News/opinion – Page 5 – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Dr. Rosanne Welch’s Latest Essay Appears in “OUTSIDE IN MAKES IT SO: 174 New Perspectives on 174 Star Trek TNG Stories by 174 Writers”

My essay is on the 3rd Season, premiere episode “Evolution” by Michael Piller – because I was his script typist when he wrote that as a freelancer and it became his path into getting the job and eventually running the show. But I also get to comment on Beverly Crusher as part of the evolution of working moms on TV – and Will Wheaton as an example of evolving his brand over the course of a long career. — Rosanne

This item will be released on September 28, 2017.

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Celebrating 30 years of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Outside In Makes It So is a collection of 174 reviews, one for every story of the show, the four movies and a few bonus extras. Well, we say “reviews,” but we mean that loosely: within these pages, you’ll find scripts, recipes, a Monty Python sketch, a psych test, gossip columns, newspaper ads, a sitcom, a eulogy and a daily log from Riker’s beard, not to mention insightful and thoughtful articles examining Picard-era Star Trek from just about every angle imaginable…and then some!

Dr. Rosanne Welch with her WGA Panel Participants from “Crafting Strong Female Characters”

One attendee comment made my evening, “This panel was both inspirational and aspirational!”

Tonight: This panel of rockstar writers shares their process for crafting strong female characters. Thanks for moderating, @rosannewelch! pic.twitter.com/W8FUfWWSz6

— Writers Guild Found. (@WritersGuildF)

August 17, 2017

An Evening with Helen Estabrook at Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting

The Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting was excited to host an interview with Helen Estabrook, producer of Whiplash and Casual – who was interviewed for the “How I Wrote That” podcast, hosted by Khanisha Foster on Thursday night.

Dr. Rosanne Welch Moderates WGA Panel: Women Warriors: Writing Strong Female Protagonists – August 16, 2017

I’m so honored to have been asked to moderate this exciting panel coming up next Wednesday August 16, 2017: WOMEN WARRIORS: WRITING STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONISTS with a panel that includes Allan Heinberg (WONDER WOMAN), and Moira Walley-Beckett (ANNE WITH AN E), Amy Berg (COUNTERPART), Liz Flahive (GLOW), Carly Mensch (GLOW).

Unfortunately, this event is sold out.

‘Featuring a Strong Female Lead’ is more than just a Netflix category; it marks an evolution of film and television characters that have shown us the world from varied female perspectives. From Scarlett O’Hara and Norma Desmond to Maude Findlay, Buffy Summers and Wonder Woman, our favorite female heroines (and anti-heroines) have paved the way for modern explorations of the female experience.

On this special evening, our panel of writers explores the process of crafting strong female protagonists, how they navigate through archetypes and stereotypes, and how writers are challenging (and changing) the way female characters are depicted on TV and film.

Panelists:

Amy Berg – Amy is a writer and executive producer for film and television. She’s written for a multitude of shows including DA VINCI’S DEMONS, PERSON OF INTEREST, EUREKA, LEVERAGE, and THE 4400. She also created the award-winning digital series CAPER. Along with her feature work, she’s currently co-showrunning the upcoming Starz series COUNTERPART starring J.K. Simmons and consulting on a series for Hulu.

Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch – Creators of Netflix Original Series GLOW

Allan Heinberg – Allan is the screenwriter of the film Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins. His television writing and producing credits include The Naked Truth, Party Of Five, Sex And The City, Gilmore Girls, The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, Looking, and Scandal. Most recently, Heinberg developed, wrote, and ran ABC’s The Catch, starring Mireille Enos and Peter Krause. For Marvel Comics, Heinberg created and wrote Young Avengers and its sequel, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade with co-creator/artist Jim Cheung. For DC Comics, Heinberg co-wrote JLA: Crisis Of Conscience with Geoff Johns (art by Chris Batista), and re-launched Wonder Woman with artists Terry and Rachel Dodson.

Moira Walley-Beckett – Moira is a multiple award winning screenwriter. She is currently the Series Creator and Executive Producer of the Netflix drama “ANNE (with an E).”

Recently, Moira created “Flesh and Bone,” a critically acclaimed Limited Series for STARZ. The drama received multiple nominations (including a GOLDEN GLOBE and a WGA nod) and won a SATELLITE AWARD, a GRACIE AWARD, and a WOMEN’S IMAGE (WIN) Award. Before creating “Flesh and Bone,” Moira spent six years as a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the critically acclaimed AMC series “Breaking Bad.” For her work on that show, Moira has won a total of three EMMY AWARDS, three WRITERS’ GUILD AWARDS, three AFI AWARDS, three SATURN AWARDS, two PGA AWARDS, a GOLDEN GLOBE, a PEABODY, and received a PEN LITERARY AWARD nomination. Before her tenure as a writer on “Breaking Bad,” Ms. Walley-Beckett wrote on the NBC dramas “Raines” and “Eli Stone,” and “Pan Am” for ABC.

Currently, Moira has a feature film, The Grizzlies, in post-production with Kennedy/Marshall and Northwood Productions. Ms. Walley-Beckett hails from Vancouver, Canada but resides in Los Angeles.

Excellent Review of Women in American History Encyclopedia from Choice, August 2017

What wonderful news to wake up to! The 4-volume Women in American History encyclopedia I co-edited with my wonderful friend Peg Lamphier received this review that shows the reviewer found all the things we tried so hard to do in the work.

From the review by R. Tolley:

“Care was taken to provide a woman’s best-known name as well as variants, and to include many lesser-known figures, including non-Protestants, lesbians, and women of color. The work is corrective in bringing those who were ignored into the story and succeeds in representing a wide spectrum of North American womanhood (including some Canadian and Mexican figures from history and folklore as well as individuals associated with the US proper and its precolonial past). Further, editors avoided gendered language and ideas reflecting patriarchal and militaristic ideology. Clarity regarding their subjects’ sexuality was another emphasis; the entry on Margaret Mead, for example, mentions her bisexuality.”

If you have a chance, send this on to a librarian you know and love – or drop a copy off at your local library and ask them to stock a set.

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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

From The Research Vault: Review: Monkees’ Appeal Spans Generations. Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune

MESA – Monkees concerts have been intergenerational affairs for some time now. Friday’s performance at the Mesa Arts Center was no exception.

Sitting in the top row of the balcony, for example, was a mom and dad, and their two daughters, ages 17 and 21. All clearly enjoying a healthy two-hour dose of Monkeemania.

“This was awesome,” the 17-year-old said of the show. Asked what it was about the Monkees that appealed to her, she responded, “Their music is so different from what we have to listen to. It’s more fun! We love it.”

Read Review: Monkees’ Appeal Spans Generations. Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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From The Research Vault: I’m a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness. Micky Dolenz with Mark Bego

In fascinating, star-studded anecdotes, original Monkee Micky Dolenz takes readers from his starring role at age 12 as TV’s “Circus Boy,” to the open casting call that brought the Monkees together, through the creative conflicts that finally drove them apart. Along the way you’ll find hilarious anecdotes about his adventures as a Monkee―the girls, the parties, the celebrities―as well as the harder-edged realities of a life lived in front of a camera. — Amazon

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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From The Research Vault: Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s, Thomas Doherty

Teenagers and Teenpics tells the story of two signature developments in the 1950s: the decline of the classical Hollywood cinema and the emergence of that strange new creature, the American teenager. Hollywood’s discovery of the teenage moviegoer initiated a progressive “juvenilization” of film content that is today the operative reality of the American motion picture industry. The juvenilization of the American movies is best revealed in the development of the 1950s “teenpic,” a picture targeted at teenagers even to the exclusion of their elders. In a wry and readable style, Doherty defines and interprets the various teenpic film types: rock ‘n’ roll pictures, j.d. films, horror and sci-fi weirdies, and clean teenpics. Individual films are examined both in light of their impact on the motion picture industry and in terms of their important role in validating the emerging teenage subculture. Also included in this edition is an expanded treatment of teenpics since the 1950s, especially the teenpics produced during the age of AIDS. — Amazon

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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“Honey, You Know I Can’t Hear You When You Aren’t in the Room: Now free online from Gender and the Screenplay Journal

My article “Honey, You Know I Can’t Hear You When You Aren’t in the Room: Key Female Filmmakers Prove the Importance of Having a Female in the Writing Room” published today in a special issue called Gender and the Screenplay: Processes, Practices, Perspectives in the journal: Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network (Vol 10 No 2 (2017).

“Honey, You Know I Can’t Hear You When You Aren’t in the Room PDF Version

The article provides a quick historical survey of the work of several prominent female screenwriters across the first century of filmmaking, including Anita Loos, Dorothy Parker, Frances Goodrich and Joan Didion. In all of their memoirs and other writings about working on screenplays, each mentioned the importance of (often) being the lone woman in the room during pitches and during the development of a screenplay. Goodrich summarized all their experiences concisely when she wrote, ‘I’m always the only woman working on the picture and I hold the fate of the women [characters] in my hand… I’ll fight for what the gal will or will not do, and I can be completely unfeminine about it.’ Also, the rise of female directors, such as Barbra Streisand or female production executives, such as Kathleen Kennedy, prove that one of the greatest assets to having a female voice in the room is the ability to invite other women inside. Therefore, this paper contributes to the scholarship on women in film and to authorship studies.

The title is a riff on a series of one-act plays I worked on in college called “Honey, You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running” written by Robert Anderson (author of the plays Tea and Sympathy and was Oscar-nominated for the screenplays A Nun’s Story and I Never Sang for my Father.)

You can read and download the entire journal, edited by Louise Sawtell, Stayci Taylor, which includes other fine articles have a global reach, covering questions of gender in screenwriting practice; reflections on the Irish film industry; Female Screenwriters and Street Films in Weimar Republic; Narrative and Masculinity in The Long Goodbye; How Hollywood Screenplays Inscribe Gender.

The editors had also asked all contributors to create video abstracts for each piece. Thanks to Doug’s help, mine came out pretty good:

From The Research Vault: Monkee Business. San Diego Reader, Dimock, Duane and Sanford, Jay Allen. (2008, Sept. 10).

Forty-two years ago today — September 11, 1966 — Del Mar was renamed “Clarksville” as part of a promotion for the Monkees’ TV show to debut the following night. The Sunday event marked the first time the foursome performed in public.

Ron Jacobs was a DJ at L.A. radio station KHJ at the time. “One of Boss Radio’s most exciting promotions was staging an actual ‘Last Train to Clarksville,’ ” he says on his website. “A few hundred KHJ winners rode to ‘Clarksville,’ the city of Del Mar.”

“The tenth callers would get two free tickets to the Last Train to Clarksville,” recalls KHJ promotions associate Barbara Hamaker in the Michael Nesmith biography Total Control.

“To this day I don’t know how we did it,” continues Hamaker. “I was the one who had to type up all the releases and all of the stuff that was involved in getting kids onto the train…we used some Podunk town called Del Mar.”

Read Monkee Business. San Diego Reader, Dimock, Duane and Sanford, Jay Allen. (2008, Sept. 10).

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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