On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch
Writing, Film, Television and More!
One of the biggest things that makes me so excited is people are beginning to read screenplays as literature.
The script isn’t just a blueprint. We’re going to read the action lines, the dialogue, and we’re going to hear the voice of the writer in a way that we can’t on screen.
During every workshop intensive for the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting I have the privilege of creating and moderating a panel of female screenwriters discussing various topics.
Our most recent panel focused on “Transitioning to Television” and included panelists who came to television from previous careers. This allowed me to talk to women who came to TV whose first careers included being a doctor, lobbyist, college professor and, of especially pride for our MFA program, a former Senior Physical Security Analyst for federal agencies, U.S. Army Reserve veteran.
All of them are now writing on major television shows and their advice and honesty was greatly appreciated. — Rosanne
For this session, we teamed up with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting for a discussion on transitioning to TV writing from other careers. Learn how our panel of TV writers and producers made the jump to television, how their previous experiences inform their writing, and how that lens impacts their approach in the writers room.
Panelists are Zoanne Clack, M.D., MPH (Executive Producer, Grey’s Anatomy), Rashaan Dozier-Escalante (Staff Writer, SEAL Team), Akilah Green (Co-producer, Black Monday), and Calaya Michelle Stallworth, Ph.D (Executive Story Editor, Fear of the Walking Dead).
Moderated by Dr. Rosanne Welch, Director of Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting.
Filmed on January 13, 2021.
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Great TV and Movies are built around the theme, you have to have friends. You have to have friends you can trust.
Look how powerful that has been. We need that message.
We go to movies and television shows – we go to stories – to learn that message.
Writers are important.
Writer comes before director when people are writer-directors because writers are more important. You cannot direct some people walking around a room.
Somebody has to say why they’re there and what they’re doing.
I’m proud to announce the next panel I’m moderating with the Writers Guild Foundation for our Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting — Act Two: Transitioning to TV Writing from Other Careers
The WGF may have hit a pause on our live events, but thanks to technology, we’re aiming to provide more access to advice and knowledge from film and TV writers while we’re all social distancing. Over the last few months, we’ve been hosting free Zoom panels about craft and all things relevant to writers.
For this session, we team up with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting for a discussion on transitioning to TV writing from other careers. Learn how our panel of TV writers and producers made the jump to television, how their previous experiences inform their writing, and how that lens impacts their approach in the writers room.
Panelists:
Panel starts at 4:00pm Pacific time.
Space is limited so RSVP now. After signing up, you’ll receive information on how to access the Zoom panel.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at events@wgfoundation.org.
For anyone who was unable to RSVP for the panel, we will record and post it at a later date.
As one of the sponsors of the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting was pleased to host a live panel at their 2020 virtual film festival discussing the 10 minute short Joe and the Shawl.
Described as the story of “an adorable tow truck driver who really digs Kelli, a fellow North Carolinian, when he meets her as he changes her dead car battery. But Joe’s interest takes a sharp right turn when he learns that Kelli is a Muslim” the film raised questions of identity, representation and religious freedom.
For the panel, Executive Director Rosanne Welch and mentor/instructor Dawn Comer Jefferson provided a breakdown of the script followed by moderating questions from the audience. Guests included Nicole Ballivian (writer-director), Deonna Kelli Sayed, from whose blog post the script was adapted, and actors Jill Galbraith and Travis Lincoln Cox. — Rosanne
Reel Sisters & Stephens College Host Script Analysis for Joe & The Shawl from African Voices/Reel Sisters on Vimeo.
![Reel Sisters Virtual Film Festival and Lecture Series 2020 - Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dawn Comer Jefferson Analyze The Script, Joe & The Shawl [Video] (1 hour 42 minutes)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/reel-sisters-2020.png)
For each Workshop the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting hosts a panel with the Writers Guild Foundation which takes place at the Guild offices in Los Angeles. For this August it will be on Zoom which means many more attendees can RSVP to join us – and we hope you will because this panel is extra-special.
It’s the second year in a row we’ve been able to invite an MFA alumna to be a panelist because they have become a working writer. Last year it was Class of 2019’s Sahar Jahani (who has written for Ramy and 13 Reasons Why) and on this panel we’ll be welcoming Class of 2020’s Christina Nieves to discuss Writing Girls Coming of Age Stories thanks to her new position as a staff writer on Generation.
We hope you can join me, Dr. Rosanne Welch, Executive Director of Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting as I moderate the discussion.
Photo by Kyle Gregory Devaras on Unsplash
More Than A Period: Writing Girls Coming of Age Stories For TV
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
4:30 PM 6:00 PM
We at the WGF may have hit a pause on our live events, but thanks to technology, we’re aiming to provide more access to advice and knowledge from film and TV writers while we’re all social distancing. Over the last few months, we’ve been hosting free Zoom panels about craft and all things relevant to writers.
For this session, we team up with Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting for a discussion about crafting girls’ coming-of-age stories. The panel of writers will share how their shows address this formative period for its characters, how their own experiences informed their writing, and why coming-of-age stories are an endless source of stories.
Panelists:
Sonia Kharkar – Executive Story Editor, On My Block, Never Have I Ever
Christina Nieves – Staff Writer, Generation
Ilana Peña – Creator, Diary of a Future President
Moderated by Dr. Rosanne Welch, Director of Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting.Panel starts at 4:30pm Pacific time.
Space is limited so RSVP now. After signing up, you’ll receive information on how to access the Zoom panel.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at events@wgfoundation.org.
For anyone who was unable to RSVP for the panel, we will record and post it at a later date
For a few years running my colleague Warren Lewis has asked me to be a panelist for the semi-annual Film Spark event for ASU (Arizona State University) discussing pitching on a panel and then listening and giving notes to students during an afternoon pitchathon.
This year, due to our sheltering at home during the virus the event used Zoom so for the first time they recorded the hour long panel – and here it is.
We were each asked to give advice based on the stories of our best and worst pitches, which provided a few good laughs and hopefully a lot of good advice.
![Creative Career Kickstart: Catching and Pitching Panel - ASU Film Spark Program [Video] (1 hour 15 minutes)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/asu-fim-spark.png)
Click To Register For The Conference
Online Open House with
Program Executive Director Dr. Rosanne Welch
and Director of Admissions Sally Bohlinger
Stephens College Low Residency M.F.A in TV and Screenwriting
Learn more about this ground-breaking program focused on bringing more female and underrepresented voices into the mainstream media. The MFA boasts an impressive record of success and some of the best faculty and mentors in the industry.
RSVP for Conference Links to gradmissions@stephens.edu
