“In 1911, Meredyth began working as an extra at the Biograph Company, and eventually wound up as a stock player for D.W. Griffith. In addition to acting at Biograph, she also began to write and direct one- and two-reeler films. It had occurred to Meredyth that she could make more money if she both wrote and acted, so she began doing so for several different studios.”
You’d Better Learn to Hold Your Liquor: Bess Meredyth and A Career in Early Hollywood Sydney Haven
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You have stories to tell. We’re here to make it happen. Come to Hollywood to learn from some of the best working writers in the industry. Stephens is an institution on a mission: To increase the voices and impact of women in television and film.
WHY STEPHENS?
Our program — with its bold, daring mission — has drawn the attention and the support of some of the most successful and well-known writers in Hollywood. Our faculty includes some of the best working writers in the profession, and our curriculum includes an in-depth look at the business side of TV and screenwriting. Explore more: program highlights, student achievements and stories.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Stephens is proud to be the first college in the nation to offer a low-residency MFA program specifically for TV and screenwriting. Our students come to Los Angeles twice a year for 10-day workshops at the beautiful Jim Henson Studio. Between workshops, students work one-on-one online with at least four different mentors over two years. Two years + four workshops in Hollywood = your M.F.A.
As in past years, my Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting students will presenting on important women screenwriters during the festival, too. — Rosanne
Today’s Stephens College newsletter has a great piece about the Los Angeles launch party for When Women Wrote Hollywood with details about our upcoming launch at the Skylar Bookstore in Columbia, Missouri during the Citizen Jane Film Festival. — Rosanne
Stephens College’s M.F.A. program now proudly boasts “When Women Wrote Hollywood,” a book of essays that focuses on the lives of female screenwriters of Golden Age Hollywood. The book, which published in July, is written by members of the inaugural graduating class of the Stephens M.F.A. in TV and Screenwriting. In the collection of 23 essays, Stephens Class of 2017 alumni write about female writers like Anita Loos, Adela Rogers St. Johns, and Gene Gauntier, whose work helped create unforgettable stories and characters beloved by audiences — but whose names are excluded from most film histories.“The mission of our M.F.A. program matched the mission of this book brilliantly — to increase the number of female screenwriters and female-centric stories told in Hollywood,” said Dr. Rosanne Welch, the book’s editor, and a Stephens assistant professor. She said her students used the essays as a way of thanking the earlier pioneering female writers who came before them.“When I introduce our Screenwriting History course, I remind students that we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us,” said Welch, a veteran television writer and scholar of screenwriting history. “Students are shocked at how many of these women were left out of most history books and are passionate about researching them for their final projects. When I read this first batch of essays, I knew they were worthy of publication.”The book is available on Amazon. It can also be purchased during Stephens’ Alumnae Leaders Weekend (Nov. 2-3) at the coinciding Citizen Jane Film Festival. In addition, a book launch event with local contributors will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Nov. 3 at Skylark Bookstore in downtown Columbia. Books can be purchased and signed by the authors.
“In an interview with Pamela Green the director of the soon to be released documentary Be Natural, a film that takes the exploration of Alice Guy Blaché’s life and career to new depths, Green shared, “Anytime you mention early cinema, she has to be mentioned. If you talk about Hollywood before Hollywood, she has to be mentioned. If you talk about an artist and an entrepreneur at the time, she has to be mentioned.””
The Nature and Genius of Alice Guy Blaché Khanisha Foster
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To highlight the wonderful yet largely forgotten work of a collection of female screenwriters from the early years of Hollywood (and as a companion to the book, When Women Wrote Hollywood) we will be posting quick bits about the many films they wrote along with links to further information and clips from their works which are still accessible online. Take a few moments once or twice a week to become familiar with their names and their stories. I think you’ll be surprised at how much bold material these writers tackled at the birth of this new medium. — Rosanne Welch
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1920 horror silent film, produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released through Paramount/Artcraft. The film is based upon Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and starring actor John Barrymore.
The film was directed by John S. Robertson and co-starred Nita Naldi. The scenario was by Clara Beranger and the film is now in the public domain.
Dr. Jekyll, a kind and charitable man, believes that everyone has two sides, one good and one evil, otherwise considered a split personality. Using a potion that he concocted, Dr. Jekykll becomes Mr. Hyde, creating havoc throughout his town.[1][2]
The early part of Jekyll’s initial transformation into Hyde was achieved with no makeup, instead relying solely on Barrymore’s ability to contort his face.[4] In one scene, as Hyde reverts to Jekyll, one of Hyde’s prosthetic fingers can be seen to fly across the screen, having been shaken loose by Barrymore’s convulsions. The character of Millicent Carew does not appear in Stevenson’s original story, but in the 1887 stage version by Thomas Russell Sullivan starring Richard Mansfield. This 1920 film version used the play’s concept of Jekyll being engaged to Carew’s daughter, and Hyde beginning a dalliance with a dance-hall girl. — Wikipedia
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“Best known for writing ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’, Anita Loos is a great American author, playwright, and screenwriter. In the silent era, Loos shaped the integral role that intertitles played, and is known for her title work for some of the most acclaimed of movies of the day. She was a master of satirizing sex and love, and was capable of writing rich, multi-faceted females who drove the action in their films.”
* 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
* 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