Category: Film

Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)

The Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting is building a relationship with the Autry Museum of the American West since both organizations are devoted to bringing out more diverse and untold stories.  Last year we were able to take our cohort of graduating MFA candidates to the museum’s theatre for a showing of Michael Wilson’s Salt of the Earth and we had plans to present a film of our choice this year – but of course the pandemic changed all that.  Instead, Autry Curator Josh Garrett-Davis asked me if I would sit for an interview about female screenwriters in the western genre and so “When Women Wrote Westerns” came to be a part of their “What Is a Western? Interview Series”. 

I had a great time discussing so many wonderful women writers – from Jeanne MacPherson to D.C. Fontana to Edna Ferber to Emily Andras.  If you love westerns I suggest you watch Josh’s other interviews covering everything from the work of Native Americans in Western movies to films in the western-horror hybrid. — RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)

As part of a series exploring the significance of the Western genre and the ways in which the movies shape our understanding of the American West, Autry Curator Josh Garrett-Davis interviews Professor Rosanne Welch about the women screenwriters of Hollywood and their contributions to the Western genre.

Find more information at the Autry Museum of the American West

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New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films via PolyCentric [News]

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films via PolyCentric [News]

Recently my co-author Peg Lamphier and I sat for an interview about our Civil War on Film book to discuss the American film industry’s depiction of the American Civil War and the mythologies and ideologies surrounding the experience of that war. 

We completely destroy any idea that there is something noble and admirable about the Confederacy. There is not. They fought to preserve human bondage. That should be morally revolting to all twenty-first century Americans and the fact that it is not is a testament to how far we still have to go to heal the wounds of our nation’s history of slavery.

Suddenly, the book seems even more timely than when we began writing it 2 years ago. — Rosanne

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films 

For their third book project, lecturers Peg Lamphier and Roseanne Welch, in the Department of Interdisciplinary General Education, decided to write a book examining the American film industry’s depiction of the American Civil War. In their book, “The Civil War on Film,” the authors contend that American films are filled with mythologies and ideologies surrounding the experience of the war and further research is required to uncover the full, real history.

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films via PolyCentric [News]

Peg Lamphier and Roseanne Welch, lecturers in the Department of Interdisciplinary General Education, team up on their third book, which examines the American film industry’s depiction of the American Civil War.

According to the authors, the Civil War, which occurred from 1861-1865, is contested ground both among historians and the general public. They argue that most are clear about the anti-slavery aims of the war, as well as the fundamentally treasonous nature of succession, but neo-Confederates cast the war in terms favorable to their white supremacist agenda.

In a joint statement, Lamphier and Welch wrote, “Our book is entirely unsympathetic to the Neo-Con/Lost Cause agenda and so we’re engaged in a vigorous refutation of a number of pro-Confederate myths that serve to hamper racial equality in modern America. We hope readers will better understand the nature of the war and the troubled way it’s been filmed as they work through our book. We also hope it shows readers that films always engage in a bit of fictionalization in order to heighten the drama.”

Read this entire article

Other Welch/Lamphier Books

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  2. The Civil War On Film – 3 in a series – “…films doomed to be mediocre at best and ideologically horrifying at worst.”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  4. Now Available: The Civil War on Film (Hollywood History) by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier
  5. The Civil War On Film – 9 in a series – The earliest films were pro-Union…

The Civil War On Film – 15 in a series – “…a Civilization gone with the wind.”

The Civil War On Film - 15 in a series -

Then the scrolling text promises the audience a story about “a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.”

Movies profiled in this book:

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  1. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  2. The Civil War On Film – 4 in a series – “…the entire slave economy stood as a shining moment of magnolias and gentility.”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 12 in a series – Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced…
  4. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”
  5. The Civil War On Film – 14 in a series – “Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did”

A Woman Wrote That – 11 in a series – Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 11 in a series - Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

ANNIE

You make a million decisions that mean nothing, and then one day you order take-out and it changes your life.

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Dr. Rosanne Welch Hosts “Act Two: Transitioning to TV Writing from Previous Careers” for the WGA Foundation [Video]

During every workshop intensive for the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting I have the privilege of creating and moderating a panel of female screenwriters discussing various topics. 

Our most recent panel focused on “Transitioning to Television” and included panelists who came to television from previous careers.  This allowed me to talk to women who came to TV whose first careers included being a doctor, lobbyist, college professor and, of especially pride for our MFA program, a former Senior Physical Security Analyst for federal agencies, U.S. Army Reserve veteran. 

All of them are now writing on major television shows and their advice and honesty was greatly appreciated. — Rosanne

Act Two: Transitioning to TV Writing from Previous Careers

For this session, we teamed up with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting for a discussion on transitioning to TV writing from other careers. Learn how our panel of TV writers and producers made the jump to television, how their previous experiences inform their writing, and how that lens impacts their approach in the writers room.

Panelists are Zoanne Clack, M.D., MPH (Executive Producer, Grey’s Anatomy), Rashaan Dozier-Escalante (Staff Writer, SEAL Team), Akilah Green (Co-producer, Black Monday), and Calaya Michelle Stallworth, Ph.D (Executive Story Editor, Fear of the Walking Dead).
Moderated by Dr. Rosanne Welch, Director of Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting.

Filmed on January 13, 2021.

 

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We need this message… via Instagram

We need this message... via Instagram

Great TV and Movies are built around the theme, you have to have friends. You have to have friends you can trust.

Look how powerful that has been. We need that message.

We go to movies and television shows – we go to stories – to learn that message.

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The Civil War On Film – 14 in a series – “Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did”

The Civil War On Film - 14 in a series -

Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did. In fact, Mitchell urged producer David O. Selznick to hire her friend, Susan Myrick, a newspaper columnist from Macon, Georgia, as a technical consultant precisely because of her “common sense and utter lack of sentimentality about ‘The Old South’” (Flamini 1975). Yet, in spite of Scarlett’s own practical attitude, the film does glorify the Old South and conform to Lost Cause mythology.

Movies profiled in this book:

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  1. The Civil War On Film – 11 in a series – “This national enthusiasm for the Lost Cause…”
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  4. The Civil War On Film – 12 in a series – Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced…
  5. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”

A Woman Wrote That – 10 in a series – When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Nora Ephron

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 10 in a series - When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Nora Ephron

HARRY

Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.

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The Civil War On Film – 13 in a series – Movies that make dubious historical claims can provide rich opportunities for learning…

The Civil War On Film - 13 in a series - Movies that make dubious historical claims can provide rich opportunities for learning...

Movies that make dubious historical claims can provide rich opportunities for learning. Each of the movies we chose for this volume do a different kind of work and were ‘big’ enough films that they are still widely available should a reader chose to watch them. We also tried to pick films that covered a wide swath of film history or were representative of a certain type of Civil War movie. Most importantly, each film allows for a discussion of different facets of Civil War history.

Movies profiled in this book:

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  2. The Civil War On Film – 2 in a series – “…movies not only wear history at best as a loose garment…”
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  4. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”
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A Woman Wrote That – 9 in a series – Klondike Annie by Mae West (1936)

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 9 in a series - Klondike Annie by Mae West (1936)

ROSE “THE FRISCO DOLL”

When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before.

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