On the beach in Foz, Porto, Portugal

On the beach in Foz, Porto, Portugal

Opening reception of the Screenwriting Research Network Conference

Foz porto beach pano

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Review of “America’s Forgotten Founding Father” by Dr. Rosanne Welch

I was honored to read this review of my novelization of the life of Filippo Mazzei, which posted on the same day that I am preparing to guest lecture about the book to Dennis Bullock’s AP Government class at Providence High School. 

I’m particularly happy that the reviewer, from the Historical Novel Society recognized all the research work I did on not just Mazzei’s place in American History and the founding of the government – but that I strove to give a full picture of his life from childhood through his later years. I want readers to find him to be an interesting man who worked hard for the privileges we enjoy today – even though his name rarely appears in any celebrations of our 4th of July. Maybe now that can change. — Rosanne

Review of

“But the book has a larger focus than Mazzei’s place in the American Revolution. It covers his early years, travels in Turkey, and relationships with family as well as discussions of religion, the prerogatives of landed gentry versus the rights of ordinary people, even the proper pronunciation of Italian words.

This is an interesting and informative biographical sketch aimed at young readers.”

Read the complete review

Listen to Rosanne’s Interview about “America’s Forgotten Founding Father.”

Mentoris Project Podcast: America's Forgotten Founding Father: A Novel Based on the Life of Filippo Mazzei with Author, Dr. Rosanne Welch

America’s Forgotten Founding Father: A Novel Based on the Life of Filippo Mazzei with Author, Dr. Rosanne Welch

Guest Hosted by Dr. Peg Lamphier

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His loyalty lasted a lifetime…

Surgeon, merchant, vintner, and writer Filippo Mazzei influenced American business, politics, and philosophy. Befriending Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Mazzei was a strong liaison for others in Europe. Mazzei was Jefferson’s inspiration for the most famous line in the Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal.”


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Want to use these books in your classroom? Contact the Mentoris Project!`

Screenplays of hit TV series, films and plays are outselling novels via The Guardian

Seeing the public show such an interest in reading the scripts of their favorite tv shows and films is right in line with the goal of the History of Screenwriting courses in our Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting  program.

People are finally recognizing the work of writers and appreciating how their favorite stories took shape on the page long before they were cast, or filmed, or edited. Screenwriting Rocks! Join us to learn how to write the great American screenplay! — Rosanne


Loved the show, finished the boxset – now devour the script line by line
Screenplays of hit TV series, films and plays are outselling novels

Screenplays of hit TV series, films and plays are outselling novels via The Guardian

For decades they were bought only by drama students, who would anxiously pore over well-thumbed copies trying to memorise audition monologues, and by aspiring screenwriters hoping to learn their craft.

Scripts and screenplays did not sell in huge numbers to the public – until now. Readers are increasingly keen to buy the texts of their favourite films and plays, and some cultural blockbusters are leaving bestselling novels in the dust.

Fleabag: The Scriptures, the collected screenplays of the two seasons of the hit television series spawned by Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s one-woman stage play, will be published in November. Sceptre bought the scripts in an eight-way auction, reportedly for £500,000.

Read this entire article – Loved the show, finished the boxset – now devour the script line by line

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04 More On The Writers of The Monkees from “Why The Monkees Matter: Even 50 Years Later [Video] (1 minute 4 seconds)

Enjoy This Clip? Watch this entire presentation!

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?

04 MORE ON The Writers of The Monkees from

 

Transcript

Down in the right corner is Peter Meyerson. Clearly from his photograph truly on the hippie train back in the day — had a very interesting life and ended up married to one of Michael Nesmith’s early girlfriends later in life — like his third wife was Nesmith’s first girlfriend or some silly thing like that. Gentlemen the middle is Bernie Ornstein. He was a writer of more mainstream work and had a lot to say about what The Monkees were about, Dave Evans, the gentleman who’s smiling. He’s so adorable He’s the nicest man you would ever want to meet and he had written for Bullwinkle before he came to The Monkees and then Treva Silverman is the woman I was speaking of. The first woman to write on television write comedy without a male partner and so she went on to earn two Emmys in her career writing on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So all these writers had very good histories coming into and then moving out of The Monkees and again people dismissed the show but it really deserves much more attention. She wrote the particular episode of Mary Tyler Moore where Lou Grant’s wife asked for a divorce which was huge in the early 70s and that’s what she got the Emmy 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

Want to use “Why The Monkees Matter” in your classroom?

Order Examination Copies, Library and Campus Bookstore orders directly from McFarland

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16 Madeleine L’Engle from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (43 seconds)

Watch this entire presentation

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

16 Madeleine L'Engle from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction - Dr. Rosanne Welch

 

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 people know Madeleine L’Engle. So guess what? She gets the put her name on the book is definitely a chick name right? Madeleine L’Engle. Definitely a chick name. And “A Wrinkle In Time.” How many people saw the movie? Two people. Really good movie. Ava Duvernay directed it. Really interesting to think about the fact that the controversy here was switching out the race right and then it was a big deal. You’re gonna change who the child is in the book and thereby change some of who the other characters are that she’s connected with but one of the first movies starring an African-American who that scored over 100 million dollars in the box office right of way kind of thing, right? Then Black Panther is going to come in and score a bajillion, million dollars, but so it’s a trend that Ava Duvernay wanted to get started.



* 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! 

Quotes from When Women Wrote Hollywood – 43 in a series – “…her name is conspicuously absent.”

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

Buy “When Women Wrote Hollywood” Today!

Quotes from When Women Wrote Hollywood - 43 in a series -

“Clara Beranger is one among many prominent female screenwriters during the Silent Era of film.  Like the other amazing women who wrote at least half of the films produced during that time, very little is known about her, and what information there is, is hard to find.  “It is lamentable that so little is known about Clara Beranger. From the piles of film books, even those devoted to the screenwriter, her name is conspicuously absent.”

Clara Beranger: The Unseen Laborer
by Amanda Stockwell


Buy a signed copy of when Women Write Hollywood or Buy the Book on Amazon

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

“77% of TV shows have no women creators. Here’s how that ripples across the industry” says Los Angeles Times

This lack of female representation at the creative/gatekeeper levels is precisely what the  Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting aims to change! More prepared female writers = more prepared female showrunners = more believable female character and stories permeating our lives. — Rosanne

77% of TV shows have no women creators. Here’s how that ripples across the industry

By Yvonne Villarreal – Staff Writer 
Sep. 4, 2019

For the 2018-19 season, 96% of TV programs had no women directors of photography; 79% had no women directors; 77% had no women editors; and 77% had no women creators.

As a number of female-fronted TV shows, including “Veep” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” vie for Emmys later this month, a study released Wednesday finds that “historic highs” for women in television still leave them vastly underrepresented in key behind-the-scenes roles.

Read this entire article – 77% of TV shows have no women creators. Here’s how that ripples across the industry via The Los Angeles Times

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Save The Date! — Panel Discussion: Location as Character: The Craft of Writing Place – WGA – October 1, 2019

Save The Date! -- Panel Discussion: Location as Character: The Craft of Writing Place - WGA - October 1, 2019

Location as Character: The Craft of Writing Place
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
7:30 PM  9:00 PM
The Writers Guild Foundation, 7000 West 3rd StreetLos Angeles, CA, 90048United States


Whether big city or small-town USA, a show’s location can have a powerful impact. We are teaming up with Columbia College Chicago on this special evening to sit down with a panel of TV writers for a discussion about how writing location, whether real or fictional, sets the scene and can shape the motivations of the characters.

Panelists:

  • Ayanna Floyd – Writer, Executive Producer, The Chi
  • Anthony Sparks – Writer, Executive Producer, Queen Sugar
  • Stay tuned for more panelist announcements!

Moderated by Dr. Rosanne Welch.

Doors open at 7pm. Event starts at 7:30pm.

All events advertised on our Events page are open to anyone who wants to buy a ticket—not just WGA members!

In the case the event is sold out, we will have a first come, first serve stand-by line at the event. The stand-by line does not guarantee entry into the event and we will only accept credit card transactions for any released seats.

Proceeds benefit the Foundation’s library, archive and other outreach programs.

Got a question about events? E-mail us at events@wgfoundation.org.

03 The Writers of The Monkees from “Why The Monkees Matter: Even 50 Years Later – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (50 seconds)

Enjoy This Clip? Watch this entire presentation!

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?

03 The Writers of The Monkees from

 

Transcript

I got very involved on this one. I wrote an article for Written By about The Monkees — the writers of The Monkees. I wanted to find out who it is people who had stories to tell and who were telling their philosophy through these four characters right and so that really interested me and these are most of the folks that I got to meet. Obviously when I met them they were in their late 70s and had been around for a while and they have some marvelous stories to tell. Gerald Gardner, the gentleman just to the left of my book picture was actually a script writer and a speech writer for a Robert Kennedy’s Senate campaign in New York. He came to television through a show called That Was The Week That Was, which is kind of the SNL Weekend Update of its time and then he moved to Get Smart and when they started The Monkees the folks in charge were like “We need some cool funny, young men,” and he and his partner showed up. So that’s Gerald Gardner.



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

Want to use “Why The Monkees Matter” in your classroom?

Order Examination Copies, Library and Campus Bookstore orders directly from McFarland

McFarland Company logo

15 More On Pat Murphy from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (25 seconds)

Watch this entire presentation

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

15 More On Pat Murphy from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction - Dr. Rosanne Welch

 

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 and this is a really brilliant interesting book because basically, she’s talking about Indiana Jones — that character — what if someone who did that archaeological work could commune with the spirit of the people who own the things that you’re digging up and what would happen if you could connect to them and learn about their world? I think that’s it’s a really fascinating book and written by Pat Murphy, which is pretty cool.

Winner of the Nebula Award: “A lovely and literate exploration of the dark moment where myth and science meet” (Samuel R. Delany).

When night falls over the Yucatan, the archaeologists lay down their tools. But while her colleagues relax, Elizabeth Butler searches for shadows. A famous scientist with a reputation for eccentricity, she carries a strange secret. Where others see nothing but dirt and bones and fragments of pottery, Elizabeth sees shades of the men and women who walked this ground thousands of years before. She can speak to the past—and the past is beginning to speak back.

As Elizabeth communes with ghosts, the daughter she abandoned flies to Mexico hoping for a reunion. She finds a mother embroiled in the supernatural, on a quest for the true reason for the Mayans’ disappearance. To dig up the truth, the archaeologist who talks to the dead must learn a far more difficult skill: speaking to her daughter.



* 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!