Following the start of production and the announcement of the premiere date, CBS’ new daytime series Beyond the Gates now unveils its talented writers’ room. With the visionary show creator, head writer, executive producer, and showrunner Michele Val Jean leading the charge, alongside co-head writer and executive producer Bob Guza Jr., the room boasts a dynamic and diverse team of exceptional soap and television scribes.
Michele Val Jean is the Creator, Head Writer, Executive Producer, and Showrunner, boasting an impressive portfolio that includes credits as Script Writer for “Generations,” Script Writer and Script Editor for “Santa Barbara,” and Associate Head Writer, Script Editor, and Script Writer for “General Hospital.” Additionally, she has lent her expertise as a Script Writer for “The Bold and the Beautiful” and served as a Consulting Producer and Script Writer for “Ambitions,” along with crafting scripts for “Jake & The Fatman.”
Bob Guza Jr. serves as the EP/Co-Head Writer! He boasts an impressive resume that includes Writer for Santa Barbara, Creator of Sunset Beach, Co-Head Writer for Loving, and Head Writer of General Hospital.
Susan Dansby joins the team as Script Editor. Her list of credits include: Story Consultant, Young and the Restless; Consulting Producer, Ambitions; Script Writer, Young and the Restless; Script Writer, Breakdown Writer, Assoc. Head Writer, As the World Turns; Director, Port Charles; AP, Director, General Hospital
Michael Montgomery is the Continuity Producer. His credits include: Script & Story Coordinator/ Breakdown Writer and Script Writer, Young and the Restless
Script Writers for Beyond the Gates:
Judy Tate! Her credits include: Breakdown Writer/Script Writer, Another World, As the World Turns, Days of our Lives Feature Short, Keepers of the Flame
Danielle Paige! Credits: Script Writer, Guiding Light, Days of our Lives; Novelist, Dorothy Must Die, Stealing Snow, The Ravens, The Monarchs, Holos
Jazmen Darnell Brown! Credits: Staff Writer, BMF, Ambitions, Saints and Sinners
Cheryl L. Davis! Credits: Scriptwriter, As the World Turns, Days of our Lives; Staff Writer, Law & Order: SVU
Lynn Martin! Credits: Script Writer, The City, Port Charles, Another World, As the World Turns, Young and the Restless
Breakdown Writers
Ron Carlvati! Carlivati recently finished his tenure as Head Writer on Days of our Lives. Due to the show’s advanced tape-to-air schedule, his last episode will not air until 2025. His other credits include: script Writer/Head Writer, One Life to Live; Head Writer, General Hospital.
Sara A. Bibel! Credits: Script Writer, Breakdown Writer, Assoc. Head Writer, Young and the Restless
Christopher Dunn! Credits: Breakdown Writer, Santa Barbara, General Hospital, Sunset Beach, Guiding Light, All My Children, Days of our Lives, Young and the Restless; Script Writer, Guiding Light, Days of our Lives
Gregori J. Martin! Credits: Creator/Head Writer, The Bay; Screenplay Adaptation, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven
Teresa Zimmerman! Credits: Breakdown Writer, Young and the Restless; Scriptwriter, Young and the Restless; Associate Head Writer, Bold and the Beautiful
The series began production in Atlanta, Ga., this month and stars Tamara Tunie, Clifton Davis, Daphnee Duplaix, Karla Mosley, Alex Alegria, Lauren Buglioli, Brandon Claybon, Timon Kyle Durrett, Sean Freeman, Ben Gavin, Marquita Goings, Jibre Hordges, Jen Jacob, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, Mike Manning, RhonniRose Mantilla, Ambyr Michelle, Colby Muhammad and Arielle Prepetit.
More About Beyond the Gates:
Beyond the Gates is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C., and in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States. Here you’ll find a posh gated community with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions to call home. At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered. And those who live outside these gates are watching closely. These are the places where our characters live, love, work and play. Those who have “made it” and those who haven’t are all trying to navigate life … and some with more grace than others.
The series is developed and produced by the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, led by Sheila Ducksworth, in partnership with P&G Studios, a division of Procter & Gamble. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. This marks the first-ever one-hour Black daytime soap and the first daytime drama to premiere since “Passions” in 1999.
Michele Val Jean is the creator, executive producer and showrunner alongside executive producers Sheila Ducksworth, Robert Guza Jr., Julie Carruthers, Leon W. Russell, Derrick Johnson, Kimberly Doebereiner and Anna Saalfeld.
Beyond the Gates premieres Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, and air weekdays (2:00-3:00 PM, ET; 1:00-2:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+*
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