Tag: books

Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)

The Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting is building a relationship with the Autry Museum of the American West since both organizations are devoted to bringing out more diverse and untold stories.  Last year we were able to take our cohort of graduating MFA candidates to the museum’s theatre for a showing of Michael Wilson’s Salt of the Earth and we had plans to present a film of our choice this year – but of course the pandemic changed all that.  Instead, Autry Curator Josh Garrett-Davis asked me if I would sit for an interview about female screenwriters in the western genre and so “When Women Wrote Westerns” came to be a part of their “What Is a Western? Interview Series”. 

I had a great time discussing so many wonderful women writers – from Jeanne MacPherson to D.C. Fontana to Edna Ferber to Emily Andras.  If you love westerns I suggest you watch Josh’s other interviews covering everything from the work of Native Americans in Western movies to films in the western-horror hybrid. — RMW Rosanne Signature for Web

Watch Dr. Rosanne Welch on What Is a Western? Interview Series: When Women Wrote Westerns from the Autry Museum of the American West [Video] (27 minutes)

As part of a series exploring the significance of the Western genre and the ways in which the movies shape our understanding of the American West, Autry Curator Josh Garrett-Davis interviews Professor Rosanne Welch about the women screenwriters of Hollywood and their contributions to the Western genre.

Find more information at the Autry Museum of the American West

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Related posts:

  1. 07 African-American Writers In History from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (53 seconds)
  2. 01 Introduction from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 18 seconds)
  3. 14 Beetlejuice from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute 16 seconds)
  4. Listen to the latest “How I Wrote That” Podcast with Screenwriter Julie Hébert from ‘American Crime’ and ‘Man in the High Castle’
  5. “When Women Wrote Hollywood”, Dr. Rosanne Welch, Cal State University, Fullerton [Video] (53 minutes, 30 seconds)

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films via PolyCentric [News]

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films via PolyCentric [News]

Recently my co-author Peg Lamphier and I sat for an interview about our Civil War on Film book to discuss the American film industry’s depiction of the American Civil War and the mythologies and ideologies surrounding the experience of that war. 

We completely destroy any idea that there is something noble and admirable about the Confederacy. There is not. They fought to preserve human bondage. That should be morally revolting to all twenty-first century Americans and the fact that it is not is a testament to how far we still have to go to heal the wounds of our nation’s history of slavery.

Suddenly, the book seems even more timely than when we began writing it 2 years ago. — Rosanne

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films 

For their third book project, lecturers Peg Lamphier and Roseanne Welch, in the Department of Interdisciplinary General Education, decided to write a book examining the American film industry’s depiction of the American Civil War. In their book, “The Civil War on Film,” the authors contend that American films are filled with mythologies and ideologies surrounding the experience of the war and further research is required to uncover the full, real history.

New Book by IGE Lecturers Critique the Civil War in Films via PolyCentric [News]

Peg Lamphier and Roseanne Welch, lecturers in the Department of Interdisciplinary General Education, team up on their third book, which examines the American film industry’s depiction of the American Civil War.

According to the authors, the Civil War, which occurred from 1861-1865, is contested ground both among historians and the general public. They argue that most are clear about the anti-slavery aims of the war, as well as the fundamentally treasonous nature of succession, but neo-Confederates cast the war in terms favorable to their white supremacist agenda.

In a joint statement, Lamphier and Welch wrote, “Our book is entirely unsympathetic to the Neo-Con/Lost Cause agenda and so we’re engaged in a vigorous refutation of a number of pro-Confederate myths that serve to hamper racial equality in modern America. We hope readers will better understand the nature of the war and the troubled way it’s been filmed as they work through our book. We also hope it shows readers that films always engage in a bit of fictionalization in order to heighten the drama.”

Read this entire article

Other Welch/Lamphier Books

Related posts:

  1. Now Available: The Civil War on Film (Hollywood History) by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier via Instagram
  2. The Civil War On Film – 3 in a series – “…films doomed to be mediocre at best and ideologically horrifying at worst.”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  4. Now Available: The Civil War on Film (Hollywood History) by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier
  5. The Civil War On Film – 9 in a series – The earliest films were pro-Union…

The Civil War On Film – 15 in a series – “…a Civilization gone with the wind.”

The Civil War On Film - 15 in a series -

Then the scrolling text promises the audience a story about “a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.”

Movies profiled in this book:

Related posts:

  1. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  2. The Civil War On Film – 4 in a series – “…the entire slave economy stood as a shining moment of magnolias and gentility.”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 12 in a series – Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced…
  4. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”
  5. The Civil War On Film – 14 in a series – “Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did”

45 Universal Themes in Samantha! from Brazil from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (37 seconds)

Watch this entire presentation

45 Universal Themes in Samantha! from Brazil from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (37 seconds)

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

 

Transcript:

So when I watched Samantha!, I thought, “Okay so how does this work? Oh, you know what? Pretty universal. She wants to be important. She wants to matter in the world. That’s what everybody wants, right, and she wants to be loved. That’s — that’s ridiculously universal but every story that teaches that theme just gives you the details the writer had to offer and to me, that’s one of the most beautiful things because that’s how we learn we’re all the same. All this nonsense — about borders and walls and things I don’t want to talk about — it’s nonsense because we’re all the same right? That’s what we need to learn.

Watch this entire presentation

A Note About This Presentation

A clip from my keynote speech at the 10th Screenwriters´(hi)Stories Seminar for the interdisciplinary Graduation Program in “Education, Art, and History of Culture”, in Mackenzie Presbyterian University, at São Paulo, SP, Brazil, focused on the topic “Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered.” I was especially pleased with the passion these young scholars have toward screenwriting and it’s importance in transmitting culture across the man-made borders of our world.

To understand the world we have to understand its stories and to understand the world’s stories we must understand the world’s storytellers. A century ago and longer those people would have been the novelists of any particular country but since the invention of film, the storytellers who reach the most people with their ideas and their lessons have been the screenwriters. My teaching philosophy is that: Words matter, Writers matter, and Women writers matte, r so women writers are my focus because they have been the far less researched and yet they are over half the population. We cannot tell the stories of the people until we know what stories the mothers have passed down to their children. Those are the stories that last. Now is the time to research screenwriters of all cultures and the stories they tell because people are finally recognizing the work of writers and appreciating how their favorite stories took shape on the page long before they were cast, or filmed, or edited. But also because streaming services make the stories of many cultures now available to a much wider world than ever before.

Many thanks to Glaucia Davino for the invitation.


 

* 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. 44 Samantha! from Brazil from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute)
  2. 41 UK TV In The US from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (39 seconds)
  3. 06 Stories Are Important! from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (51 seconds)
  4. 40 The Almighty Johnsons from New Zealand from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute 12 seconds)
  5. 05 Do You Know Who Wrote Your Favorite Films? from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (51 seconds)

The Civil War On Film – 14 in a series – “Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did”

The Civil War On Film - 14 in a series -

Yet Mitchell created a heroine who never glorified the “Lost Cause” the way other characters in the movie did. In fact, Mitchell urged producer David O. Selznick to hire her friend, Susan Myrick, a newspaper columnist from Macon, Georgia, as a technical consultant precisely because of her “common sense and utter lack of sentimentality about ‘The Old South’” (Flamini 1975). Yet, in spite of Scarlett’s own practical attitude, the film does glorify the Old South and conform to Lost Cause mythology.

Movies profiled in this book:

Related posts:

  1. The Civil War On Film – 11 in a series – “This national enthusiasm for the Lost Cause…”
  2. The Civil War On Film – 8 in a series – “…Lost Cause adherents deny the immorality and cruelty of slavery….”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  4. The Civil War On Film – 12 in a series – Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced…
  5. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”

44 Samantha! from Brazil from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute)

Watch this entire presentation

44 Samantha! from Brazil from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute)

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

 

Transcript:

In watching Brazilian television I found Samanta! which I thought is adorable. I’m amazed we haven’t copied that in the United States yet because this experience of being a child star is something that is, sadly, universal and I think that it’s important to realize that a program can travel to many cultures because themes are universal and that’s why when we start writing from a theme we know that it’s something that going to work. We talked about Harry Potter this morning. It amazes me that we’re talking about a billion-dollar piece of merchandise that is entirely built around the theme, you have to have friends. You have to have friends you can trust. That’s all. That’s the theme of every single book and every single movie and look how powerful that has been. We need that message. We go to movies and television shows, we go to stories, to learn those messages.

Watch this entire presentation

A Note About This Presentation

A clip from my keynote speech at the 10th Screenwriters´(hi)Stories Seminar for the interdisciplinary Graduation Program in “Education, Art, and History of Culture”, in Mackenzie Presbyterian University, at São Paulo, SP, Brazil, focused on the topic “Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered.” I was especially pleased with the passion these young scholars have toward screenwriting and it’s importance in transmitting culture across the man-made borders of our world.

To understand the world we have to understand its stories and to understand the world’s stories we must understand the world’s storytellers. A century ago and longer those people would have been the novelists of any particular country but since the invention of film, the storytellers who reach the most people with their ideas and their lessons have been the screenwriters. My teaching philosophy is that: Words matter, Writers matter, and Women writers matte, r so women writers are my focus because they have been the far less researched and yet they are over half the population. We cannot tell the stories of the people until we know what stories the mothers have passed down to their children. Those are the stories that last. Now is the time to research screenwriters of all cultures and the stories they tell because people are finally recognizing the work of writers and appreciating how their favorite stories took shape on the page long before they were cast, or filmed, or edited. But also because streaming services make the stories of many cultures now available to a much wider world than ever before.

Many thanks to Glaucia Davino for the invitation.


 

* 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. 40 The Almighty Johnsons from New Zealand from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute 12 seconds)
  2. 43 Murdoch Mysteries from Canada from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute)
  3. 22 More On The Auteur Theory from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute)
  4. 08 Jeannie Macpherson from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute 3 seconds)
  5. 12 Who Wrote What? from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute 9 seconds)

The Civil War On Film – 13 in a series – Movies that make dubious historical claims can provide rich opportunities for learning…

The Civil War On Film - 13 in a series - Movies that make dubious historical claims can provide rich opportunities for learning...

Movies that make dubious historical claims can provide rich opportunities for learning. Each of the movies we chose for this volume do a different kind of work and were ‘big’ enough films that they are still widely available should a reader chose to watch them. We also tried to pick films that covered a wide swath of film history or were representative of a certain type of Civil War movie. Most importantly, each film allows for a discussion of different facets of Civil War history.

Movies profiled in this book:

Related posts:

  1. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  2. The Civil War On Film – 2 in a series – “…movies not only wear history at best as a loose garment…”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 12 in a series – Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced…
  4. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”
  5. Now Available: The Civil War on Film (Hollywood History) by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier via Instagram

43 Murdoch Mysteries from Canada from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute)

Watch this entire presentation

43 Murdoch Mysteries from Canada from Why Researching Screenwriters Has Always Mattered [Video] (1 minute)

 

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

 

Transcript:

This is a police program it’s from the police — it’s a period drama. So it’s the police in 1902 in Toronto, Canada and so they don’t have guns and for an American to watch a policeman who can arrest people without putting a gun in their face is an amazing experience because we’re far too used to shoot-’em-ups right? So i am pleased with the idea that a younger generation of children are watching people do this job without violence and he’s the most famous detective. It’s the number one show in Canada. So i love the idea that you know you would think that we know a lot about Canada. The other funny thing is because it’s a period drama, they introduce us to famous Canadians in history — people who grow up to be Prime Ministers or one was the first woman lawyer in Canada and we never study Canadian history in the United States, so we’ll watch the program and that’s how I’ve learned more Canadian history in my life.

Watch this entire presentation

A Note About This Presentation

A clip from my keynote speech at the 10th Screenwriters´(hi)Stories Seminar for the interdisciplinary Graduation Program in “Education, Art, and History of Culture”, in Mackenzie Presbyterian University, at São Paulo, SP, Brazil, focused on the topic “Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered.” I was especially pleased with the passion these young scholars have toward screenwriting and it’s importance in transmitting culture across the man-made borders of our world.

To understand the world we have to understand its stories and to understand the world’s stories we must understand the world’s storytellers. A century ago and longer those people would have been the novelists of any particular country but since the invention of film, the storytellers who reach the most people with their ideas and their lessons have been the screenwriters. My teaching philosophy is that: Words matter, Writers matter, and Women writers matte, r so women writers are my focus because they have been the far less researched and yet they are over half the population. We cannot tell the stories of the people until we know what stories the mothers have passed down to their children. Those are the stories that last. Now is the time to research screenwriters of all cultures and the stories they tell because people are finally recognizing the work of writers and appreciating how their favorite stories took shape on the page long before they were cast, or filmed, or edited. But also because streaming services make the stories of many cultures now available to a much wider world than ever before.

Many thanks to Glaucia Davino for the invitation.


 

* 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 Jeannie Macpherson from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute 3 seconds)
  2. 22 More On The Auteur Theory from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute)
  3. 12 Who Wrote What? from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute 9 seconds)
  4. 16 Robert Riskin from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (1 minute)
  5. 01 Introduction from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (1 minute)

Top On Screenwriting and Media Blog Posts for 2020

Top On Screenwriting and Media Blog Posts for 2020

Related posts:

  1. 2020 Jan Marino Scholarship to Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Announced at SeriesFest [Video]
  2. Event: Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Online Open House – Thursday, April 23, 2020
  3. Event: Stephens MFA in TV and Screenwriting Online Open House – Wednesday, November 18, 2020 – 4pm PST
  4. Save The Date! – Rosanne at SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies) Conference, April 1-5, 2020, Denver Colorado
  5. Learn More About the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting with this Open House Session [Video]

The Civil War On Film – 12 in a series – Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced…

The Civil War On Film - 12 in a series - Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced...

Though the NAACP had little success banning the film, in part because film boards were all white and in part because the film was a monster success, they did prompt a national discussion about the film’s racism. Reformer Jane Addams condemned the film as ahistorical and prejudiced, while President Woodrow Wilson, himself an ex-historian (if such a creature can be said to exist), believed the film “terribly true.”

Movies profiled in this book:

Related posts:

  1. The Civil War On Film – 5 in a series – “In our Civil War we didn’t fight outsiders…”
  2. The Civil War On Film – 6 in a series – “…the so-called Irrepressible Conflict.”
  3. The Civil War On Film – 4 in a series – “…the entire slave economy stood as a shining moment of magnolias and gentility.”
  4. The Civil War On Film – 11 in a series – “This national enthusiasm for the Lost Cause…”
  5. The Civil War On Film – 3 in a series – “…films doomed to be mediocre at best and ideologically horrifying at worst.”