CBS Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony as 'Beyond the Gates' enters production

CBS gathered today with the cast, crew and executive producers of its new history-making daytime drama series BEYOND THE GATES, the debut project from the CBS Studios/NAACP Venture, for a ribbon cutting ceremony on the show stages outside of Atlanta, Ga., prior to the first table read.

Further commemorating the start of season one, the cast came together and contributed signed scripts and letters to their future selves that will be placed inside a time capsule and encased on the series stages for future retrieval. Physical production for the series starts Friday, Nov. 1.

The talented series ensemble includes previously announced performers: Alex Alegria, Lauren Buglioli, Brandon Claybon, Clifton Davis, Daphnee Duplaix, Timon Kyle Durrett, Sean Freeman, Ben Gavin, Marquita Goings, Jibre Hordges, Jen Jacob, Maurice Johnson, Trisha Mann-Grant, Mike Manning, RhonniRose Mantilla, Ambyr Michelle, Karla Mosley, Colby Muhammad, Arielle Prepetit and Tamara Tunie. 

BEYOND THE GATES is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C., and in one of 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 that 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.

BEYOND THE GATES 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. 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.