Show – Page 57 – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

06 A Nameless Author from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (52 seconds)

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The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know And Love

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:

(Audience Question) I’m really curious of how she felt then if she had a miscarriage at the time and she read books. Welch: That’s a fascinating point of view. Sadly or not sadly– interestingly — rich women did engage in the art of reading. So it’s interesting how we like to tell poor women how to behave. Rich women can do whatever they please right? So he’s acceptable in her world because you were supposed to read things and be a good reader so you could teach your children — your sons — to be good leaders in the world. So it was acceptable — that’s an excellent question though that’s like whoa. That’s a critical thinking kind of question going on right there because you’re right and but they felt that it was not proper to put out the novel with her name on it. So they didn’t right? In 1818, it doesn’t say Mary Shelley’s just here’s a book. Read it if you want to. Whatever. You can’t even tell from the cover — you’re right — what it’s about right?

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The Mentoris Project Book Trailer Featuring…ME!

Check out the new book trailer for the Mentoris series of novels on lives of influential Italian and Italian Americans that Douglas and I produced for the publisher. I wrote (and recorded) the narration and Douglas did all the production and editing. On the main page the trailer appears below the fold, as it were — MentrorisProject.org.

All the Mentoris authors are proud of the work we’re doing in telling the stories of the men and women who mentored western civilization. From Cicero to Mancini (with my books on Filippo Mazzei and Giuseppe Garibaldi somewhere in the midst!). If you need a good summer read, here’s a set of books to pick from – they come in paperback or ebook form. It would be deeply appreciated if you bought a book – and shared the trailer on your socials!

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Books from the Mentoris Project

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08 Nora Ephron from “When Women Wrote Hollywood” with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 9 seconds)

Part of the California State University, Fullerton Faculty Noon Time Talks at the Pollak Library.

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Transcript:

But for her, it started with Heartburn which is the novel she wrote about her own divorce from Carl Bernstein — the Carl Bernstein of All The President’s Men because he had an affair behind her back when she was pregnant. So she dumped him and then she wrote a book about it which became a movie starring Meryl Street and Jack Nicholson. From that, she went on to write Silkwood which is a brilliant film you should check out. Meryl Streep. It’s based on the real-life woman named Karen Silkwood who is about to give secrets to the government about how her nuclear facility was being mismanaged and she ended up crashed on the side of the road dead and nobody knew exactly how that happened. So that’s a brilliant — so she went from drama, drama, to comedy and then, of course, we know the other movies. My Blue Heaven is one of my favorites that got dismissed because didn’t make a lot at the box office but it is quite charming. It’s the witness protection program and it’s Steve Martin as a mafiosi in the program right and Rick Moranis is his his watcher and he doesn’t play by the rules he’s supposed to play and t’s funny as heck. So she’s Nora Ephron. She’s really she’s so brilliant that’s a Nora Ephron Prize you can win if you’re a screenwriter at the Tribeca Film Festival. That’s how important she is to the business right?

Dr. Rosanne Welch discusses the women in her new book “When Women Wrote Hollywood” which covers female screenwriters from the Silents through the early 1940s when women wrote over 50% of films and Frances Marion was the highest paid screenwriter (male or female) and the first to win 2 Oscars. Yet, she fails to appear in film history books, which continue to regurgitate the myth that male directors did it all – even though it’s been proven that the only profitable movies Cecil B. de Mille ever directed were all written by Jeannie Macpherson film ever won for Best Picture was written by Robert E. Sherwood (who people have heard of, mostly due to his connection to Dorothy Parker) and Joan Harrison.

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* 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

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Why The Monkees Matter: Even 50 Years Later with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Denver Pop Culture Con 2019 [Video] (48 Minutes)

From Denver Pop Culture Con 2019.

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?

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

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.

McFarland (Direct from Publisher) | Amazon | Kindle Edition | Nook Edition

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Order Examination Copies, Library and Campus Bookstore orders directly from McFarland

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05 Mary Shelley and The Evil Novel from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)

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The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know And Love

Transcript:

So Frankenstein is fascinating but tell me, what you notice about these two copies of this book? What’s different? The covers are different in what way? {Audience: The font is a little more sinister.) True. True. The font is a little more sinister. There’s also a big difference. (Audience: Her name isn’t on it) In 1818 they’re not gonna publish a book written by a woman because not only were women not supposed to write novels — they weren’t supposed to read novels because they’ll rot your brain and damage your interior organs such that you can’t have children. Yes. Which is kind of what we say about video games these days. So every new piece of media is going to rot your brain and destroy you. Now we say destroys the boys as well as the girls but still there was this idea that women should not dabble in that business of novels. They were very bad for you, which is kind of hilarious cuz now I’m telling you to read a novel over the summer. It will be good for you.

* 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!

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Paperback LA 3 on KPFK’s Bibliocracy Radio with comments on “Hey, Hey, They Wrote The Monkees!”

KPFK’s Andrew Tonkovitch interviewed Paperback L.A. Editor Susan La Tempa for Bibliocracy Radio last weekend and they had nice things to say about how fun my piece on the writers of The Monkees and how much he had misunderstood the band until he read my article.

They discuss the whole anthology in this interview, and touch on The Monkees around the 20:20 mark.

Host Andrew Tonkovitch interviews editor Susan LaTempa,
June 16, 2019 about the Paperback L.A. Book 3, A Casual Anthology: Secrets. SigAlerts. Ravines. Records.

He says, “This one is titled, joyfully, ‘Secrets, Sigalerts, Ravines, Records.’ Once again, this compendium-meets-literary/artistic collage includes both new discoveries and reminders, with a multi-media collection including fiction, nonfiction, photography, lists– a free-form provocation which, after reading, will inspire readers to pursue recommended or featured writers, topics, historical moments, artists and places. It’s a little hard to describe but you will know it — and love it! — when you see it.”

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See the entire collection of photos from the event

Editor Susan La Tempa hosted all the local contributors at the event space in the Helms Bakery district, which gave us a chance to check out that lovely landmark. Then I had the chance to meet Lisa See – author of On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of 4 generations of her Chinese-American family living in Los Angeles and running a factory, an antique shop and a restaurant popular with the Hollywood crowd of the 1930s and 40s. We had first heard of her book when Doug and I were docents at the Autry Western Heritage Museum in Griffith Park and they had a whole exhibit dedicated to telling the story of the book (which it turns out Lisa curated!) It was so popular an exhibit that it hung around long enough for Joseph to be born and to become old enough to play in the little mini restaurant they set up with pots and plates and menus. So it was wonderful to hear Lisa read an excerpt from the book and then to talk to her during the book signing segment of the afternoon.

I was also deeply impressed by the way Susan opened the event with a native Tongva greeting – something I had only seen done at the public events we attended in New Zealand where everyone began events with the traditional Maori greeting where you introduce yourself in terms of what is your mountain, your river, and your ancestry. Beautiful! So hearing it in Los Angeles was a lovely idea we all ought to emulate.

Then the super cool thing was that several friends made the trip down to Culver City – thanks Duke and Dena Jackels and Dan and Liz Forer – and Euphemia – for coming to the reading, and for buying books!

07 Women You May Know from “When Women Wrote Hollywood” with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (55 seconds)

Part of the California State University, Fullerton Faculty Noon Time Talks at the Pollak Library.

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Transcript:

So let’s talk about some women you know and some women you don’t know and hopefully, you will — as I said. These are ladies, hopefully, you’ll recognize. Anybody? (Audience: Shonda Rhimes) Shonda Rhimes! Thank goodness. We must all know Shonda Rhimes. (Audience: Is that Diablo Cody?) That’s Diablo Cody. Exactly, from Juno. This lady — you have probably seen more movies than any of theirs combined. (Audience: Is that Jane Fonda?) No, looks a lot like her though. doesn’t she? Nora Ephron. Nora Ephron, right? Incredible. So these are people that I think you recognize. There’s Nora Ephron. Nora Ephron is probably the queen of screenwriting. She passed away a few years ago, but you’ve seen probably all these films or you’ve heard about them mentioned in popular culture places. You’ve seen parodied on The Simpsons. That’s how embedded in popular culture they are, right? I mean, “When Harry Met Sally” is a classic. it is something that everyone references when they think of rom-coms.

Buy a signed copy of when Women Wrote Hollywood

Paperback Edition | Kindle Edition | Google Play Edition

* 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

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The Mentoris Project Podcast: Marconi and His Muses with Author, Pamela Winfrey [Audio]

My latest podcast with my fellow Mentoris authors is now available on the Mentoris Web Site. Give it a listen and Subscribe for More! — Rosanne

The Mentoris Project Podcast: Marconi and His Muses with Author, Pamela Winfrey

Hosted by Dr. Rosanne Welch

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Meet Pamela Winfrey, author of Marconi and His Muses: A Novel Based on the Life of Guglielmo Marconi. Brilliant inventor, electrical engineer, and wise entrepreneur, Guglielmo Marconi was best known for inventing long-distance radio transmissions and the telegraph system. But his success wasn’t solely a product of his curious mind. Marconi attributed his prosperity to the people in his life who encouraged him to achieve his goals.

About the Author

Pamela Winfrey is an award-winning writer and curator.

As a writer, she specializes in writing surreal plays for a thinking audience. She is especially interested in the relationship between theater, reality, science, surrealism and mental health issues. She has received funding from the Sloan Foundation and the Marin Arts Council and was a finalist at Arts and Letters. She won an award at the Method and Madness Festival in Denton, Texas, and her work received the Audience Favorite and Best Actress awards at Variations Theater in Manhattan. Her plays have been seen as far away as Toronto and Ireland. She was one of the founding members of Mobius Operandi, an electro-acoustic sound sculpture ensemble and performance company which produced five large-scale, walk-through, site-specific performance pieces in San Francisco.

As a curator, Winfrey represented the United States in the Interactive Art Panel at Ars Electronica (Linz), was the lead curatorial consultant for Emerging Artforms for Creative Capital, and curated more than 100 exhibitions, performances, artworks, and installations at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, where she is senior artist emeritus. She was the co-curator for the West Gallery, a gallery which explores human phenomena, and curated “The Changing Face of What is Normal,” an exhibition on mental health that was dear to her heart. She has a BA in theater, an MA in interdisciplinary arts, and is currently getting her MFA in screenwriting from Stephens College.

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Also from the Mentoris Project

Want to use these books in your classroom? Contact the Mentoris Project!`

04 Mary Shelley and The Monster from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (38 seconds)

Watch this entire presentation

The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know And Love

Transcript:

…and she came up with Frankenstein which is pretty crazy because we all think of Frankenstein. It’s like the bedrock of… it’s been around forever because it has, but she just made it up. Which i think is fascinating and there’s a lot of themes to it that if you take a class — some classes discuss Frankenstein — very interesting what’s going on in her world there. She had had a miscarriage and she had a lot of thoughts about loss and about parenthood and in many ways when you think about Frankenstein it’s crazy because it’s the story of a bad father right? Who creates a child and then lets it go running loose and doesn’t teach or care for it. She’s really thinking about the obligations and all of that.

* 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!

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06 Forgotten Women from “When Women Wrote Hollywood” with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)

Part of the California State University, Fullerton Faculty Noon Time Talks at the Pollak Library.

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Transcript:

In fact, John Steinbeck who was writing about how his movie was adapted, wrote that not only Johnson the man who did it did better than his own novel. So the man who wrote Grapes of Wrath was crediting the man who adapted it and yet our own way of doing news and writing about films always privileges the director. Which makes me crazy I don’t believe in that. It’s also sad and easy for men to dismiss women in their memoirs. We all know the picture of this guy. He is very famous for being a director. People think about his films. He admits in his memoirs that he learned everything he knows from some middle-aged American woman whose name was Eve Unsell she was a producer for Universal Studios the first woman to have her own production company they sent her to England to fix their production company in England and she trained him. Could he at least mention her name in the memoir? Right? And people researching her might find her mentioned and be able to do more work on her. So it’s very easy to dismiss people.

Buy a signed copy of when Women Wrote Hollywood

Paperback Edition | Kindle Edition | Google Play Edition

* 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

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