On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch
Writing, Film, Television and More!
Looking for great gifts for the readers in your life? Check out these 3 books from Dr. Rosanne Welch.
All available in print and ebook versions from your local bookseller or your favorite online source!
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
Writers in Hollywood, 1915-1951 Hardcover by Ian Hamilton | Gifts for the Screenwriter #7
I found Ian Hamilton’s book long before I had any inkling that I would ever be involved in creating a course on The History of Screenwriting (as opposed to History of Film, which always means History of Directors). I enjoyed his look into the personalities that made up the earlier eras of the screenwriting colony here in Los Angeles, many of them transplanted New Yorkers from the journalism or playwright world drawn to the other coast for the fast money – and sometimes faster lifestyles – Hollywood was known for back then. Hamilton’s coverage of the era from 1915-1951 is both entertaining and educational. – Rosanne
* 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!
Writing the Pilot by William Rabkin | Gifts for the Screenwriter #6
Bill Rabkin understands what makes writing a pilots different from writing regular episodes of a continuing series and explains that all in this clear, concise book. Having worked in television for a solid couple of decades on many fan favorites, Rabkin should know. – Rosanne
* 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!
Screenplay: Building Story Through Character | Gifts for the Screenwriter #5
Screenwriter Jule Selbo created Building Story Through Character after years of writing on successful television shows and films and then creating the MFA in Screenwriting at California State University, Fullerton where she teaches those skills to up and coming writers. Her focus on character and her 11 Steps of Story Structure streamlines ideas from other screenwriting gurus whose lists are longer and (to my mind) more contrived. You can take Selbo’s 11 Steps and apply them to stories as old as Gilgamesh and as modern as Wonder Woman – as she does in the book so that the reader can see the pattern repeat itself over and over again.- Rosanne
Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale by Russell T. Davies | Gifts for the Screenwriter #4
It is nearly impossible to ‘teach’ a student how to become an executive producer/head writer but this collection of emails between Russell T. Davies and reporter, Benjamin Cook encapsulates a year in the life of Davies as he wrapped out the Doctor Who tenure of David Tennant . One watches a story idea go from a simple sentence about ‘water being dangerous’ to a full-fledged script called “Waters of Mars” in a matter of weeks while also reading the difficulty in planning characters for guest stars who end up changing their schedules and dropping out of a project. Those kinds of real moments make this book a must-read for aspiring television writers on either side of the pond. – Rosanne
Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries | Gifts for the Screenwriter #3
For me this on set diary by a writer who also starred in the film and had to make script changes in the evenings after a full day of filming is a wonderful look at the real life of working writer/performer. The bonus fact iis that it is written by Emma Thompson about her work on Sense and Sensibility – a most marvelous movie to view and study.
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
Final Draft 10 Software | Gifts for the Screenwriter #2
Whether your are a screenwriter, or know an aspiring one, Final Draft is one of the standard pieces of software for planning, writing and formatting your script properly. Make the best impression possible.
Know a screenwriting student? You might be able to save a significant amount using the Educational version.
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
Without Lying Down by Cari Beauchamp | Gifts for the Screenwriter #1
One of the best biographies of a writer – and a female writer at that – Without Lying Down tells the story of Frances Marion, the highest paid screenwriter and a double Oscar winner whose career spanned the Silent Era and transformed into Talkies quite well (judging by the Oscars). Since she surrounded herself with a cadre of other female screenwriters at the time, the book is a marvelous introduction to a time when women ran Hollywood. — Rosanne
* 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!
