Writers on Writing – Page 15 – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A History of Screenwriting – 38 in a series – Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm – Frances Marion

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Marshall Neilan based upon the novel of the same name by Kate Douglas Wiggin. This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion. The film was made by the “Mary Pickford Company” and was an acclaimed box office hit. When the play premiered on Broadway in the 1910 theater season the part of Rebecca was played by Edith Taliaferro.^[1]^[2]^[3]

^{As described in a film magazine,^[4] Rebecca Randall (Pickford) is taken into the home of her aunt Hannah (Eddy), a strict New England woman. Rebecca meets Adam Ladd (O’Brien), a young man of the village, and they become great friends. One day Rebecca promises to marry Adam when she becomes of age. Unable to withstand her pranks any longer, her aunt sends her away to a boarding school. She graduates a beautiful young lady. Shortly thereafter, Adam demands a fulfillment of her promise. — Wikipedia}

* 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!

I teach several classes for the Stephens College Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting, including History of Screenwriting. In fact, I created the curriculum for that course from scratch and customized it to this particular MFA in that it covers ‘Screenwriting’ (not directors) and even more specifically, the class has a female-centric focus. As part History of Screenwriting I, the first course in the four-class series, we focus on the early women screenwriters of the silent film era who male historians have, for the most part, quietly forgotten in their books. In this series, I share with you some of the screenwriters and films that should be part of any screenwriters education. I believe that in order to become a great screenwriter, you need to understand the deep history of screenwriting and the amazing people who created the career. — Dr. Rosanne Welch

A History of Screenwriting – 37 in a series – Writers in Hollywood 1915-1951, Ian Hamilton

The story of Hollywood has often been told from the point of view of the stars, the directors, the tycoons, but not until now from the point of view of the gallery of writers who helped shape it, including Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Chandler, and many others. – Amazon

* 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!

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

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.

Carrie Fisher’s “The Princess Diarist” [Book]

Thought I’d read Carrie Fisher’s “The Princess Diarist” for some frothy relaxing fun this weekend and found myself dazed by what a brilliant writer she was at 19. Her opening chapters are all from the recent past year (who knew it would be her last?) and sound like the distinct voice she became as a writer, but her journal entries from the filming of Star Wars are a distinct voice as well, capturing the thrill of obsessive first love better than many authors I’ve read (and I’ve read a LOT of them from Jane Austen to Judy Blume).

The quality of the poem she wrote about her infatuation with Harrison (how nice to know she was as human as the rest of us and couldn’t resist the smuggler in the Cantina – AND that she had the opportunity to live our ALL our fantasies, so she “Tried not, she DID) will sadly be ignored — both for being written by a celebrity (hey, wasn’t F. Scott a celebrity?) and for being written by a young girl (hey, wasn’t Mary Shelley 19 when she wrote Frankenstein?).

I’d teach this book in a high school literature class if I was still teaching one. For now I recommend it as: ‘can’t put down even though I have scripts to read and grade’.

* 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!

Rosanne quoted in Titan: The Magazine of California State University, Fullerton, Winter/Spring 2017

“FOR SCREENWRITER Rosanne Welch, the ripple effect of being the woman in the room begins like this: “The doctor walks in …” All I have to do is write She says… and they have to hire a female. That’s how power-ful it is to have a female voice in a room,” says the lecturer of cinema and television arts. Female leaders are trending — on TV. And, much like in real life, it’s taken decades to rewrite the script, says Welch. We need more women writers in the room and more female role models at the helm, at the corporate table, in the judge’s chair, in political office — and not just on TV, she says. “We do know that it’s highly influential,” she says of TV. “We need to kind of know something’s real and then we highlight those existences in TV, and the public sees it more often, and then it becomes more real.”

Read the entire article

Photo: “Women Write Now: Breaking Barriers In Film, TV And The Web” – Tue, November 29, 2016

From Rosanne…

Here is a photo of the complete panel from this event.

The WOMEN WRITE NOW: BREAKING BARRIERS IN FILM, TV AND THE WEB — In order left to right: Kirsten Smith (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, LEGALLY BLONDE), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Different World, Love and Basketball, Secret Life of Bees), Jessica Mecklenburg (STRANGER THINGS, BEING MARY JANE), Deborah Schoeneman (HAND OF GOD, GIRLS, THE NEWSROOM), Lauren Schuker Blum (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK), Rebecca Angelo (Control Alt Delete), Dr. Rosanne Welch

Women Write Now: Breaking Barriers In Film, Tv And The Web

As the landscape of storytelling on film, television and the web evolves and changes, more women are leading the charge in breaking down gender walls in the industry. Each has her own story and a perspective about the challenges that women face as writers and creators in the field.

The Writers Guild Foundation and Stage 32 are partnering on this special event, which invites writers to discuss their careers and their experiences working as a woman in the industry, from where they started and how they got their material noticed to what the future for women in media looks like and what inspires them to write every day.

Event: Dr. Rosanne Welch Moderates “Women Write Now: Breaking Barriers In Film, Tv And The Web” – Tue, November 29, 2016 – Writers Guild

From Rosanne…

I’ll be moderating this panel at the Writers Guild. Hope to see you there!

Women Write Now: Breaking Barriers In Film, Tv And The Web

Panelists:

Lauren Schuker Blum (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK)
Jessica Mecklenburg (STRANGER THINGS, BEING MARY JANE)
Deborah Schoeneman (HAND OF GOD, GIRLS, THE NEWSROOM)
Kirsten Smith (10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, LEGALLY BLONDE)
More panelists to be announced. Stay tuned!

Doors open at 7pm. Event starts at 7:30pm. A networking reception will follow directly after the panel from 9pm to 10pm.

Stage 32 is dedicated to educating and empowering creatives from all walks of life, and as a continued commitment, we will provide every attendee with a free Stage 32 Next Level webinar (a $49 value), to help sharpen your skills and pave your trail in the industry.

About Stage 32:

“Stage 32 is LinkedIn meets Lynda for film and TV creatives” – Forbes Magazine

Stage 32 is the online platform connecting and educating film and TV creatives worldwide. Stage 32 provides over 1,000 hours of online education taught by some of the industry’s most prominent development, executives, managers, agents and producers.

All events advertised on our “Events” page are open to anyone who wants to buy a ticket – not just WGA members!

Proceeds benefit the Foundation’s library and archive and other outreach programs

A Woman’s Voice in the Writers’ Room – An In-Depth Interview with Dr. Rosanne Welch in Creative Screenwriting Magazine

A Woman’s Voice in the Writers’ Room

Rosanne Welch on writing for female characters, changing the pronoun in a script, and the power of research.

Rosanne Welch is a TV writer, author, professor, and feminist, who’s able to combine her passion in one place thanks to her current position as an adjunct professor at Stephen’s College (the oldest women’s college in the U.S.) for its screenwriting M.F.A. program.

The Stephen’s College screenwriting M.F.A. program is certainly unique: it’s the first low-residency program specifically for TV and screenwriting, and is explicitly designed to increase the number and impact of women working in film and TV. It’s the perfect fit for Welch, who teaches all four of its History of Screenwriting courses, from the Silent Era throughout modern day, as well as a One Hour Spec Script course, and Writing the One-Hour pilot.

Senior Hall, Stephen’s College. Image by HornColumbia (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia CommonsSenior Hall, Stephen’s College. Image by HornColumbia, via Wikimedia CommonsThe idea for the program came from Ken LaZebnik, who Welch had met decades earlier when they both wrote for Touched By An Angel.

According to Welch, “Ken LaZebnik came up with the idea for the program, to create a Master’s program for screenwriting, opposed to extension or continuing education screenwriting programs where there is no degree at the end of it, you just have the experience of writing in the program.

“He needed someone to do curriculum, he needed someone who had a PhD on staff, and he also only wanted to hire writers who were part of the Writer’s Guild, because he wanted the students taught by working writers and writers who had experience.”

Fortunately Welch fit the criteria. “I was really excited because a lot of Master’s programs focus on directing or film production or being a master of all trades, and he just wanted to focus on screenwriting.”

Welch’s current life as an academic is a far cry from her days as a secretary at Stephen J. Cannell productions, back when he was the biggest independent TV producer with shows like The A-Team and 21 Jump Street.

Read the entire interview on Creative Screenwriting

Save the Date: Rosanne Hosts “Women Who Run The Room: A Conversation with Showrunners” – Sat. Aug. 6, 2015

Dr. Rosanne Welch will be hosting this WGA panel discussion sponsored by Stephens College MFA in Television and Screenwriting, where she teaches The History of Screenwriting and Writing the One-Hour Drama.

Women Who Run The Room: A Conversation with Showrunners

Sat, August 6, 2016
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

On this special Saturday event, a panel of female showrunners discusses their experiences of running a room and the impact of increasing female voices in television.

Panelists:

Alexa Junge – GRACE AND FRANKIE, UNITED STATES OF TARA, FRIENDS
Check back for more panelist announcements.

Sponsored by Stephens College MFA in Television and Screenwriting.

Doors open at 1:30pm. Event starts at 2:00pm.

All events advertised on our “Events” page are open to anyone who wants to buy a ticket – not just WGA members!

Proceeds benefit the Foundation’s library and archive and other outreach programs.

Tickets:

General Admission Ticket $20.00
WGA Member / Student Ticket $15.00
with Membership card or Student Identification