Major backstage shake up at General Hospital! Soaps In Depth reports longtime executive producer Jill Farren Phelps has been fired and will be replaced with former One Life to Live executive producer Frank Valentini.
UPDATE #2: ABC is confirming the report…
UPDATE: Soaps In Depth is reporting Ron Carlivati will also join Valentini on GH… (more to come)
A late night tweet by ABC Soaps In Depth is sure to cause a stir in the soap world if proven to be correct….
The mag reports longtime General Hospital executive producer Jill Farren Phelps has been fired and will be replaced by former One Life to Live executive producer Frank Valentini. The tweet reads: “Huge GH news: A source at ABC/Disney says Jill Farren Phelps was let go and Frank Valentini is the new EP. Actors will find out in the AM.”
Phelps, a 6-time Daytime Emmy winning producer, was hired in 2001 by then-ABC Daytime President Angela Shapiro to replace Wendy Riche as executive producer. Prior to 2001, she served as EP for Santa Barbara (1987-1991), Guiding Light (1991-1995), Another World (1995-1996) and One Life to Live (1997-2001).
Frank Valentini has served as OLTL Executive Producer since 2003 until the series wrapped production earlier this month. In September, he signed a deal to continue on with Prospect Park’s now failed plan to reboot OLTL online. IN addition, he was tapped to serve as Prospect Park’s new Vice President, Serial Drama, in which he would oversee the online reboots of All My Children, OLTL and future programs.
Under Valentini’s watch, OLTL garnered critical acclaim and was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in 2007 and 2008.
TVSource will update this report as more information is made available…
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