Grant Aleksander Reflects

Well its May 2nd and I just read Beth Chamberlin's post. It really makes me sad to think of all those things being auctioned off like so much anonymous junk. To those of us that worked on the show those things combined to create the physical world we inhabited for so long. And they changed you. You stood a little taller when you were in the Spaulding Study. Your shoulders relaxed and you breathed a little easier as you strolled into Company and slid into one of the booths or propped yourself up on a stool at the bar. When I came back to the show last year the first thing I did was to walk around the sets. Memories flooded over me and I could literally feel myself returning home to Springfield. When the show wrapped I asked to have the fireplace seat and andirons from the Spaulding Study. Countless times over the years I had sat on them or kneeled before them speaking to one of my kids or Beth or, in the old days, being lectured to by Alan . They will always bring back wonderful memories to me. They're now in my study in Virginia from where I sit writing this. Its not all an illusion. Those of us who worked on the show for a long time feel a very strong connection to all of those things.

But beyond the physical things that helped create Springfield even more important was the connection that we all felt to each other. And still feel. Thats why a group of us have come together to form 9 AFTER 7 Productions. We're trying to find a way to continue to be able to work together and produce the kind of  stories that we think fans of our show and others will continue to enjoy. The entertainment industry may be changing but peoples appetite for stories that emphasize family, friends and human relationships have not. We hope you will all give your support to our first project "La Lumiere." You'll see the faces you remember and the kind of stories and relationships you've come to love over the years. You can find us at www.newkindoflight.com. We hope to see you all there!

Cheers!

Grant Aleksander

With Guiding Light's Last Breath, New Life is Born

By Beth Chamberlin (ex-Beth Raines, GL)

It is May 1, 2010 and in just about four minutes, at 11:00 am, they will be selling off the last of “Guiding Light”.  At the Navy Yard in Brooklyn, “Guiding Light” will take its last breath.  Painful to many of us who worked on and watched the show. 

“Guiding Light” had something special.  It brought people together, not just those of us that worked there, but families, friends.  Mothers, daughters, granddaughters watched and then talked about this show.  It represented a tradition and opened conversation between generations.  Friends were made by a common interest in a particular storyline.  Relationships were formed across the miles. People who would never have met became the best of friends; relationships that had suffered a rift, were mended. Yes, there was something special that was lost in the new world in which soaps and television in general finds itself.

But take heart, hope does exist.  There is a new light that is trying to break through.  This light is in the form of a production company called 9 After 7.   I am a part of this group and what we are attempting to do is create a ‘new kind of light’.  We want to give the fans what they lost.  We want to give them the people, the couples and the type of stories they loved.

Today, May 1, 2010, at 12:01 am we launched our website www.newkindoflight.com and announced our first project.  The fact that we commenced our new venture on the day that the last of “Guiding Light” was auctioned off to the highest bidder was not planned, not by us.  I believe there is something in the stars.  I believe we are all, cast, crew and fans alike being given a second chance.

Our first project is a full-length, direct-to-dvd feature.  Its title is “La Lumiere”, which many of you know is French for light.  I created it and coincidentally it is about a place, an inn where magic happens; a place where stars align and love and life are found. . .or lost.  It is a place where past and present often mingle as one.

That is sort of what 9 After 7 was formed to do.  Take the best of the past, those wonderful stories that brought us together and offer them through the new forms of media, technology and marketing that are available.

It will be a new kind of light.  It will come in the form of DVD’s that fans can buy and have shipped to their homes.  But, the most wonderful thing about this new venture is that it can never be canceled or auctioned off as long as there is interest.  In this venture, the fan is the boss, the fans are ‘The Powers That Be”.

It is May 1, 2010, it is a new world and we have embraced it.  We are creating a new paradigm of consumer driven entertainment tailored to the soap fan.  We don’t know exactly where this new road will take us, but we do know it is worth traveling. 

9 After 7 is offering a pre-release Limited Edition Director’s Cut of the movie, “La Lumiere”. Our company’s website is www.newkindoflight.com.