The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know And Love [Video] (36 Minutes)

Thanks to Kris Zoleta for inviting me to give yet another library lecture last week. 

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.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MuJ-Wxpjng

 

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



* 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!

Semester In LA Writers Round Table Class – Columbia College of Chicago

Semester In LA Writers Round Table Class - Columbia College of Chicago

Semester In LA Writers Round Table Class

Here’s a great photo of my current (and nearly graduated) Columbia College Writers Round Table class together with the marvelous actors who joined us for the last 3 weeks. The did table reads of all 9 student scripts. The actors are: Erron Jay (on the right in the back row), Khanisha Foster (2nd row #6 from the left/standing next to me), Juan Villa (last one on the right in the 2nd row) and Christina Nieves (in the middle in the front row). Kudos to Khanisha for gathering them all for us because they went above and beyond the call of duty by giving great notes for the (inevitable with all writing) rewrites to come. All in all, a fun and productive 3-week collaboration!

More On The Monkees: Bigger Than The Beatles: BTS follows The Beatles with 3 Billboard No 1 albums in a year via South China Morning Post

This article about the Korean boy band includes a clip from the Monkees TV show because “group’s third chart-topping release, ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’, equals the feats of the British band The Beatles in 1995-96 and the American group The Monkees in 1967”. It’s always nice to see our guys credited with so much success.— Rosanne

Internationally renowned K-pop boy band BTS is celebrating its third No 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart after the release of “Map of the Soul: Persona” – a feat previously achieved by the British group, The Beatles, and the American group, The Monkees.

The seven-track album, which was released on April 12, will debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart on April 27, the music magazine said on Sunday.

Read Bigger Than The Beatles: BTS follows The Beatles with 3 Billboard No 1 albums in a year via South China Morning Post


  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

Want to use “Why The Monkees Matter” in your classroom?

Order Examination Copies, Library and Campus Bookstore orders directly from McFarlandMcFarland Company logo

Presenting My Talk – The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know and Love via Instagram

What are your favorite Science Fiction Books? Add them to the comments below!

Presenting My Talk – The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know and Love

Cal Poly Pomona University Library

Thanks to another invite from Kris Zoleta and the wonderful staff at the CPP Library I presented another lunchtime lecture yesterday.

This talk was on famous female writers of science fiction both in books (from Mary Shelley to Octavia Butler) and on television with a side tangent on important and influential female characters of science fiction (from Lt. Nyota Uhura to Dana Scully).

The audience responded well, many asking me for recommendations for summer reading)  and the nicest compliment I received came from an engineering student who came up to me afterward to say she was either going to do homework or come to my talk during her lunch break and she was ever so happy she had chosen to come to the talk. 

Video Coming Soon! – Subscribe and Revisit!

Presenting My Talk - The Sisterhood of Science Fiction: A Walk Through Some Writers and Characters You (Should) Know and Love via Instagram

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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

Rosanne remembers Peter Tork of The Monkees in Zilch Podcast #134: Celebrate Peter Tork Pt 2

For this episode of Zilch producer Ken Mills asked contributors to write short essays on their memories of Peter Tork in honor of his passing.  If you enjoy The Monkees or are interested in the influences of 1960s TV shows across the decades, it’s an interesting anthropological study..

My piece starts at 1:04:50 in the audio

Rosanne remembers Peter Tork of The Monkees in Zilch Podcast #134: Celebrate Peter Tork Pt 2

Zilch #134 Celebrate Peter Tork Pt 2
 
Part 2 of our celebration of Peter Tork. We send this episode off with Love for Peter. We were born to love one another. If you want to express love for Peter.

His family is asking fans who would like to make contributions in Peter’s name to donate to the scholarship fund at The Institute for The Musical Arts in Massachusetts, a nonprofit that provides young women with music education, music recording, and music community.

More info can be found here


 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

Want to use “Why The Monkees Matter” in your classroom?

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

McFarland Company logo

Quote: “They were all very accomplished people.” from 1960’s TV Censorship and The Monkees – 8 in a series

Quote:

“What if I interview all the writers of The Monkees? All the people who are in their 80’s who once wrote for The Monkees who are still alive. So I met with the writers of the show and it was fascinating. They had also written for many other things — Get Smart, Laugh-In. They’d won Emmys for The Mary Tyler Moore Show later in their career. They were all very accomplished people.

from Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation – 1960’s TV Censorship and The Monkees

 


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

Want to use “Why The Monkees Matter” in your classroom?

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

McFarland Company logo

* 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

More On The Monkees: Mike Nesmith opens up on touring without Monkees bandmate Peter via the Courier Mail

 

It’s always nice when they refer to each other as old friends after all these years. — Rosanne

More On The Monkees: Mike Nesmith opens up on touring without Monkees bandmate Peter via the Courier Mail

WHEN Monkees members Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz launched their tour in the US mid-last year, bandmate Peter Tork would have been aware the cancer he had battled for nine years had returned.
At the time Tork said he wouldn’t be touring because he planned to focus on his Lead Belly tribute album Relax Your Mind.

“Peter was very private,” Nesmith said.

“He didn’t discuss it with me or really anybody else. The doctors all had different opinions about it.

“What I made the decision to do was to stand by his side, be a friend and give him as good a send-off as I know how to give from this plane of existence.”

Read Mike Nesmith opens up on touring without Monkees bandmate Peter via the Courier Mail

 


 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

Want to use “Why The Monkees Matter” in your classroom?

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

 

McFarland Company logo

16 Conclusion from Why (and How) I Created a History of Screenwriting Course [Video] (2 minutes)

A clip from my presentation at the 11th Annual Screenwriting Research Network conference. Held on the campus of the beautiful Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

Watch the entire presentation 

16 Conclusion from Why (and How) I Created a History of Screenwriting Course [Video] (2 minutes)

In the presentation, I covered the reasons writers have been marginalized – and the reasons they oughtn’t to be so disrespected. Then I talked about how my course works, what books I assign, what guest speakers I invite, what research the students do – and ended on a high note by introducing ‘When Women Wrote Hollywood’ – the book of essays from our inaugural class which has now been published by McFarland.

Transcript:

Luckily we’re in Los Angeles, so we do the research hands-on of the Margaret Herrick Library. These are in the database the screen archivist has created so that you can find the digital things for your own students and much is being scanned and put online for us these days. This is the Writers Guild of America. We have an archive as well of original scripts which is a great test to bring students to read. We don’t have enough writers who give their stuff to the Guild. They give it to the Herrick because that’s fancier and more cool. So we’re trying to give their own personal correspondence to the Writers Guild. Anyway, All of this and my first couple of years led me to realize that when I had started having them do essays — research essays — 20-page research papers, they were all so good in the first year the students were so excited by what they were discovering that I wrote my publisher — emailed my publisher — and said I have twenty really good essays on early women’s screenwriters in Hollywood from Dorothy Parker to Frances Hackett to Ruth Gordon and would you want to publish them? And they said “Yes” and so I was able to give my students their first publications through this course and one of them is here Jackie Perez has an essay in the book. She’s come to the conference for the first time. So this was an amazing thing for me to be able to create through the use of these students. This is that first class who are all published in that book. Even though we’re a women’s college in higher learning you have to accept men so there three men in that class also represented in the book. Men have become interested in our mission which is to provide more female-focused stories and more female writers into the business so it was a really good class. We love them all and that’s what I have to say.

Watch the entire presentation

Subscribe to Rosanne Welch, Ph.D on YouTube

 

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

Join me at the Paperback L.A. #3 Anthology Launch Party, May 5, 2019 [Event]

If you’ll be in Los Angeles on Sunday May 5th and want to see the architecture of the Helms Bakery – come to the Launch party for the 3rd book in the Paperback LA anthology – the editor, Susan LaTempa, reprinted my article about the writers of The Monkees TV show since that is so iconic LA. — Rosanne

Join me at the Paperback L.A. #3 Anthology Launch Party, May 5, 2019 [Event]

Join us for a reception and brief readings to celebrate the launch of Paperback L.A. Book 3 A Casual Anthology: Secrets. SigAlerts. Ravines. Records.

This is the third volume of the acclaimed new-school trilogy the creates a freewheeling mosaic of the city in words and photographs.

Join contributors including Lisa See, Alexandra Hedison, River Garza, Ann Elliott Cutting, Lou Mathews, Rosanne Welch, RJ Smith and Warren Hill for brief readings and views of photos. Culver City Councilmembers Meghan Sahli-Wells and Daniel Lee will welcome attendees.

Free and open to the public.

The book launch is at the Helms Design Center event space, 8745 Washington Blvd., Culver City CA. 90232.

Parking is available at complimentary parking lots located at the Helms Bakery entrance on the south side of Venice Boulevard at Helms Avenue (in front of Rejuvenation and across from Father’s Office) for your visit.

Additional lots are located on the northeast and northwest corners of Helms Avenue and Venice Boulevard.

15 Research Papers and Books from Why (and How) I Created a History of Screenwriting Course [Video] (1 minute)

A clip from my presentation at the 11th Annual Screenwriting Research Network conference. Held on the campus of the beautiful Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

Watch the entire presentation 

15 Research Papers and Books from Why (and How) I Created a History of Screenwriting Course

In the presentation, I covered the reasons writers have been marginalized – and the reasons they oughtn’t to be so disrespected. Then I talked about how my course works, what books I assign, what guest speakers I invite, what research the students do – and ended on a high note by introducing ‘When Women Wrote Hollywood’ – the book of essays from our inaugural class which has now been published by McFarland.

Transcript:

They also all do a research paper — as anyone should do in a master’s class. A gain through the network I’ve been able to provide them with books they can think about. Nunnally’s there. Emma’s there because of female screenwriters. That’s a lovely book –where she has the script and then she discusses filming and being on set as a writer and how difficult it was to do both and and of course it’s one of the movies I have them watch, so that’s lovely. There’s a million books they can use. These are some examples. I like, while it’s John Gregory Dunn’s book, it’s the story of he and his wife Joan Didion, who were creating a film for Disney and this is the entire eight years it took them from the day they were offered the job until the day the movie was made and how — the difficulty. So to teach students the process and how hard the process is I think is very important. So that’s very handy book. It’s also very thin. So students like to read it. They also are the writers of the third — the second remake of “A Star IS Born.” The one with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand. So interesting to hear their perspective before the new Lady GaGa version comes out.

Books mentioned in this clip

Watch the entire presentation

Subscribe to Rosanne Welch, Ph.D on YouTube

 

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