A History of Screenwriting – 27 in a series – The Mermaid , Georges Méliès (1904)
In this silent film a man catches fish in his hat and then pulls a rabbit out. A mermaid appears and changes into a lady and joins the man. This early silent film was released in France in 1904 under the title, “Georges Mélièsand was directed by Georges Méliès.
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I teach several classes for the Stephens College Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting, including History of Screenwriting. In fact, I created the curriculum for that course from scratch and customized it to this particular MFA in that it covers ‘Screenwriting’ (not directors) and even more specifically, the class has a female-centric focus. As part History of Screenwriting I, the first course in the four-class series, we focus on the early women screenwriters of the silent film era who male historians have, for the most part, quietly forgotten in their books. In this series, I share with you some of the screenwriters and films that should be part of any screenwriters education. I believe that in order to become a great screenwriter, you need to understand the deep history of screenwriting and the amazing people who created the career. — Dr. Rosanne Welch