Ron Carlivati joined Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart on the Soapy podcast to discuss his prolific soap opera career. He went from working as a lawyer to writing for One Life to Live. From there, he’s written for General Hospital, Days of our Lives, and Beyond the Gates.
Key Takeaways
- Carlivati explained how he went from getting his start in law to being named one of the showrunners of a soap opera.
- He talked about what it’s like to write some of the most iconic storylines.
- Carlivati also talked about his work with novelist David Baldacci.
How Ron Carlivati Got His Start in His Soaps
On the Soapy podcast, Carlivati looked back at his iconic soap career. Prior to becoming a head writer for some of the biggest soaps, he worked as a lawyer.
Carlivati was working in New York at the time. His biggest dream was to write for soaps. He was advised to “tell anyone that you want to work on a soap opera.” Then, he found out through a friend that someone was planning to leave their job.
Carlivati returned to his old temp job at a legal office and thought nothing of it. The following day, he got a call from someone who asked him to “fax his resume.”
He ended up impressing Robin Goodman, who was the former producer of OLTL. They had someone else in mind, but they liked that Carlivati knew of the show’s history and storylines.
BTG Writer On His Work With Novelist David Baldacci
Also, in the interview, Carlivati talked about his work with novelist David Baldacci. It happened around the time he was focused on his legal career. Baldacci is a “legal thriller” writer who “wasn’t famous” at the time.
Baldacci confessed that he didn’t want to be a lawyer. He wanted to be a writer. He needed someone to “unload to,” and Carlivati ended up following him and his adventures.
One day, Baldacci told Carlivati about some of the meetings he had. At the time, they told him that he could “become the next John Grisham.”
Getting in a Twitter Feud With John Stamos
Carlivati also revealed his infamous “Twitter fight” with John Stamos. He joked, “It was terrible.” He started off by saying he loves the GH actor and that there was no bad blood between them.
He recalled a time when he wanted Stamos to appear on the soap at the height of his fame. “But for some reason at the time, it didn’t work out,” Carlivati noted. Both men had different accounts of what happened during that time.
Stamos reminded Carlivati on Twitter that his version wasn’t what happened. Carlivati didn’t expect their interaction to turn into such a big thing. He tried to back out, but Stamos assured him, “No, this is fun.” Carlivati jokingly recalled, “Because you were winning.”
