by Dan J Kroll

Posted Thursday, September 23, 2010 12:06:36 AM

One Life to Live appears to have a lot of life yet to live. ABC has confirmed that the show's top two executives have inked new, long-term contracts. Though it probably won't be enough to silence the most die-hard of conspiracy theorists, the news should put most of the pesky cancellation rumors to rest.

Executive producer Frank Valentini has signed a two-year contract. Valentini became the show's executive producer in 2002, when he assumed the title from Emmy winner Gary Tomlin. Valentini, who celebrated his 25th anniversary with One Life to Live on September 28, has served in various capacities within the soap, including stage manager, associate director, coordinating producer, senior supervising producer, and director.

During his time at One Life to Live, Valentini has won two Daytime Emmys -- 2002's Outstanding Drama Series crown and 2008's Outstanding Directing Team honor. He's received eight other Emmy nominations over the years.

Meanwhile, Emmy-winning head writer, Ron Carlivati, has signed a three-year deal to continue crafting stories for the residents of Llanview.

Carlivati was named co-head writer of One Life to Live in February 2007. In June of the same year, Carlivati ascended to head writer after the show parted ways with then-head writer Dena Higley. Carlivati has been a member of the One Life to Live writing team for more than a decade. He began his work at the ABC soap as a writers' assistant in 1996. He also served as a breakdown writer before being promoted to co-head writer.

The news of Carlivati and Valentini's new contracts comes less than a month after a published report indicated that ABC is in the initial phase of upgrading One Life to Live to high-definition.

Photo: Dan J Kroll/Soap Central