16 Sarah Y. Mason from “When Women Wrote Hollywood” with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 15 seconds)

Part of the California State University, Fullerton Faculty Noon Time Talks at the Pollak Library.

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16 Sarah Y. Mason from

 

Transcript:

Sarah Mason had a similar thing happen to her. Sarah Mason worked together with her husband Victor Hermann, They got the first Oscar for adaptation. It was for Little Women which of course has been done and done and done over again. They also worked on Stella Dallas and many films in the early period. Again, Victor Herrmann left writing to become a director and he ended up directing the Marx Brothers so he’s a little he appears in a few more film histories. She disappears out of the film histories though she’s got an Oscar to her name and Victor, who outlived his wife, gave an oral history where he said he did most of the writing when they were a team. The problem is if you look at her IMDB list of movies she wrote before marrying him and after he left the team to become a director, she has about 64 films. He alone has written four. So who’s the writer in that team right? it’s not who he says it was unless that’s all you ever read. So Sarah disappears from history, right? I’ve actually met her grandson and interviewed him. He had no idea that that’s what his grandmother did. All he remembers is she really liked Shakespeare and she made him remember whole quotes from Shakespeare before he could go out and play. He had to recite sections of Shakespeare. So don’t tell me she doesn’t have the heart of a writer right? .

Dr. Rosanne Welch discusses the women in her new book “When Women Wrote Hollywood” which covers female screenwriters from the Silents through the early 1940s when women wrote over 50% of films and Frances Marion was the highest paid screenwriter (male or female) and the first to win 2 Oscars.  Yet, she fails to appear in film history books, which continue to regurgitate the myth that male directors did it all – even though it’s been proven that the only profitable movies Cecil B. de Mille ever directed were all written by Jeannie Macpherson film ever won for Best Picture was written by Robert E. Sherwood (who people have heard of, mostly due to his connection to Dorothy Parker) and Joan Harrison.


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Three Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Alumni Published in the current issue of the Journal Of Screenwriting

The newest issue of the Journal of Screenwriting is now available via the Hugh Stephens Library.

Dr. Rosanne Welch of our Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting serves as Book Review Editor and this Issue includes reviews by three graduates of our MFA program: The Girl Who Knew Too Much: Shadow of a Doubt (1943), reviewed by Mikayla Daniels (Class of 2017); Writing for the Screen, Anna Weinstein, reviewed by Yasser O. Shahin (Class of 2017); and The Heroine’s Journey: Woman’s Quest For Wholeness, Maureen Murdock, reviewed by Ilona Rossman Ho (Class of 2019).

Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Alums Published by the Journal Of Screenwriting

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Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting graduate begins teaching at the University of Missouri School of Journalism

Congratulations to Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting graduate (and graduation speaker for the Class of 2019) LeeAnne Lowry who joined the University of Missouri School of Journalism yesterday teaching “Fundamentals of Visual Journalism and Strategic Communication”.

Way to put your MFA to work! — Rosanne

Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting graduate begins teaching at the University of Missouri School of Journalism

 

 

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Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Tour Warner Bros. Studios and Speak With Michael Lawshe (Sound Supervisor) and Bob Berens (Producer, Supernatural)

On Wednesday the 2nd year Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting candidates were treated to a tour of the backlot of Warner Bros. Studios courtesy of Emmy-winning Sound Supervisor Michael Lawshe…

Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Tour Warner Bros. Studios and Speak With Michael Lawshe (Sound Supervisor) and Bob Behrens (Producer, Supernatural)

…which culminated with a one-hour Q&A with Supernatural Executive Producer Bob Berens, discussing the crafting of their final season.

Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Tour Warner Bros. Studios and Speak With Michael Lawshe (Sound Supervisor) and Bob Behrens (Producer, Supernatural)

 

 

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Writer/Producer Ken Aquado Talks “Agents and How To Get One” with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Workshop Students

Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Workshop guest lecturer  (author of “Based On” which explains how to option rights to a book/article/song for the purpose of adapting that into a screenplay) recommended this article to explain the #1 question asked by students:

“How Do I get an Agent?”

I thought I ought to share it with the whole community, so here it is… — Rosanne

Writer/Producer Ken Aquado Talks

As established members of the entertainment community, we are frequently asked to speak to aspiring filmmakers. And with the success of our book, The Hollywood Pitching Bible, the number of speaking invitations has greatly increased. We are now regularly invited to speak at numerous entertainment industry events, festivals, film schools and conferences.

No matter what the topic of the event, inevitably the dialogue with the audience veers onto our views about the industry in general and life in the biz. Overwhelmingly, there’s one question we get asked more than any other: “How do I get an agent?”

Often the question is asked with such intense interest that we sometimes wonder if the rest of our lecture has been “filler” for the audience who are just waiting to get to this topic. Because of the overwhelming concern with this question, we are presenting this in-depth, three-part article on the topic for the benefit of LA Screenwriter readers.

How to Get an Agent – Part One via  LA Screenwriter

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Quotes from When Women Wrote Hollywood – 40 in a series – Rethinking On-Screen Gender Roles

Do you know about these women screenwriters? Many don’t. Learn more about them today!

Get “When Women Wrote Hollywood” Today!

When Lois Weber disparaged happy endings in favor of more complicated plots, she was not simply rejecting filmmaking formulas; she was calling for a wholesale rethinking of tropes surrounding heterosexual romance… When she advocated nuanced character development over action… she was demanding that we rethink roles typically assigned to men and women on screen.

Writing Around Lois Weber
by Chase Thompson


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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Power Of The Pack: Women Who Support Women Are More Successful via Forbes

Here’s a great Forbes article by Shelley Zalis that our Dean recently shared about the power of women supporting women in their professional worlds.

It illustrates ideas already in place within the alumni and current students in our Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting from “Finding your Squad” to “Amplifying other Women” to “Taking the ‘work’ our of ‘Networking’”. — Rosanne

Power Of The Pack: Women Who Support Women Are More Successful via Forbes

I  always say a woman alone has power; collectively we have impact. Traditionally we have been taught to be competitive with one another, because there was such a scarcity of jobs at the top. It’s so clear that strategy doesn’t work. The truth is that raising each other up and channeling the power of collaboration is truly how we’ll change the equation—and have a lot more fun along the way.

There is a boys’ club where women never felt comfortable, so we decided to create a Girls’ Lounge more than six years ago where everyone feels like they belong. We discovered two things:

There is power in the pack.
You realize your strengths make the table better.

Read Power Of The Pack: Women Who Support Women Are More Successful via Forbes

 

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“When Women Wrote Hollywood” Book Signing, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, Missouri

Credit: Chase Thompson (shot on real, black and white film)

How Women Wrote Hollywood Book Reading and Signing, Skylark Bookshop @skylarkbookshop , Columbia, Missouri during the Citizen Jane Film Festival 


When Women Wrote Hollywood Book Reading and Signing, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, Missouri

On Saturday, November 3rd, 2018 several of the contributors to When Women Wrote Hollywood gathered at the Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, Missouri for a signing and launch party that functioned like a mini-reunion of the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Class of 2017.

Many thanks to all who came to hear them each speak with passion about the research subjects who became whole chapters in this book of essays on female screenwriters from the Silent Era into the 1940s.

Check it out!

Video: When Women Wrote Hollywood Book Reading and Signing, Skylark Bookshop, Columbia, Missouri

 

Buy a signed copy of when Women Wrote Hollywood

Paperback Edition | Kindle Edition | Google Play Edition

 

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library.
Check it out! † Available from the LA Public Library

The Big Bang Theory Writer/Producers Eric Kaplan and Tara Hernandez visit with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting students

It was a double-header for the 2nd year MFA candidates when they were visited by two writers from The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon on consecutive nights this week. On the first night, Eric Kaplan (also a former David Letterman staff writer) came at the invitation of student CJ Ehrlich.

On the second night, producer Tara Hernandez sat for an interview with Khanisha Foster for our How I Wrote That podcast.

We thank them both for sharing their expertise (and their humor) with the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting.

 The Big Bang Theory Writer/Producers Eric Kaplan and Tara Hernandez visit with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting students

 The Big Bang Theory Writer/Producers Eric Kaplan and Tara Hernandez visit with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting students

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13 Alice Sheldon and Alice Mary Norton from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)

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The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know And Love

13 Alice Sheldon and Alice Mary Norton from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction - Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)

 

This one allowed me to riff on some of my favorite female science fiction writers across time, whether they be novelists or television writers. It also opened up a good conversation on what art we support and include in our lives – and what that art says to us and about us. — Rosanne

Transcript:

So she’s James, right? There there’s your buddy James. This is a marvelous new book about her life. So really gets into the story of what she was doing and why. I really like autobiographies or biographies because it’s fun. You learn so much about a historical period when you read someone’s individual story and how they worked in the world and society as it was allowing them at the time. So this is actually a book about Alice Sheldon. This lady, Alice Mary Norton, had to be Andre because the boy’s name right? Andre is writing all of these books and look at her again, not the face you imagine when you think of a science fiction writer. She looks like somebody’s great aunt. But why shouldn’t your great-aunt write a really good book, right? Why did we not allow those two things to live in our brain at the same time? So I think it’s really interesting and her stuff is really fascinating. You know we’re all into swords and all that sort of thing. She’s doing the whole Game Of Thrones thing long before we get involved in that right? So we need to give her a little more credit.



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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!