It was quite satisfying to receive my copy of The Journal of Screenwriting yesterday (Issue 8.2) with my first efforts as the Book Reviews Editor.
The issue also contains the conference report I co-wrote on the 9th Annual Conference, held in Leeds last year. I really enjoyed participating in the writing of that report because it gave me a chance to mention the many wonderful paper presentations that I saw. It also happens to include a wonderful article by my friend Rose Ferrell from Australia (who just completed her Phd thesis which you can access here) about the concept of National voice and how much of our national voice filters into our writers voice
Of course my mind is already rolling with ideas about how to write about this most recent conference at a Otago University. Right now I will enjoy this copy of the Journal looking at the book reviews and the articles with a new kind of focus. The new goal is to find reasons to bring students to read these types of academic journals and discuss them in class — and to find more college libraries that will subscribe so they can have the Journal on hand for their screenwriting students!
If you work for a university – give The Journal of Screenwriting a read!
In the groundbreaking work, Thomas Hine examines the American teenager as a social invention shaped by the needs of the twentieth century. With intelligence, insight, imagination, and humorm he traces the culture of youth in America-from the spiritual trials of young Puritans and the vision quests of Native Americans to the media-blitzed consumerism of contempory thirteen-to-nineteen -year-olds. The resulting study is a glorious appreciation of youth that challenges us to confront our sterotypesm, rethink our expectations, and consider anew the lives of those individuals who are blessing, our bane, and our future. — Amazon
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!
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
On Mon, October 23, 2017 (7:30 PM – 9:00 PM) I’ll be moderating another panel for the WGA Foundation. This one is near and dear to my heart as it’s on writing with the teenage voice: Freaks, Geeks, And Queen Bees: Crafting The Teenage Voice For TV.
Chuck Rosin of Beverly Hills, 90210 has agreed to join the panel and invites are out to folks on other iconic teen shows – I’ll update you as I know. General Admission is $25 / WGA or SAG members and Student tickets are $20.
From BEVERLY HILLS, 90210 and DAWSON’S CREEK to GOSSIP GIRL and RIVERDALE, television shows set in the world of teenagers have evolved through the years but still tackle the myriad issues young people face in this period of awkwardness and angst.
On this special evening, our panel discusses the craft behind writing with the teenage voice in mind, how they develop characters and refresh tried-and-true plots, and how writers are reinventing and reimagining the genre.
Panelists:
Charles Rosin (SOUTH OF NOWHERE, DAWSON’S CREEK, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210) Stay tuned for more panelist announcements!
Moderated by Dr. Rosanne Welch (TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, BEVERLY HILLS, 90210)
Doors open at 7:00pm. Event starts at 7:30pm.
All events advertised on our “Events” page are open to anyone who wants to buy a ticket – not just WGA members!
In the case the event is sold out, we will have a first come, first serve stand-by line at the event. The stand-by line does not guarantee entry into the event.
Proceeds benefit the Foundation’s library and archive and other outreach programs.
It has often been said that The Monkees gave birth to MTV, which may or may not ever be provable. Certainly, the fact that each episode involved at least two musical montages showed that audiences enjoyed watching their favorite songs visualized and two episodes could be considered long videos ala Michael Jackson’s Thriller, though those were more in the style of documentary.
Jean Powergirl takes the host reigns and welcomes her guest Rosanne Welch, PhD to the show! They’ll be discussing Roseanne’s book, “Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture.”
Transcript:
Rosanne: …and Micky Dolenz, being an actor said, sure, my character plays the drums, I’ll learn to play the drums. I will do that and he is considered by many people nowadays a very proficient drummer. He might not be the greatest drummer of all time, but he has been a drummer for 50 years in concert and people do appreciate the style. So, also what is interesting about him that I mentioned in the show — this ethnic quotient of the show — he had naturally sort of afro curly hair which they flattened for the first season because they felt that that was inappropriate for a young man in America.
Jean: Because they wanted to keep the whiteness that TV shows need to have at the time.
Rosanne: Exactly. Exactly. It is definitely that story.
A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement 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 Rider and Five Easy Pieces.
Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.
Davy We Hardly Knew Ye: Why The Monkees Matter By Janice Harper
One time when I was a little girl, I decided to run away. I stormed out of the house and began marching across the football field behind our home, hell-bent on never seeing my parents again, probably for no better reason than they’d told me to clean up my room. I had no idea where I’d go or how I’d survive, but I knew one thing for sure: I was never going back home, no matter what. And I marched on.
But as I reached the end of the field, I looked down at my watch to see how long it had taken me to make the long trek, only to discover to my horror that it was almost time for The Monkees. I had completely forgotten it was Monkees night, and I had about ten minutes to turn around and run all the way back if I wasn’t going to miss the opening theme song. I still remember standing there, torn between my desire for liberation and my desire for half an hour with Davy Jones. Runaway or not, I wasn’t about to run away from Davy, nor miss an episode of The Monkees.
My ABC-CLIO catalog arrived while we were off in New Zealand at the Screenwriting Research Network Conference and inside it was this page for my latest encyclopedia — which is now available for purchase. Please take am moment to recommend it to your local librarian.
The Monkees also dabbled in super hero adventures by creating the Monkeemen. Because shots of them in Monkeemen costumes appeared in the series’ opening credits, it cemented the idea that the Monkeemen appeared more frequently than they did. Yet only three episodes involved Monkeemen: “I’ve Got a Little Song Here”, “Monkee Chow Mein”, and “I was a 99 lb Weakling”.
My essay is on the 3rd Season, premiere episode “Evolution” by Michael Piller – because I was his script typist when he wrote that as a freelancer and it became his path into getting the job and eventually running the show. But I also get to comment on Beverly Crusher as part of the evolution of working moms on TV – and Will Wheaton as an example of evolving his brand over the course of a long career. — Rosanne
Celebrating 30 years of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Outside In Makes It So is a collection of 174 reviews, one for every story of the show, the four movies and a few bonus extras. Well, we say “reviews,” but we mean that loosely: within these pages, you’ll find scripts, recipes, a Monty Python sketch, a psych test, gossip columns, newspaper ads, a sitcom, a eulogy and a daily log from Riker’s beard, not to mention insightful and thoughtful articles examining Picard-era Star Trek from just about every angle imaginable…and then some!
![17: Even More on Micky Dolenz and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (0:38)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/rmw-power-17-dolenz-3.jpeg)
