movies – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Writing Successful Films into her 60s? Zelda Sears Did It! – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, February 2025

In the decade between 1924 and 1934 Zelda Sears earned credits on over 27 films for everything from having one of her plays adapted to adapting her own theatrical scripts to writing original scripts directly for the screen.

Born Zelda Paldi in 1873 in Brockway Township, Michigan she made her way to Broadway as an actress first, as many women did – and often still do. Since her father, Justin Lewis Paldi had immigrated from Italy the family spoke three languages in their home – Italian, English, and French. Her ability to write helped the family financially from the time as a 12-year-old when she won an essay contest for a local store. The prize – a job as a runner for the store, her first job. At night, Sears studied secretarial skills which earned her a promotion but when she told the boss she really wanted to be a writer, he shifted her to the other business he owned – a newspaper.

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Meet Beulah Marie Dix: Award-Winning Scholar and Anti-War Novelist Turned Screenwriter – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, January 2025

Born on Christmas Day in 1876 in Massachusetts, Dix and her family lived in various cities around the historic state until she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to study English and History at Radcliffe College. There she became the first female to be granted the Sohier Literary Prize, for the best thesis of a Harvard or Radcliffe student. From there it seemed a quick move into the world of writing.

Dix began with books about her favorite subject – the history that surrounded her in Massachusetts. In 1899, at the age of 23, she published Soldier Rigdale: How He Sailed in the Mayflower and How He Served Miles Standish. Her first play, A Rose of Plymouth Town ran for a month in 1902, followed by The Road to Yesterday, which ran for 8 months in 1907. Altogether Dix wrote 18 books and 5 plays before moving into the new world of film.

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Writer, Producer, Agent and Mentor (And Mom to the DeMille Boys) – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, December 2024

The surname DeMille (or de Mille) brings up thoughts of the famous line from Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler’s Sunset Boulevard “Mr. de Mille, I’m ready for my close up” which references silent screen director Cecil. Perhaps people remember his brother, William, who started as a playwright and became a Hollywood director and joined 3rd wife Clara Beranger in founding the film school at the University of Southern California. And sometimes the surname conjures of memories of Tony Award-winning choreographer Agnes de Mille (daughter of William/granddaughter of Beatrice). From now on it should bring up the writer, producer and mentor who worked frequently in both Broadway and Hollywood – Beatrice DeMille. (From here on out we will call her Beatrice to avoid confusion).

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From Silent Murder Mysteries to Andy Hardy’s Americana, Agnes Christine Johnston Wrote it All – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, November 2024

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Save 35% on McFarland Books – One of My Publishers is offering a 35% Discount on Their Catalog This Week!

Save 35% on McFarland Books – One of My Publishers is offering a 35% Discount on Their Catalog This Week!

Along with your other holiday shopping over this Thanksgiving weekend, I’m happy to pass along this lovely discount from McFarland Publishing, the fine folks who published two of my favorite books:

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

AND

When Women Wrote Hollywood: Essays on Female Screenwriters in the Early Film Industry

Direct from the McFarland site, From now through December 2, they are offering a full 35% off ALL of their titles with coupon code HOLIDAY24 at checkout.

See the entire McFarland Catalog

You can buy one of my books — or any other cool pop culture book you find — for yourself or anyone else on your gift list this year.

Happy Holidays!

Celebrate the Daring Dialogue of Women Writers with Dr. Rosanne Welch – Screenwriting Research Network Conference 2004, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechia

With the conference theme “A Conversation Beyond Script,” I decided to use my presentation time to “Celebrate the Daring Dialogue of Women Writers,” which allowed me to introduce the audience to the work of famous female screenwriters, from Anita Loos to Mae West to Lillian Hellman.

Then I delved into some names lesser-known to our international SRN members because they came from the TV world before the great sharing that streaming has offered us. From Gertrude Berg of The Goldbergs in the 1950s to Susan Harris (Soap, Golden Girls) and Linda Bloodworth Thomason (Designing Women) we covered the progressive (and often controversial) topics they brought to mainstream Americans.

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She Co-Wrote ‘The Maltese Falcon’ But You’ve Never Heard Her Name – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, October 2024

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“Writing Females in Leadership Roles” WGA Panel Now Online [Video]

Since there’s been so much talk this week about mothers being proud of their highly accomplished children it’s a wonderful week to share the link to the latest Writers Guild Foundation panel co-sponsored by the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting covering the topic of “Writing Females in Leadership Roles”.

Moderated by our Executive Director Dr. Rosanne Welch the panel includes three writers from shows that celebrate female leaders from the real-life 23-year-old Miep Gies who hid Anne Frank’s family to real-life First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Obama, and Betty Ford to the fictional female leaders of Station 19. Many thanks to Joan Rater (A Small Light), Zora Bikangaga (The First Lady), and especially to our Stephens College MFA alum Alexandra Fernandez (Station 19) for joining us to discuss everything from our childhood role models of female leadership (mostly moms and aunties) to the traits we expect to see in our leaders, to the nuts and bolts of working in a television writers room.

Serial Queen Ruth Ann Baldwin Knew How to Craft a Cliffhanger – Dr. Rosanne Welch, Script Magazine, August 2024

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Our Book, “Civil War on Film” Now As An Affordable Paperback! – Pre-now for August 22, 2024 Release

One of the benefits of the merger between our first publisher – ABC-Clio – and Bloomsbury Publishing is that Bloomsbury is a larger, more international company with more reach. What that means for my co-writer, Peg Lamphier and me is that our book, The Civil War on Film, will be available in paperback with a $26.95 price tag (much more accessible than the hardback version that is $63) on August 22, 2024.

So if you’ve always wanted to read what Peg and I have to say about which Civil War films are the most honestly historical (spoiler alert – it’s Glory) now’s your time to buy a copy! We were so pleased to include chapters on such great films as Friendly Persuasion (1957); Gettysburg (1993); Gangs of New York (2002); Lincoln (2012); and Free State of Jones (2016)

As they move forward they plan to release American Women’s History on Film in paperback as well so stay tuned!

The Civil War on Film at the Bloomsbury Publishing Web Site