On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch
Writing, Film, Television and More!
On Saturday both Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting cohorts had the chance to work in teams on the concept of rebooting a show from the 1970s that involved the Egyptian goddess.
As any writer does, we invited a technical consultant – Dr. Marissa Stevens – to give the teams some historical background in the culture of ancient Egypt before they broke into groups to brainstorm their new ideas.
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Producer/Screenwriter Cindy Chupack on the “How I Wrote That” Podcast from the Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Program [Podcast]
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Cindy Chupack has won two Emmys and three Golden Globes as TV writer/producer whose credits include “Sex and the City,” “Better Things,” “Divorce,” “Modern Family,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and most recently Showtime’s darkly comic hour “I’m Dying Up Here.” She is the author of two comic memoirs: the New York Times bestseller The Between Boyfriends Book: A Collection of Cautiously Hopeful Essays, and The Longest Date: Life as a Wife. Last year she directed her first episode of television for “I’m Dying Up Here,” and her first feature, OTHERHOOD, starring Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette, and Felicity Huffman. OTHERHOOD is a comedy Chupack co-wrote that premiered this week in select theaters and on Netflix.
It feels very paint by numbers so it seems so easy – but it’s not.
As soon as I get good and comfortable I want to take a risk. To challenge myself.-Cindy Chupack
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From Denver Pop Culture Con 2019.
Wherever you go, you find Monkees fans and the Denver Popular Culture Con was no different. Amid rooms full of caped crusaders and cosplay creations, I was initially not sure how many folks would attend a talk on a TV show from the 1960s – but happily I was met by a nice, engaged audience for my talk on Why the Monkees Matter – and afterward they bought books! What more could an author ask for?
Buy Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture
A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Acheivement in Comedy.
Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined, and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.
This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers.
Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Riderand Five Easy Pieces.
McFarland (Direct from Publisher) | Amazon | Kindle Edition | Nook Edition
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On Friday, August 9th, I had the great pleasure of moderating a panel on working mom screenwriters for the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting and hosted by Writers Guild Foundation.
I thank them for being so honest and real about describing the way they balance the lives they love and the work they love. It’s never easy for any of us and sometimes that’s the best lesson of all. Though each of the writers talked about how the skills of being a mother are so perfectly attuned to the nurturing and multitasking required of showrunners in television.
We also learned about offices that have nurseries provided for their writing staff and the fact that, as with all things in life, moms have to make tough decisions between being on set when your pilot is filming or catching your 2nd grader’s talent show… But we also all admitted that it’s a privilege to make the stories that are watched by other people’s children – and to share stories with your own children all their lives. — Rosanne
From the Writers Guild Foundation…
Talking TV writing and motherhood with writers/producers and working moms Julia Brownell (THIS IS US), @jamiedenbo (AMERICAN PRINCESS), Valentina Garza @totalvaligirl (JANE THE VIRGIN), and moderator @RosanneWelch.
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A field trip to the writers room of The Simpsons served as yesterday’s highlight for the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Class of 2021.
Thanks to producer/writer Rob Lazebnik for showing our students around and explaining what makes a good Simpsons script – a story that involves the whole family, which is hard to come by after being on the air so many wonderful years…
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Do you know about these women screenwriters? Many don’t. Learn more about them today!
Get “When Women Wrote Hollywood” Today!
June Mathis, one of the most prolific screenwriters of the Silent Era, not only wrote cinema, she lived it. Mathis traumatically passed away at the young age of 40 in the same place she began her career as an entertainer, the stage. The New York Times reported her dramatic demise in a front-page headline: “June Mathis Heart Victim” after Mathis died suddenly of a heart attack while attending a play at a New York theatre. Mathis lived out what cinephile critics would later coin “cinema 360”.
Fearless and Fierce: June Mathis
by Lauren E. Smith
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Last night the Class of 2021 shared a treat – a visit by alum Sahar Jahani (Class of 2018)
Since graduation she has written episodes for Ramy on Hulu and landed on the staff of season 4 of 13 Reasons Why, while also adapting a YA novel into a film.
She credited the spec script she wrote under the mentorship of Jon Vandergriff for helping open doors.
Thanks, Sahar, for sharing your journey with us!
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How much would you love to learn about the writing of an iconic episode of “Sex and the City”?
The Class of 2021 was treated to just that when guest Cindy Chupack, who has won two Emmys and three Golden Globes as a TV writer/producer, was interviewed in front of our students for the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting program’s “How I Wrote That” podcast, hosted by Khanisha Foster. (Episode coming soon!)
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![12 Male Pseudonyms from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction - Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (42 seconds)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/scifi-rmw-cpp-12.jpeg)
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:
Now most of you I imagine in your in your younger years read Harry Potter which is written by JK Rowling because the publishers didn’t want or didn’t assume that boys would read a book written by Joanna. We’re not gonna read books written by women. My favorite book as a kid, which is still quite popular, The Outsiders is written by SE Hinton. Susan Elizabeth Hinton and nobody believed that boys would read a book about gangs written by a girl. Even though she lived with those kids and that was her childhood. She understood those kids obviously so well but yeah so we still do that to women, right? The best-selling book really of the last generation had to be written by someone with initials.
* 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!
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Can you name the first woman to win two Oscars for her writing?
The students of the newest cohort of our Stephens College MFA know the answer – Frances Marion – because the highlight of Day 2 of the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting workshop August Workshop was a visit by Cari Beauchamp, who wrote Marion’s biography: “Without Lying Down” and graciously contributed the Forward to “When Women Wrote Hollywood”.
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* 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
