New All My Children Head Writers Speak!
In January, David Kreizman and Donna Swajeski were named new co-head writers of All My Children. The pair - who were co-head writers on Guiding Light (earning them a 2007 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing) - recently sat down with us to give us their thoughts on Pine Valley, and what stories we can expect to see in the comings months.
SOAPnet.com: How is it going so far?
David Kreizman: "So far it's going great. We've really been thrown into the mix. We've had lots of meetings with everyone in every department and luckily we've had relationships with some other people on the team, so there is a comfort level."
Donna Swajeski: "How can you not be happy taking over a show like this? It has such a great history, and we love that. We were fans before we were writers."
David: "We've spent a good amount of time with Agnes [Nixon] and that's been really helpful and exciting."
Why did you want to write for this show?
Donna: "We were fans of the show, and we do love to work together. This came up and it was the perfect blend for us because we love tradition. We love family and all that warm stuff, and yet, we are contemporary writers, so it's kind of good to have that blend of the old and the new. That's what we love about this show. It has a good blend. It has great roots and tradition, and yet it can be funny and hip."
David: "And I've never worked at ABC before, and that's something that I've always wanted to do. I had great experiences with Proctor & Gamble and CBS, but there is just something different in that ABC owns its own shows and can promote them in a different way."
Donna: "And I started here at ABC years ago, so it's like coming home."
Donna, Didn't you work for All My Children?
Donna: "I worked at ABC as an executive just right out of college. The first shows I [worked on] were actually All My Children and Loving. I mean, can you imagine being thrown in with the master storyteller, Agnes Nixon? I got to learn a lot from her, and many things that she told me would happen in life came true. I always remember her words. She was a great person to begin my career with."
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Comments (131)
Greg was not Tied to A Family that we knew about. The Difference back then was that They were somewhat Starting and so they had to bring in New Families and People. The Main Difference is that They COULD Act. Everybody Including Marcy Walker, Kim Delaney, Greg, Alfred, Everybody. Now, They get Models and Eye Candy People who Can NOT Act. Also, There was the Writing. Tad didn't come back to Town as Michael E. Knight and be A Rebel and be Obnoxious like the First Colby. By First Colby, I mean Amber or Ambry or whatever her Real Name is when Colby was Almost 16. Jody
All My Children is not going to be only about Ryan and Greenlee. They have Annie and They have Tad with his Son Damon. Now, it sounds like They are Bringing back the Cordtlandt Family. Jody
Frankie & Randi suffered alot of bad things too last year and desreve some happiness as well. Frankie was almost killed at War, Randi was nearly raped, Frandi lost ther child and was tormented & blackmailed for months. The Hubbards are a tight knit family and suffered the loss of the child as a family. Frankie & Randi should welcome their childwith the fiamlu love & togetherness the Hubbards are so great at.
Frankie & Randi suffered alot of bad things too last year and desreve some happiness as well. Frankie was almost killed at War, Randi was nearly raped, Frandi lost ther child and was tormented & blackmailed for months. The Hubbards are a tight knit family and suffered the loss of the child as a family. Frankie & Randi should welcome their childwith the fiamlu love & togetherness the Hubbards are so great at.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me! I am NOT a fool, and I would be willing to bet that many longtime fans who have already left are not fools either.
You people keep trying to sell a show and characters that are no longer desirable. It's Economics 101. Perhaps if someone at ABC, AMC, or even Soapnet paid attention to what the fans want, what viewers have been saying for years now, it wouldn't be such a hard sell. It is truly unfortunate that Disney, ABC, AMC, and especially Brian Frons refuse to listen to what we are saying. I no longer feel guilty in my refusal to watch!!!
Please, please no more Jack and Erica I can't take his poor overacting skills! Been a fan since 1979 and stopped watching for 15 years.
Jesse and Angie brought me back but I am about to leave again unless some maturity and reality starts to set in. The one and only reason I liked Ryan and Erica as friends was because she finally acting mature and could have a relationship with a man without playing games, batting her eyes, and flipping her hair.
Women who are over 45 have more of a "take me as I am attitude" and are done playing games. The whole Greenlee and Erica battling it out with Jack in the middle is so beneath how Boomer women see themselves. Boomer women are wiser and have so much to give and quite frankly can't be bothered with immaturity. Erica isn't needy any longer, she's not looking for a father figure nor "needs" any man for that matter but to be able to give the best of herself to someone who deserves it that should be the goal.
Look at the recent success of movies like "It's Complicated".... Erica is our hero her role should be portrayed as a wise, sexy matriarch where we "Mature" women can say yep I would have handled it the same way.....with wisdom not petty shenanigans and making the same mistakes over and over again.
Boomers are fulfilling their philanthropic dreams and volunteering by the thousands. I enjoyed the Africa and Women's Shelter storylines. If you want AMC to be relevant again mirror headlines about sustainable businesses battling big corporations.
Watch Food Inc and Oprah's show on the subject get the word out and put Erica right in the middle of it. This story line would hold my interest........plus you would be educating the public while potentially gaining new viewers who are "supporters" of the "Green Revolution" and our First Lady's Obesity challenge. Stick your neck out AMC!
Well, clearly it's difficult to be a head writer, trying to please EVERYONE, when it's clear that many times the fans don't even really know what they want themselves!!I am CONVINCED that NOBODY could possibly do a more horrible job writing this show than Chuck Pratt did!!! He ran this show into the GROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I think that Ryan and Greenlee are both interesting and intriguing---JUST NOT WHILE THEY'RE TOGETHER!! They both need to move on!! Good luck convincing the writers and producers of that!!!Jamie Luner is a great actress who should not have to suffer for the producers casting her in the wrong role!!! Make her a bitch!!! Get rid of Marissa!!! Recast Colby and Randi!!! GET RID OF "Crazy Annie" and bring back "Janet from Another Planet"....she's a much more complex and interesting villainess!!! And don't make the show ALL ABOUT Ryan and Greenlee!!! There are other characters on the show, you know~~~~!!!!!!!!!!!
Pratt and B&E gave us these big opening pep talks and they almost killed the show for good.; You don't come in and tell US that Rylee is a Supercouple when we have watched and know very well they are NOT. You don't come in ready to throw a triangle in Jerica fans faces , when we haven't had them together YET in over a year. Liza is not Liza to me. This woman is someone I don't know or care about. Annie should be in the Greenlee/David/Ryan mess. Every young person on this show is boring and I have no interest in seeing more of them. The Greg/Jenny years were magic but it was a different time and they were tied to PV by family. We cared about them as individuals and as couples. New people off the street being in recast roles or with ridiculous ties like Damon/Tad, don't wash with me and never will. These writers are already on my Pratt list.
Jake & Amanda are not the only coupel that went through bad stuff and deserve some happiness. Frankie & Randi went through a very bad period as well.
Frankie was almost killed at War
Randi was nearly raped
FRANDI lost their child
Frandi was blackmailed & tormented for weeks
Frankie, Randi and Hubbards fans deserve some happiness too.
The Hubbards are a tight family that should welcome a new baby by Frankie & Randi with all the family love & togetherness they excel at.
Jake & Amanda are NOT the only couple that was tortured and desreve happiness. Randi & Frankie went through alot of bad times too.
Frankie was almost killed in Iraq
Randi was nearly raped
Frandi lost their child
Frandi was tormented by Madison for weeks
Frankie, Randi and Hubbard fans deserve some happiness too. AMC please dont piss me off, I love watching the show but if Frankie & Randi are denied another child I AM GOING TO BE PISSED. The Hubbards are a tight family and viewers want to see all of them welcome a baby in the family love & togetherness that the Hubbards excel at.