Michele Val Jean (b. 1950s) is an American television writer and producer, best-known for her work on daytime soap operas. Val Jean has written more than 2,000 episodes of daytime soap operas and won seven

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

and five

Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...

Life and career

Val Jean began her career as a writer in the first African-American daytime soap opera, ''

Generations A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Genera ...

'' in 1989. The series was canceled in 1991. In 1990 she worked on the prime time series, ''

Jake and the Fatman ''Jake and the Fatman'' is an American crime drama television series starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. (Jason Lochinvar) "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. Created by Dean Hargrove and Joel Steiger, the ser ...

''. She returned to daytime as a writer on '' Santa Barbara'' from 1991 to 1993 receiving her first Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Daytime Serials. In 1993 she joined ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

''. Val Jean wrote the critically acclaimed 1998 re-visitation of Luke Spencer's rape of Laura Spencer, the rape of

Elizabeth Webber Elizabeth Webber is a fictional character from ''General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the ABC network, played by Rebecca Herbst. Elizabeth is the granddaughter of the show's original lead character, Steve Hardy ( John Beradino) and da ...

, Luke and Laura Spencer's 2006 wedding. In 2000 she was promoted, alongside

Elizabeth Korte Elizabeth Korte is an American television writer for the ABC Daytime soap opera ''General Hospital''. Positions held ''General Hospital'' *Occasional breakdown writer: 2005–2008 *Script editor: 2002 – January 3, 2008, March 17, 2008– Marc ...

, to the post of

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

, making her the first African American in the history of daytime television serials to hold the post. She won four Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team for her work on ''General Hospital''. She left the soap in 2012. In 2012, Val Jean joined the CBS soap opera, ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

'' as a script writer. She left the soap in early 2024. In 2019 she also worked as an episodic writer and producer on the

Oprah Winfrey Network The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...

prime time soap opera, '' Ambitions''. In 2024, Val Jean created a new daytime soap opera, '' Beyond the Gates'' for CBS that centers a wealthy Black family. She will serve as a writer, showrunner and executive producer. The soap will debut in February 2025.

Positions held

'' Beyond the Gates'' *Creator and producer '' Ambitions'' *Consulting Producer 2019 *Writer ''

'' *Script writer: January 16, 2012 – April 3, 2024 ''

'' *Occasional breakdown writer: February 2007 – December 26, 2007 * Co-head writer: January 2001 – April 2001 *Breakdown writer: 1996–2000 *Occasional script writer: 1996–2000 *Script writer: 1993–1996, June 2002 – December 21, 2007, April 7, 2008 – January 10, 2012 *Script editor: 1993–1995 (hired by

Claire Labine Claire Vaughn Labine (née Wood; June 28, 1934 – November 11, 2016) was an American soap opera writer and producer.

) ''

'' (hired by

Sally Sussman Morina Sally Sussman Morina is an American documentary filmmaker, television writer, and producer. Personal life She is married to Anthony Morina, a CBS Daytime director and producer. She has gone by her married name Sally Sussman Morina on various pro ...

) *Script Writer: 1989–1990 ''

Port Charles ''Port Charles'' (commonly abbreviated as ''PC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from June 1, 1997, to October 3, 2003. It was a spin-off of the series ''General Hospital'', which has been running since 1963 and takes p ...

'' *Occasional Script Writer: 1997–1998 '' Santa Barbara'' (hired by

Bridget and Jerome Dobson Bridget ( Hursley; September 1, 1938 – January 3, 2024) and Jerome Dobson were an American husband-and-wife duo of television award-winning screenwriters and artists. Through their company Dobson Productions, they are notable for their work a ...

) *Breakdown writer: 1992–1993 *Script Writer: 1991 *Script Editor: 1992–1993 ''

Awards and nominations

Val Jean has been nominated for several

Writers Guild Of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

*1993–1998 seasons, 6 nominations for ''General Hospital'' *1991 and 1992 seasons, 2 nominations for ''Santa Barbara'' ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' *Best Daytime Soap Writer (2004, 2006 & 2007)

References

External links

ABC Daytime: ''General Hospital''
*
SoapCentralAlternativeFilmGuide: 2008 WGA Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Val Jean, Michele American soap opera writers 20th-century American screenwriters 1950s births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American women soap opera writers 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)