How ‘Beyond the Gates’ Became a Reality, Aims for its Audience and Crafts the Stories
Photo: CBS
Today on Tuesday, February 25th, CBS’ new daytime drama, Beyond the Gates will broadcast its second episode. The historic series which features a predominantly Black cast and has multicultural mix of characters, is the creative brainchild of veteran soap opera writer, Michele Val Jean.
The talented Val Jean rose through the ranks having written for Generations, General Hospital, and The Bold and the Beautiful, and if you speak to many actors in the genre, Michele is one of their all-time favorite scribes.
Now with Beyond the Gates, Val Jean is not only the series creator, but its head writer, executive producer and showrunner. Michele spoke with Deadline just as the first new soap opera on network television in over 25 years was being launched. (pictured below are Val Jean, Karla Mosley, Tamara Tunie, Daphnee Duplaix, director Steven Williford and executive producer, Julie Hanan Carruthers)
Photo: CBS
Through an enduring relationship with CBS Studios/NAACP Venture President, Sheila Ducksworth, which spans over 20 years, the two women bonded over their love of soap operas. When Ducksworth came into her current position, the time was right to start to get the project off the ground.
At that point, Val Jean wrote the bible for the series, while still working on The Bold and the Beautiful writing team. She explained the key checkpoints needed for a successful soap opera and how she went about crafting the the wealthy Dupree family, the epicenter of the new series.
Photo: CBS
“I wanted the family to be messy, but really grounded in their love for each other,” shared Michele. “You need a wild child, somebody who’s unpredictable, a heroine, a wish fulfillment heroine where you look at her and go, ‘I want to be her because she has no filter.’ You have to have your stable character, you have to have your villains, you have to have your hot guys. And then I wanted it to be multi-generational. So it’s the matriarch and the patriarch, their two daughters, their families. You need a cop, you need a lawyer.”
Over the years, soap operas have been plagued with not being able to bring in the lapse viewers or younger generations to the shows. Val Jean said she wants her new soap to appeal to “Everybody.” As to how she plans or hopes to do that, Michele added, “I want everybody to see a little bit of themselves in there and find a reason to tune in and stay with us. One of our characters (Chelsea) is a social media influencer. She’s a reluctant model, but she’s got millions and millions of followers. We play with that whole social media thing. Hoping that’ll appeal to younger viewers. Drama is still drama. I mean, soaps are still about wish fulfillment and high drama and high stakes, bigger than life characters. So I don’t think that’s changed very much. It’s a formula that works.”
Putting together the writers room for Beyond the Gates was paramount for Michele. “I’ve corralled a whole team of Black writers. I’ve been writing soaps consistently for over 30 years, so I can’t think of another Black person who has done that, who can say that, explained Val Jean. There are 15 of us in the room. I have more (than other soaps). It’s wonderful. I have my co-head writer who’s Bob Guza, along with five breakdown writers, five script writers, a script editor, a writer’s assistant, and a continuity producer.”
Photo: CBS
As previously announced, Beyond the Gates writing team includes breakdown writers: Ron Carlivati (former head writer, OLTL, GH, DAYS), Sara A. Bibel (Y&R), Christopher Dunn (Santa Barbara, GH, Sunset Beach, GL, All My Children, DAYS, Y&R), Gregori J. Martin (The Bay), and Teresa Zimmerman (Y&R, B&B). Val Jean explained that she handpicked her writing team, “I’ve worked with or knew of all of them.”
Script writers include: Judy Tate (AW, ATWT, DAYS), Danielle Paige (GL, DAYS), Jazmen Darnell Brown (BMF, Ambitions, Saints and Sinners), Cheryl L. Davis (ATWT, DAYS), and Lynn Martin (The City, Port Charles, AW, ATWT, Y&R), plus Susan Dansby (ATWT, Port Charles, Y&R ) as the script editor, and Michael Montgomery (Y&R) as the continuity producer.
Photo: CBS
Beyond the Gates like any soap opera is churning out episodes in front of the camera and behind the scenes in the fast-paced world of the genre. Val Jean shared that the team is currently writing episode 118, adding, “We’re working maybe two months ahead of time.”
So, what are your thoughts on the construct, hopes, and how Michele and her team had the monumental task of getting a new soap opera off the ground, when many naysayers said it could never be done again? Comment below.
