“I’ve never had this experience with a fan base before,” said Ms. Chappell, a nearly 20-year soap opera veteran. “It struck a nerve. I love this story line because it is about universal love and acceptance.”
Ms. Chappell, who has signed up for a new role on DAYS OF OUR LIVES this fall, said she had suggested, unsuccessfully, to executives at Procter & Gamble, which owns GUIDING LIGHT, that they move the show to the Web, or transplant the Otalia story line to AS THE WORLD TURNS, another Procter & Gamble show. She has also pushed, she said, for what her fans see as a conspicuous lack: a single romantic kiss for Olivia and Natalia.
Executives at CBS declined to be interviewed for this article. Representatives for TeleNext Media, which produces GUIDING LIGHT for Procter & Gamble, did not respond to several requests for comment.
She will try to keep the spirit of Otalia alive by starting a Web series in November called VENICE. While it won’t have Olivia and Natalia — those characters are the property of Procter & Gamble — the show will feature Ms. Chappell as a single, gay career woman, and follow other fictional inhabitants of Venice Beach, in Los Angeles. Her leading lady on GUIDING LIGHT, Ms. Leccia, has agreed to join the cast without pay. One big difference from Otalia: “In the first 30 seconds you see these two women kiss,” Ms. Chappell said.
Paul Levinson, a professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University and author of the coming book “New New Media,” said advertising on the Web “has the potential to be more successful than in any other medium,” because of measurable sales results from click-through ads and precise customer profiles. “A successful show on the Web is just waiting to happen.”
This is an excellent and informative article so check it out at NYTimes.com.
The fact that P&G wouldn't move Olivia and Natalia to ATWT says more than enough about P&G: fear, fear, and more fear. And, a big old heap of incompetence.
ReplyDeleteP&G obviously didn't want to have 2 gay couples on ATWT. So, it sacrificed the Otalia fan base that could have migrated to ATWT, stupidly. Just too much nasty queer folks.
Would it really have been such a disaster for P&G to have given GL a six month trial of being a web-based soap? They could have done it as a subscription service on iTunes or partnered with cable companies to deliver the show as an on-demand service. Why not an on-demand service of classic soaps?
GL and other soaps have only 38 minutes of daily content. What if they tossed in a bunch product placement to supplement the show's revenue? The "L-Word" used to partner with Subaru.
None of the actors on Venice are going to get paid a salary. They're all probably hoping to make some cash on the back end via ad or DVD sales.
Thank you, Roger, for your continued positive support of Crystal Chappell and the Venice the Series web project. I'm very much looking forward to this series and positive quality publicity is a very good thing to make this a success, as much as the quality writing and performing will be.
ReplyDeleteVery good article on Venice, it does shock me that P&G didnt move Otalia over to ATWT since they would of possibly brought more viewers and buzz to the show its crazy really I think it boils down to P&G either not wanting to pay them or they just don't really care that much deep down which sucks.
ReplyDeleteadvertising on the Web "has the potential to be more successful than in any other medium," because of measurable sales results from click-through ads and precise customer profiles. "A successful show on the Web is just waiting to happen."
ReplyDelete- take that P&G and stupid outdated Neilsen Ratings!
While I am really going to miss GL, Olivia/Otalia, I can't say that I'm not exceptionally pleased that Crystal and her production partners are going to be able to take this to the web, for it is there that their creativity will be unhindered. There are just too many filters in place to run the kind of show we want to see on network television.
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