect Park had not gotten involved, even though it was an interesting experiment to try. Since ABC-Daytime is currently not attracting the viewers it once had, surely some of the business execs there must realize that it was a mistake to axe the shows without at least considering experimenting with shortened versions.
I didn’t like it either.
Who WERE all those sex crazed teenagers???
I really don’t care anymore. this is a big mess. amc and one life to live are not coming back. lets just enjoy our 4 soaps right now..
Sadly, it would take a miracle to bring them back. I’m especially sad that of the remaining soaps, one I have tried seems to be very poorly done. I cringe when I compare it to the richly- written stories we had on AMC and OLTL. yet, it survives. Go figure.
If they were any doubt that AMC and OLTL are done permanently, this article pretty much removed all doubts. This guy is hungry for money and it shows. Clearly his lawsuit against ABC is not going as planned and he is now looking for other ways to get money. This new lawsuit will be a flop just like the one against Disney. And as usual, it’s the fans and the actors that are paying for all this charade.
I’ve come to accept that AMC and OLTL won’t return. PP doesn’t have the money to keep them running and ABC is not interested at all in bringing them back. Anybody who wants to continue believing that the soaps will be back will only end up being hurt and frustrated. But I’m personally done with all this bs with ABC, PP and Kwatinetz. It’s not good for my mental health and I prefer to support the four soaps we still have on the air instead of being bothered with all this nonsense.
Well said…i agree…lets move on and support the remaining four we know are still with us…im done with PPs ‘Money Hungery Games’…
I wonder who Kwatinetz will sue next?
He’s not suing Prospect Park, he is going into court with them to determine what he can and cannot do as a partner with them. He wants the court to spell it out and rightly so. If your interests are not being served as a partner then you have to get legal rulings. He’s only asking for that to be done, not money.
He will sue, richard simmons. lol.
It’s over agreements and obligations.
They will figure it out, it will be judged, and the PP will bring the extremely popular soaps to a cable network..
PP is not giving up on the 2 soaps, there are legal agreement matters to attended to and then the 2 soaps will rise again from the ashes 🙂
PP continues the fight!!!
And Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real too!
I have to agree with you on this. There is too much interest in this for it to just go away. I believe they will be back on cable tv in 2014.
Personally, I would be okay with them combining the two shows and make it an hour show. PV and Llanview are sister cities on opposite sides of the Llantano River. Why not?
Yes, they should combine the two shows since they are Agnes Nixon
characters and live in Pine Valley and Landview, PA – keep the strongest
characters from both. It would work.
I hope so that PP bring our soaps on cable network.. I was hoping they would have done that from the beginning. I am not getting my hopes up…
Unfortunately I don’t think AMC and OLTL will be back. They have brought it to the point of no return after all this crap. People (actors) will only take so much and I believe it was pushed to that point.
For me, it is over. I miss the ABC version of AMC. I would have liked the PP version if there had been more David and Billy Clyde. Well, actually, more of the vets. We got too much of the newbies and now it is over once again. There really is not much to miss about AMC2 for me. As far as the newbies go, I liked Colby and Cassandra. Aging Miranda and AJ was too unbelievable. Nothing against the actors personally, they just didn’t fit. In my mind AMC is over and I am already moving on. If it comes back, I will be happy and I will watch. If it doesn’t come back, then so be it. AMC will always be my favorite TV show. It brought me countless hours of fun and entertainment. I will still boycott ABC and all talk shows which is easy to do because they are stupid and boring. Good luck to PP, hope they win in court against ABC.
I can see it now…AMC 3.0- starring the actors who played AJ, Miranda, and the soon to be cast Gabby. No other AMC alums in their right mind would sign on for a 3ed go round with this. Why do you think Debbie Morgan withdrew her name from the Daytime Emmy contest? I knew the show was done when Thorsten signed with another soap and said he had no contract with PP.
Well IF it comes back, and brother that’s a big IF – fans would have to accept new faces and new characters. Some actors would return (but I don’t think Debbi Morgan would be one of them) and some wouldn’t be available. Actors have to work just like anyone else, but I don’t know how many would board this train again called Prospect Park. If that sounds like I am being harsh and not sensitive to some of the obstacles that PP had to face, I don’t mean it that way. I would love to see ALL MY CHILDREN return, even though right now the possibility of that may appear bleak.
Some of AMCs and OLTLs actors have moved on…im doing the same! Also im tired of the ABC boycott by fans…they complan about ABC putting 100s out of work and then turn around and try to do the same by boycotting abc primetime shows? I simply just wont watch the talk shows that replaced the soaps and thats all…besides why not boycott NBC and CBS too for cancelling soaps, especialy CBS who cancelled two:ATWTs,GL, before ABC even cancelled theirs!
When NBC cancelled Another World over ten years ago many said they were going to boycott NBC, I wonder out of all those people how many are still doing it? Networks are not threaten or concerned about boycotts and soap fans are not that large of group to effect their bottom line in the long term, even if everyone single one of them boycotted, which they all won’t. Networks are more concern about internet replacing television are the means of distributing content to the masses. I agree with what you said earlier, lets focus our support for the four soaps still on the air, so we can keep there for as long as possible.
I agree with what you said…networks are more concern about the internet than a boycott…by the way i hated how AW ended…ithought that was so corny about a gorilla in love with Cass…my favorite memories of AW in its early years was the Steve, Rachel, Alice love triangle, Iris who was the villian you love to hate and the Mathews family. In its later years i enjoyed Jake and Vicki, Frankie and Cass, and Mathew and Donna!
Forgot to say…i only got mad at NBC when they killed of Frankie(but was somewhat happy when the actress returned as her lookalike)…i recently seen the actress who played the part in a commericial…she still looks the same.
CBS and NBC did not cancel AMC. I boycott all talk shows because I am supporting the soaps. I boycott ABC because they canceled AMC!
I know abc cancelled amc i was just trying to say that a lot of people act as if abc was the only one to cancel a soap! Now i agree with you…boycott the talk shows in daytime that replace the soaps…but support the primetime shows that have nothing to do with it…
I know abc cancelled amc, i was just pointing out the other two networks did the same… i agree just boycott daytime talk shows but not primetime series that have nothing to do with it…
The prospect Park soap opera is becoming more and more repulsive. Investors do not want to put another dollar into the soaps, what more can die hard soap fans spin about these failed online shows? No wonder Debbie Morgan distanced herself. This guy also dissed Susan Lucci a couple years ago blaming her for the failure to launch the online version. No wonder Michael E Knight passed on the show. I just hope any remaining die hard fans stop the spin.
I hate to say it but it looks like AMC and OLTL are done. Even in a Version 3.0, the whole mess leaves me cold and happy enough to remember and embrace the 40+ years we had with these legacy programs. A real shame. Neithe rprogram was ready for pasture, evidenced by the amount of litigation. Wish ABC had just thought to pare back its programs to 30 ,mintues each again, or had them share a time slot — as Prospect Park did for most of the reboots’ runs — instead of cancelling them without much mercy. I know entertainment and contemporary culture evolves, but that can happen without “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
Let’s champion the four remainign programs and hope a renaissance of the daytime drama is in our future.
I too wish that ABC-TV had simply trimmed down ALL MY CHILDREN to a half hour, and trimmed down the budget. I feel they didn’t do anything to salvage either AMC or OLTL by experimenting with different models. As for Prospect Park, well, I don’t know what to say at this point. If they manage to bring back AMC, which seems doubtful, how many of the seasoned, more mature actors would be willing to come aboard?
Unfortunately I’d have to say that only one of the four remaining programs is currently worth championing. I realize that there is a lot of pressure, but I get tired of the same mistakes being made over and over–they never seem to learn from them. There will be no soap renaissance unless the surviving ones start telling stories worth watching.
i think this whole thing was a scam
All My Children
Mark Consuelos Celebrates One-Year Anniversary as Co-Host of ‘Live’ Alongside Kelly Ripa
Today, April 17th marks a full-year since Mark Consuelos (ex-Mateo, All My Children) took over the co-hosting duties of ‘Live” alongside his wife, and longtime co-host, Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, All My Children).
Consuelos replaced Ryan Seacrest who are six seasons decided to be back on the west coast full-time. For Consuelos, now having the opportunity to work off of Ripa as co-hosts has been something of adjustment for him, but viewers have been eating it up.
Live with Kelly and Mark has remained the No. 1 entertainment talk show on television over the past year, growing 3% in average total viewers to 2.23M per episode. It is also the most-watched daytime talk show in the last year in key demos of women 18-49 and women 25-54. All of this, since the real-life marrieds teamed-up.
Photo: ABC
Speaking with Deadline, Kelly Ripa shared why the two are gelling on-screen, “I do think that there is something very possibly relatable about our relationship. We have disagreements like a normal couple, and we’re not afraid to let them unfold on the air and in front of America, and I think people find a lot of themselves in that.”
Mark weighed in how he has progressed as a host, and what he could improve at, sharing, “I’d like to get better at my interviewing skills. I’d like to get better at reading a teleprompter…I think I’m getting better at throwing to commercial. The other day in the middle of the show as we go to commercial, my sign off was ‘See you guys around.’ I mean, the show wasn’t over. The most obvious thing to say would be, ‘We’ll be back right after this.’ But I just said, ‘See you around.’ So we went to commercial and one of the producers (goes) ‘What was that?’ I don’t know… So for the next few sign offs, as a joke, I’d say ‘See you around.’ We got a kick out of it.”
Photo: ABC
Meanwhile, Kelly has given huge props to Mark, “I find Mark utterly compelling, really interesting, super funny, and he’s bold in a way like nobody else. He says what’s on his mind. If he’s thinking it, he says it. I’ve done this a long time and oftentimes people will adjust their natural personalities to pander to what they think the audience wants to hear, and Mark will tell people what he thinks, and he doesn’t care if it’s not a popular opinion. It gives him an edginess that I think is really missing in the landscape today. Everybody’s so afraid to say anything, and Mark is unafraid to say exactly what he’s thinking.”
In a statement, Debra O’Connell, President News Group and Networks, Disney Entertainment shared, We could not be more thrilled with how Mark has seamlessly joined the show family as permanent co-host. His undeniable charisma and his and Kelly’s natural chemistry are evident as they deliver the laughs and smiles to our viewers each morning. We are incredibly proud of how Live has continued to evolve and that the audience is responding so enthusiastically.”
So, do you think Mark Consuelos is the best co-host his wife Kelly Ripa has ever had on ‘Live’? How would you say he is doing as co-host after one full year on the job? Comment below.
All My Children
Susan Lucci Joins the Cast of Jonah Hill’s Movie ‘Outcome’
Look who will be part of the ensemble cast in motion picture and film star Jonah Hill’s new film project! That’s right, none other than Susan Lucci (ex-Erica, All My Children).
According to Deadline, the daytime television icon joins other notables including Laverne Cox and David Spade who have been added to the cast of Outcome. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Matt Bomer (ex-Ben, Guiding Light) and Cameron Diaz.
In Outcome, which is written by, and will be directed by Hill, the dark comedy centers around Reef (played by Reeves), a damaged Hollywood star who must dive into the dark depths of his past to confront his demons and make amends after he is extorted with a mysterious video clip from his past.
Photo: JPI
Soap fans know that following her iconic run as All My Children’s Erica Kane, Susan went on to be featured in Lifetime’s Devious Maids in the role of Genevieve Delatour. Since her Pine Valley days ended (when AMC was canceled in 2012), Susan has appeared in numerous shows and made numerous appearances. n December of 2023, Lucci was awarded the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Photo: JPI
Outcome will debut on Apple and is an Apple Studios production. The film marks the latest collaboration for Hill and Apple Original Films, who are also developing a Grateful Dead biopic with Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions, to be directed by Scorsese, with Hill starring in it and as one of the producers of the project, as well.
So, intrigued to see what kind of role Susan plays in Jonah Hill’s new film ‘Outcome’? Comment below.
All My Children
Jacob Young Shares Production Pic of Cast of His New Film Featuring Joan Collins and Nadia Bjorlin
Last month, during a livestream conversation on the Michael Fairman Channel, while promoting Jason Cook’s film, Four for Fun, and featuring soap notables Jacob Young (ex-AJ, AMC, ex-Lucky, GH, ex-Rick, B&B) and Brytni Sarpy (Y&R), Young revealed some intel on his upcoming movie project.
Jacob shared that he was set to direct, produce and star in a Agatha Christie-like murder mystery feature film, Murder Between Friends shooting in Prague.
The actor/director expressed, “I’m flying at the end of the March to Prague to direct, produce and star in a film with Joan Collins (ex-Dynasty). Nadia Bjorlin (ex-Chloe, Days of our Lives) is in it, and Toby Alexander Smith from Eastenders (ex-Gray Atkins). Plus, a couple of my Broadway friends and a very well known Czech actress (Hana Vagnerova). It’s very ‘Knives Out’ without having a hundred million dollars to shoot it, but still will be a lovely film nonetheless.”
Photos: JPI
Young is currently shooting the film’s principal photography abroad through April 17th.
Over the weekend, Jacob took to his Instagram to share a photo with the cast of the film where pictured is former Dynasty star, Joan Collins (ex-Alexis) and former Days of our Lives star, Nadia Bjorlin (ex-Chloe). In addition, former All My Children star, Trent Garrett (ex-Asher) is seen in director-mode kneeling.
Trent and Jacob are both co-directors of Murder Between Friends. Joan Collins shared the pic on her Instagram citing, “This was the #secret I posted about several weeks ago!”
So, looking forward to seeing Jacob’s film when it is released with Joan, Nadia, and company? Let us know in the comment section.
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