“It wouldn’t be in the shape it’s in without the insightful notes and feedback from Julie Berkobien, Sarah Amble Whorton, Amelia Phillips, and Amy Banks. Really appreciate all the Stephens’ MFA love and encouragement,” says Perez.
“Supplements” was created by Phileon Productions, a female-led production company located in Los Angeles.
In the film the year is 2289 and all that’s left on Planet Earth is the domed city of Old Centauri, roaming sun flares that scorch the land, and the nomadic tribes that mitigate the two. Kiirke comes from one such tribe, and she must travel to Old Centauri, along with her brother, to seek a small fortune to save her family. (Now if THAT doesn’t draw you in, we are at a total loss for what will!)
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?
Transcript
First thing is a little bit of who I am. On television I wrote for Touched By An Angel, Beverly Hills 90210, and Picket Fences and ABC’s News Nightline. When I decided to get into academia and start writing first of all the Monkees book obviously but then I’ve written a lot of stuff about women in history, women in popular culture, very interested in that and you’ll be hopefully interested in finding out but there is some things to be said about feminism on The Monkees in the 60s which nobody would have expected until I studied it. I also do book reviews for the Journal of Screenwriting. I’m their book review editor and I work on Written By magazine on the editorial board. That’s a magazine for members of the Writers Guild. So my deep focus is generally — words matter — writers matter — and women writers matter and we’re gonna find out that on The Monkees, there was the first female television writer who didn’t need a male partner in order to be have job which is sounds a little crazy to us today but was true back in the day.
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.
Despite this body of work, Gauntier is largely unknown in texts on screenwriting used in major universities today. She does appear in Cari Beauchamp’s Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood. In an interview with Beauchamp, David Sterritt posits that “Men have largely run the film industry from the start, allowing little power or prestige to their female counterparts. Men have also dominated the film-history field, writing books that take male privilege in Hollywood for granted.
Gene Gauntier: Ascending by Drowning
by Yasser Shahin
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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library
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:
We get around to this point and Pat Murphy. She can have her name on the book because why? (Audience) Her name is unisex. (Welch) Pat is one of those great names. Is it a boy or girl? You don’t know looking at it. So then she has to decide, do you put your picture on the inside cover where it’s the author’s thing or you don’t and then you leave it up to people to assume that Pat must be a boy because you know. This is a pretty kind of interesting book. Must be written by a boy. I think that’s funny. It’s also one of my pet peeves when you’re watching movies or TV shows and there’s a really tough woman character. She’s always got a name that can be a boy’s. She’s always Samantha so she can be Sam right or she’s Patricia so she can see Pat. There’s always that name, seriously I want Tiffany to be really cool and I want her to do something amazing or Betsy. I don’t want it always to be a name that could be a boy’s name if you want, and that happens all the time.
* 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!
Come join Cinematographer Sarah Phillips (and Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting alum (inaugural class of 2017)) as she talks about how to help (or hurt) your story structure with the way you (as a director, writer, actor, or producer) work with your cinematographer, and the way you craft light and character together.
Sarah Phillips is a cinematographer (and camera nerd) in Los Angeles who works in many areas of film. She primarily shoots independent films, including scripted features, documentaries, and short films, but also can be found the camera departments of national commercials and music videos, because her passion for writing story with light supersedes that of genre and form. sarahphillipscamera.com
Key Takeaways:
Learn about story Structure as a Cinematographer
Hear how to craft light and character together
Discuss working with directors, writers, actors and producers on building story structure
Major Congratulations to Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting alum Ilona Rossman Ho (Class of 2019) who’s screenplay “Indivisible Mom” has been named a 2019 summer edition BAFF (Big Apple Film Festival) Screenplay Award Winner!
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).
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”.
![02 Rosanne’s Writing History from “Why The Monkees Matter: Even 50 Years Later – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/monkees-popcon-2019-02.jpeg)
![14 Pat Murphy from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (51 seconds)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/scifi-rmw-cpp-14.jpeg)
