On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch
Writing, Film, Television and More!
Though born in 1894 in Washington, D.C., the family business was theatre, not the politics of President Grover Cleveland’s administration. With an actor for a father – Henry Dupree Sinclair – the future Ruth Sinclair would also begin her career on the stage before turning to film, where she wrote for silent stars such as Lillian Gish, Greta Garbo, and Joan Crawford.
Read about more women from early Hollywood
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Recently, I was asked to make a short presentation to the faculty of Stephens College about the newest book I edited alongside my dear friend and Screenwriting Research colleague Rose Ferrell. Shaping Global Cultures Through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds.
I was happy to discuss the inspiration for the book, which came from a conversation Rose and I had during a conference. That’s one of the best things about gathering for conferences – the casual conversations that create new collaborations.
I was also happy to discuss the way we arranged the book in “Worlds” because continents are the easiest classification. I give a quick thumbnail of one chapter in each of those Worlds to highlight what type of social or legal advocacy the screenwriter in discussion addressed. It was lovely to be reminded of all the interesting stories told by the writers of each chapter and to appreciate the cultural diversity of storytelling around the world that Intellect made possible by publishing the book.
Chapters cover a spectrum of storytelling from artists offering a window into how women around the world use the screen to advocate for social or legal change. For example, the Samoan performance artist Angela Tiatia, known for her 2014 work, ‘Walking the Wall.” Tiatia displays her Malu Tatau tattoo, which symbolizes the preservation and documentation of cultural practice and identity in online spaces.
One chapter focuses on a junior Pacific Islander lawyer who created a music video calling on the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on climate change, a matter of concern as rising sea levels threaten the homes and histories of island communities. Other readings in the book examine the film “Kajillionaire” by Miranda July as a platform for imagining queer utopias, the transformative power of the female gaze in the Italian documentary “Trial for Rape,” and the frequently ignored creative roles and contributions that women make behind the scenes of the beloved children’s television show “Bluey.”
It was a pleasure to make this presentation for my colleagues. I hope you enjoy it, too.
In the Silent Era, before the existence of the Hays Code (and largely a cause for it), many female screenwriters wrote heroines who flouted the brazen sexual freedom of the new century, a specialty of Josephine “Jo” Lovett. Born in October 1877 in San Francisco Lovett would spend some time as a lead actress on the Broadway stage before moving to Los Angeles to both act and write what were called scenarios for the bulk of her career.
Read Sexual Liberation 1920s Style: The Screenwriting Career of Josephine Lovett
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Born on April 25, 1899 in St. Louis, Missouri to Alice Kern and Robert M. Yost, Dorothy moved to Los Angeles to work in the burgeoning film industry and clearly succeeded in that goal. By the time she died in 1967 Yost had written over 80 films and achieved what many other writers did not – thriving in both Silent Films and into the Sound Era. Interestingly, it was her foray into film that brought her journalist brother Robert Yost into the film industry after she found her footing there. Her first screenwriting credit came in 1920, his in 1935 after some years on the staff of local newspapers, as publicity director for Fox West Coast Studios and finally head of the scenario department for Fox.
Read From Missouri to Musicals: The Screenwriting Career of Dorothy Yost
Read about more women from early Hollywood
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Dr. Welch To Judge 2025 Moonshot Initiative Film Challenge
I’m proud to have been asked to serve as a judge for this year’s Moonshot Initiative Film Challenge, designed to help students “Make a short film in one weekend and meet women and gender-expansive people in every role of production”. It takes place in October 2025, in New York.
Moonshot provides cinema-quality equipment courtesy of their sponsors, production insurance, stipends to submit to film fests and more!
You do have to be a member to apply and membership costs $112 a year. If accepted, it is FREE to participate in the challenge. Applications will be open from August 1-31.
It’s my first time being invited to judge the writing in this challenge, and I’m looking forward to reading some innovative scripts that move me emotionally and have something to say about the world.
![Rosanne Presents on Shaping Global Cultures Through Screenwriting – Stephens College [Video]](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/rmw-sgc-book-cover-2.jpg)
