Giving Voice to Silent Films and the Far From Silent Women Who Wrote Them with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (17:44)

Giving Voice to Silent Films and the Far From Silent Women Who Wrote Them with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Giving Voice to Silent Films and the Far From Silent Women Who Wrote Them with Dr. Rosanne Welch

 

A recording of my presentation at this year’s University Film and Video Association (UFVA) 2017 conference.

I was pleased to be asked to participate in a panel designed by former student (and current kick-ass professor) Warren Lewis. The panel included two other former students from the MFA in Screenwriting program at CSUF: David Morgassen and Lucas Cuny. For the panel’s theme — “What Else Do We Teach When We Teach Screenwriting: Context And Controversy: Strategies For Teaching Film And Television History And Current Events To Screenwriters” — I chose to present on: “Giving Voice to Silent Films and the Far From Silent Women Who Wrote Them”.

It involves the fact that when teaching screenwriting history, I begin chronologically. In essence I force students to watch the classic films of the silent era (happily accessible for free on YouTube) first because that is when women ran the town as evidenced in Cari Beachamp’s Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood”.) Beauchamp’s book is on my reading list so that they can encounter the careers of Frances Marion, Anita Loos, Lois Weber, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Eve Unsell and a host of other women who ran their own production companies for many years.

Secondly, knowing women once ran Hollywood makes it harder for today’s executives to wonder if today’s women can do the same.
Third, I have learned that teaching silent films reminds modern students that in screenwriting the visual is as important as the verbal.

Fourth, recognizing the birth of major iconic archetypes helps them recognize those archetypes in modern films and develop their own characters more three-dimensionally.
Fifth, I had to embarrassingly realize that in my zest to focus on forgotten females, I forgot to cover the careers of forgotten men and women of color and so expanded my viewing list to include the work of Oscar Mischeaux and other artists of color from the era.

Finally, I stretch back to the silents as a reminder that all artists stand of the shoulders of those who came before them – be they women or men.

Books Mentioned In This Presentation

Follow Dr. Rosanne Welch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosannewelch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drrosannewelch/

About Dr. Rosanne Welch

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

When Women Ran Hollywood: Citizen Jane Film School 2016 [Video] (1 hour)

I am so proud and excited to post this link to the presentations 5 of my Stephens College MFA in Screenwriting students made at this year’s Citizen Jane Film Festival.  The event was titled:  When Women Ran Hollywood: Meet 5 Female Screenwriters Who Helped Invent Hollywood.  My students gave tight, ten minute presentations on female screenwriters who we should all know – women like Anita Loos and Adela Rogers St. Johns – whose biographies I had read as a child in Cleveland – and women like Frances Goodrich Hackett, who I hadn’t heard of until I began my own PhD dissertation – and finally Eve Unsell and Jeanie MacPherson.  

Rather than be new names to most all of you we ought to recognize these women’s names – and accomplishments –  much as we instantly recognize the names of the male directors of early Hollywood. Sadly, historians frequently left the women’s names out of the books so this course and this assignment are an exercise in bringing Anita, Adela, Frances, Eve and Jeanie back into the mainstream conversation about the art – and history – of screenwriting.

The students I have to thank for researching, writing and presenting on these women – and then trekking out to Columbia, Missouri (home of Stephens College) to share their findings with the larger community of scholars – are Toni Anita Hull, Amelia Phillips, Laura Kirk, Sarah Whorton and Julie Berkobien.
Watch and learn – and fall in love with all 10 of these women all over again – or for the first time.

When Women Ran Hollywood: Citizen Jane Film School 2016 [Video] (1 hour)

CJ Film School 2016 When Women Ran Hollywood from CitizenJaneFilmFestival on Vimeo.

The Stephens College MFA in Screenwriting is proud to present five of our fabulous MFA students who will in turn introduce the audience to five female screenwriters whose work we know, but whose names have been left out of the textbooks. Help us write them back in and remind us all that Women Ran Hollywood once and are on their way to doing it again!

  • Rosanne Welch, Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting Professor
  • Toni Anita Hull, Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting Candidate
  • Amelia Phillips, Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting Candidate
  • Laura Kirk, Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting Candidate
  • Sarah Whorton, Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting Candidate
  • Julie Berkobien, Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting Candidate

SRN: 1960’s TV Censorship, The Monkees: Challenging Norms with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Monkees censorship srn

 

For this presentation to my international colleagues at the the Screenwriting Research Network conference (held in Leeds September 7-10, 2016) (http://screenwritingresearch.com/) blended two of my talks on The Monkees in order to address the conference themes of “Screenwriting between Artistic Freedom and Norms”.

I have always felt that The Monkees television program was and is still a significant moment in American television because of the way they were “Challenging Norms” so that is the title I chose to include a bit about the way the show addressed burgeoning feminism as well as how they skirted Censorship rules by including jokes about drug use and an anti-war attitude which, through the use of the newer slang language and comedic parody.

Dr. Rosanne Welch is a professor in the Low Residency MFA in Screenwriting Program from Stephens College, California State University, Fullerton, Mount San Antonio Community College and Cal Poly Pomona. In 2007, she graduated with her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S./Film History from Claremont Graduate University. She graduated with her M.A. in 20th Century United States History from California State University, Northridge in 2004.

Welch is also a television writer/producer with credits for Beverly Hills 90210 , CBS’s Emmy winning Picket Fences and Touched By An Angel . She also writes and hosts her own podcasts on 3rdPass.media, her first one titled “Mindful(I) Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch.”

Her upcoming book, “Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture” will be published in Fall 2016

For more information, visit http://rosannewelch.com/monkees


Buy “Why The Monkees Matter” Today!

 Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

 

McFarland (Direct from Publisher) | Amazon | Kindle Edition | Nook Edition


About Dr. Rosanne Welch

Dr. Rosanne Welch is a professor in the Low Residency MFA in Screenwriting Program from Stephens College, California State University, Fullerton, Mount San Antonio Community College and Cal Poly Pomona.  In 2007, she graduated with her Ph.D. in 20th Century U.S./Film History from Claremont Graduate University.  She graduated with her M.A. in 20th Century United States History from California State University, Northridge in 2004.

Welch is also a television writer/producer with credits for Beverly Hills 90210 , CBS’s Emmy winning Picket Fences and Touched By An Angel . She also writes and hosts her own podcasts on 3rdPass.media, her first one titled “Mindful(I) Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch.”

Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space are two books she has written. Los Angeles Times and the Journal of Screenwriting hold some of her published articles.

Dr. Rosanne Welch Web Site and Blog

Follow Dr. Welch on Twitter

Dr. Rosanne Welch on YouTube

Star Wars and It’s Impact on Modern Media Panel Discussion from The Redlands Film and Beer Festival [Video]

 Dr. Rosanne Welch was part of this featured panel discussion at the Redlands Film and Beer Festival 2015.

Featuring Daniel Petrie Jr., Dr. Rosanne Welch, Nick Lamb, and Slate Inc., Founder Lucas Cuny.

Star Wars and It's Impact on Modern Media Panel Discussion from The Redlands Film and Beer Festival [Video]

 

Video by Douglas E. Welch

Some photos from the panel discussion

Dr. Rosanne Welch Speaks on The History of Adaptation in Film at Cal State Fullerton [Photos]

You Can Please Some of the People Some of the Time… None of the People All of the Time: A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More!

Dr. Rosanne Welch speaks on A History of the Art of Adaptation in Movies like Dune, The Godfather, Harry Potter and More! at the California State University, Fullerton Library

Part of the program series for Dune by Frank Herbert: A 50th Anniversary Celebration. 

Watch the complete video of this talk

Dr. Rosanne Welch speaks on the Art of Adaptation at Cal State Fullerton

Watch a slide show of all photos in this set

  

Video: The Monkees Impact on Culture Today from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers

The Monkees Impact on Culture Today from

 


Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

Then I have a chapter on cultural collateral — how much The Monkees still resonate in American culture. We don’t think so, but my gosh they do — particularly right after the show was cancelled. This is a year-and-a-half later. This is the most — I’m understood from the research I found — and when Davy Jones died in 2012 they announced this on CNN. This is the most re-run episode of television in the history of reruns and it’s this episode of The Brady Bunch, where Marcia Brady has written a letter to her — she’s the head of the Davy Jones Fan Club — and she wants him to sing at their Prom and he didn’t get the letter on time and so he isn’t going to come and her whole life is going to be ruined and when he finds out accidentally, he comes to her and says, “Ok, yes, as a matter of fact I can do that, but I need a date. Do you know anybody who’d like to go with me?” This is the most rerun episode of television ever and it’s all based on love of The Monkees. 

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

 

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: Cultural Collateral of The Monkees from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers

 


Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

Then I have a chapter on cultural collateral — how much The Monkees still resonate in American culture. We don’t think so, but my gosh they do — particularly right after the show was cancelled. This is a year-and-a-half later. This is the most — I’m understood from the research I found — and when Davy Jones died in 2012 they announced this on CNN. This is the most re-run episode of television in the history of reruns and it’s this episode of The Brady Bunch, where Marcia Brady has written a letter to her — she’s the head of the Davy Jones Fan Club — and she wants him to sing at their Prom and he didn’t get the letter on time and so he isn’t going to come and her whole life is going to be ruined and when he finds out accidentally, he comes to her and says, “Ok, yes, as a matter of fact I can do that, but I need a date. Do you know anybody who’d like to go with me?” This is the most rerun episode of television ever and it’s all based on love of The Monkees. 

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

 

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: Jimi Hendrix and The Monkees from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers



Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

The Monkees are also famous for introducing Jimi Hendrix to the mainstream. He was their opening act when they went on a concert tour around the country. Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees. Nobody believes me. (Laughter) I’m not making that up. He really truly did. So, again, Micky Dolenz as a character and as a performer is bringing Black music to the mainstream, white, teenage, audience. That’s a huge thing their parents might not have allowed. but the program was their gateway into that new world.

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: Micky As Cultural Substitute from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers

Monkees 16 cultural substitute anim

Book mentioned in this clip:

Feeling Italian: The Art of Ethnicity in America (Nation of Nations) by Thomas Ferraro

 


Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

So, I learned as a child — think, or that’s what I posit — that if I wanted to marry a Monkee, I didn’t want to be popular. I wanted to be substantial. I wanted to be a woman of some meaning and that’s what would attract them. And I think that’s a really important message to give little girls. Not that I need to be gorgeous and have the perfect little outfit, right? So feminism is all through this thing. 

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

 

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: Substantial Women from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers

Monkees 15 substantial women anim

 


Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

So, I learned as a child — think, or that’s what I posit — that if I wanted to marry a Monkee, I didn’t want to be popular. I wanted to be substantial. I wanted to be a woman of some meaning and that’s what would attract them. And I think that’s a really important message to give little girls. Not that I need to be gorgeous and have the perfect little outfit, right? So feminism is all through this thing. 

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

 

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.