Category: Stephens College

Where’s Her Movie? Abolitionist, Sojourner Truth – 11 in a series

“Where’s HER Movie” posts will highlight interesting and accomplished women from a variety of professional backgrounds who deserve to have movies written about them as much as all the male scientists, authors, performers, and geniuses have had written about them across the over 100 years of film.  This is our attempt to help write these women back into mainstream history.  — Rosanne

Where's Her Movie? Abolitionist, Sojourner Truth - 11 in a series

Sojourner Truth (/soʊˈdʒɜːrnər truːθ/; born Isabella “Belle” Baumfree; c. 1797 – November 26, 1883) was an American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son in 1828, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man.

She gave herself the name Sojourner Truth in 1843 after she became convinced that God had called her to leave the city and go into the countryside “testifying the hope that was in her”.[1] Her best-known speech was delivered extemporaneously, in 1851, at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. The speech became widely known during the Civil War by the title “Ain’t I a Woman?“, a variation of the original speech re-written by someone else using a stereotypical Southern dialect, whereas Sojourner Truth was from New York and grew up speaking Dutch as her first language. During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army; after the war, she tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants from the federal government for formerly enslaved people (summarized as the promise of “forty acres and a mule” — Wikipedia

Related posts:

  1. Where’s Her Movie? Civil Rights Activist, Rose Matsui Ochi – 6 in a series
  2. Where’s Her Movie? Civil Rights Activist, Elizabeth Peratrovich – 5 in a series
  3. Where’s Her Movie? Computer Scientist, Margaret Hamilton – 9 in a series
  4. Where’s Her Movie? Painter, Artemisia Gentileschi – 3 in a series
  5. Where’s Her Movie? Physician/Author, Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler – 7 in a series

13 Characters and Susannah Grant from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (56 seconds)

13 Characters and Susannah Gra from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (56 seconds)

Thanks to the gracious invitation from my Screenwriting Research Network colleague Paolo Russo – and a grant he was able to procure (and in the before-Covid time) I was able to spend a week at Oxford Brookes University working with the screenwriting masters students in Paolo’s course. At the culmination of the week, I gave this lecture on how writers rooms worked in the States.

Transcript:

All right, so. what I wanted to do for about half a minute is describe this woman. Visually describe this character. Her name is Erin Brockovich. You may or may not have seen this movie all right. So we might know something about her from the movie but visually — and she’s Julia Roberts, you can tell — quickly how would you describe her if you’re writing that action line in your script? If nothing else, think of three adjectives. We always start with that. Style comes from what you do in the action lines because the dialogue has to sound like your characters but the action lines sound like you alright. Shy doesn’t work in the writers’ room. If you don’t have an idea, I’ll stop paying you a contract and you go home. I always tell my students when they have to pitch, you better have an idea right away because you’re turning down $38,000 because if there’s a new script and we need one done next week and you don’t do it your friend just got that much money. That’s a lot of money to turn down because you’re too shy to open your mouth. So school is when you practice not being shy.

Watch this entire presentation

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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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Related posts:

  1. 12 Describing Your Characters from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute)
  2. 05 Women Writers Matter from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (27 seconds)
  3. 06 Inside The Writers Room from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (43 seconds)
  4. 07 The Monkees Writers Room from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (44 seconds)
  5. 03 Why Writers Matter from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (41 seconds)

A Woman Wrote That – 17 in a series – Father of the Bride (1991), Writer: Nancy Meyers

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 - 17 in a series - Father of the Bride (1991), Writer: Nancy Meyers

GEORGE

“The good news, however, is that this overreacting… tends to get proportionately less by generation. So, your kids could be normal.”

Related posts:

  1. A Woman Wrote That – 12 in a series – Private Benjamin (1980) by Nancy Meyers
  2. A Woman Wrote That – 8 in a series – Something’s Gotta Give by Nancy Meyers (2003)
  3. A Woman Wrote That – 4 in a series – Thelma and Louise by Callie Khouri (1991)
  4. A Woman Wrote That – 11 in a series – Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
  5. A Woman Wrote That – 16 in a series – Gilmore Girls, Wr: Amy Sherman-Palladino

Event: When Women Wrote Hollywood presentation for the Empire State Center for the Book – Tuesday, March 9, 2021 – 7 pm EST

Event: When Women Wrote Hollywood presentation for the Empire State Center for the Book - Tuesday, March 9, 2021 – 7 pm EST

Tuesday, March 9, 2021 – 7 pm EST

MFA Executive Director Dr. Rosanne Welch will give a Zoom presentation on “When Women Wrote Hollywood” for the Empire State Center for the Book, the New York State affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. This event begins at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central on Tuesday, March 9, and is free and open to the public. 

Dr. Welch will discuss many highly successful female screenwriters of early Hollywood and explain why they don’t appear in most mainstream histories of the era.

Join the Zoom Call — Passcode: 120524

Visit Empire State Center for the Book Web Site

Rosanne and front window display of “When Women Wrote Hollywood” before reading and Signing event at Skylark Bookshop

Related posts:

  1. Event: “When Women Wrote Hollywood” with Rosanne Welch, Ph.D, Pollack Library, Cal State Fullerton, March 5, 2019, Noon
  2. Dr. Rosanne Welch Speaks at the 2021 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference – Thursday, March 18, 2021 [Event]
  3. Dr. Rosanne Welch Joins Panel on Monkees Books with Plastic EP Live – Tuesday February 16th, 2021, 8pm EST/5pm PST
  4. Scenes from When Women Wrote Hollywood Book Launch Event
  5. Scenes from When Women Wrote Hollywood Book Launch Event via My Instagram

Teaching one of my 3 classes today for Cal Poly Pomona via TikTok [Video]

@drrosannewelch

##Teaching one of my 3 ##classes today for Cal Poly Pomona. This has been my classroom for the last year, like so many others. *DW (from Rosanne’s Prod)

♬ Pieces (Solo Piano Version) – Danilo Stankovic


Teaching one of my 3 classes today for Cal Poly Pomona via TikTok [Video]

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Related posts:

  1. Afterparty at the Cal Poly Pomona Golden Leaves presentations at Cal Poly Pomona University Library via My Instagram
  2. Myself, Peg Lamphier and author, Terrence Young discuss his book, Heading Out: A History of American Camping after the Cal Poly Pomona Golden Leaves presentations at Cal Poly Pomona University Library
  3. Dr. Rosanne Welch receives her award at the 2019 Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night, Cal Poly Pomona [Video]
  4. Rosanne appears on Cal Poly Pomona College of Education and Integrative Studies (CEIS) Podcast to discuss Interdisciplinary General Education (IGE) [Video] (30 Minutes)
  5. Dr. Rosanne Welch presents at Cal Poly Pomona’s Golden Leaves Presentation [Video] (5:21)

12 Describing Your Characters from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute)

12 Describing Your Characters from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute)

 

Thanks to the gracious invitation from my Screenwriting Research Network colleague Paolo Russo – and a grant he was able to procure (and in the before-Covid time) I was able to spend a week at Oxford Brookes University working with the screenwriting masters students in Paolo’s course. At the culmination of the week, I gave this lecture on how writers rooms worked in the States.

Transcript:

All right, so. what I wanted to do for about half a minute is describe this woman. Visually describe this character. Her name is Erin Brockovich. You may or may not have seen this movie all right. So we might know something about her from the movie but visually — and she’s Julia Roberts, you can tell — quickly how would you describe her if you’re writing that action line in your script? If nothing else, think of three adjectives. We always start with that. Style comes from what you do in the action lines because the dialogue has to sound like your characters but the action lines sound like you alright. Shy doesn’t work in the writers’ room. If you don’t have an idea, I’ll stop paying you a contract and you go home. I always tell my students when they have to pitch, you better have an idea right away because you’re turning down $38,000 because if there’s a new script and we need one done next week and you don’t do it your friend just got that much money. That’s a lot of money to turn down because you’re too shy to open your mouth. So school is when you practice not being shy.

Watch this entire presentation

Subscribe to Rosanne’s Channel and receive notice of each new video!

 


* 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related posts:

  1. 08 Monkees Writers and History from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute)
  2. 10 The Writer’s Voice from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute 3 seconds)
  3. 05 Women Writers Matter from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (27 seconds)
  4. 01 Introduction from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American Television]: from Freelancing to Writers Rooms [Video] (1 minute)
  5. 02 Writers Matter from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute 3 seconds)

A Woman Wrote That – 16 in a series – Gilmore Girls, Wr: Amy Sherman-Palladino

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 - 16 in a series - Gilmore Girls, Wr: Amy Sherman-Palladino

MICHEL

People are particularly stupid today. I can’t talk to any more of them.

Related posts:

  1. A Woman Wrote That – 15 in a series – Clueless – Wr: Amy Heckerling
  2. A Woman Wrote That – 6 in a series – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  3. A Woman Wrote That – 11 in a series – Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
  4. A Woman Wrote That – 10 in a series – When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Nora Ephron
  5. A Woman Wrote That – 14 in a series – The Birdcage (1996) Wr: Elaine May

11 Style + Opinion=Writer’s Voice from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (22 seconds)

11 Style + Opinion=Writer's Voice from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV

Thanks to the gracious invitation from my Screenwriting Research Network colleague Paolo Russo – and a grant he was able to procure (and in the before-Covid time) I was able to spend a week at Oxford Brookes University working with the screenwriting masters students in Paolo’s course. At the culmination of the week, I gave this lecture on how writers rooms worked in the States.

Transcript:

Everything that’s written that’s remembered is because you learned something while you were watching it. It might be that friends matter which is really the theme of all of the Harry Potter movies let’s admit it. That’s all you learned from those movies. They were quite fun but that’s a pretty good theme. In life, friends matter. Themes are universal. So this is my opinion but I think, generally speaking, people find this the opinion.

Watch this entire presentation

Subscribe to Rosanne’s Channel and receive notice of each new video!

 


* 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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related posts:

  1. 10 The Writer’s Voice from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (1 minute 3 seconds)
  2. 03 Why Writers Matter from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (41 seconds)
  3. 05 Women Writers Matter from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (27 seconds)
  4. 06 Inside The Writers Room from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (43 seconds)
  5. 07 The Monkees Writers Room from There And Back Again: Writing and Developing for American TV [Video] (44 seconds)

A Woman Wrote That – 15 in a series – Clueless – Wr: Amy Heckerling

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 - 15 in a series - Clueless - Wr: Amy Heckerling

AMBER

Ms. Stoeger, my plastic surgeon doesn’t want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose.

Related posts:

  1. A Woman Wrote That – 6 in a series – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  2. A Woman Wrote That – 12 in a series – Private Benjamin (1980) by Nancy Meyers
  3. A Woman Wrote That – 11 in a series – Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
  4. A Woman Wrote That – 9 in a series – Klondike Annie by Mae West (1936)
  5. A Woman Wrote That – 10 in a series – When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Nora Ephron

Event: ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Complete Transcript

I had a lot of fun on my first Twitter Chat last Sunday. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman of #Scriptchat had invited to talk about how to behave in a writers room alongside what are the benefits of an MFA in TV and Screenwriting (such as the one we offer from Stephens College).  

Happily, I had just interviewed Gloria Calderon Kellet who had an MFA and who had said so astutely that no one requires that in Hollywood but taking 2 years to invest in herself and her craft meant she had material that was truly of high enough quality to offer up when future producers offered to read her work.  So that was nice!

As to Twitter, I knew being short and concise is the bread and butter of Twitter but… wow… I’m clearly a much longer storyteller and kept running over the limit and having to use ellipses to extend a sentence or a thought.  But folks seemed to enjoy it and even said I had ‘dropped pearls’ so that was nice to hear as well.

Check out #Scriptchat every Sunday night at 5pmPST/8pmET for more fun guests.

 

Event: ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Sunday, February 14, 2021 - 4PM PDT

ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch from Sunday, February 14, 2021

Read the entire transcript

Related posts:

  1. Event: ScriptChat with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Sunday, February 14, 2021 – 4PM PDT
  2. Event: Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Online Open House – Thursday, April 23, 2020
  3. Learn more about the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting in this Q&A with Executive Director, Dr. Rosanne Welch
  4. Event: Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting Open House – Wednesday, February 10, 2021
  5. Event: Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Online Open House – Wednesday, November 18, 2020 – 4pm PST