Tag: women in film

Why Emma Thompson’s Writing Stands Out by Dr. Rosanne Welch

Why Emma Thompson’s Writing Stands Out by Dr. Rosanne Welch

In doing some research on YouTube I stumbled onto the speech Hugh Laurie gave in celebration of Emma Thompson receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. What struck me is that at 2:52, after joking a bit about having known each other since they were in their late teens in college together, Hugh gets to the meat of why Emma Thompson deserves the star. It’s for her WRITING.

Yes, her first Oscar came for Best Actress in Howard’s End, which is where Americans first heard of her. BUT her second Oscar came from adapting a Jane Austen novel into one of my favorite films – Sense and Sensibility (and she cast Hugh in a small part!). She then went on to write several other films (including Wit, the 2 Nanny McPhee movies, and Bridget Jones’s Baby) though many still don’t realize she is a writer.

In this clip, he explains what makes her writing so powerful…a good lesson to us all.

 

 

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  2. 02 Women and Horror Writing from When Women Write Horror with Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (45 seconds)
  3. First Look at our next book – Technical Innovation in American History: An Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
  4. Chase Thompson, Writer, “Writing Around Lois Weber” from When Women Wrote Hollywood
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New History Book: Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life in American History by Keri F. Dearborn, Edited by Dr. Rosanne Welch and Dr. Peg Lamphier.

Eleanor Roosevelt A Life in American History by Keri F. Dearborn

Buy at Your Local Bookstore | Bookshop.org | Amazon | ABC-CLIO

It’s time to celebrate the latest book in our series to be published – Keri Dearborn’s Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life in American History landed on my doorstep yesterday and I couldn’t be more excited to read it (even though I’ve already read it to edit it). It comes on the tail of my having watched The First Lady series on Showtime which we hope has interested a new generation in the life and times of this amazing woman.

As with all of our authors in the series, Keri’s research was fascinating to follow – my favorite new fact was learning (thanks to the release of new primary documents) that the scientists who talked to FDR about the Manhattan Project weren’t able to make an appointment with the president – but one of them was in a social club with Mrs. Roosevelt and used that connection to talk to her first. She’s the one who told FDR he had to meet with them.

Those are the great details all of our authors have found (or are still finding in the books that are being completed in the next year or so). We thank the authors whose books have been published (covering Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Hilary Clinton, and Helen Keller) – and look forward to the ones yet to come which cover the lives of Wilma Mankiller, Ida B. Wells, Sally Ride, and Delores Huerta.

Women Making History Series Description

Women Making History is a series of single-volume books that examine the lives and historical impact of the most iconic figures in American Women’s history.

Books in the Women Making History series explore the lives and contributions of important women in American history. Each volume goes beyond biographical details to consider historical context and explicitly discuss the world in which the individual lived and worked, the challenges she faced, and her lasting contributions. This approach allows readers to explore not just the life of a particular woman but also her various political, social, cultural, and historical contexts. In addition to chronological chapters, sidebars, a timeline, document excerpts, and a bibliography, an introductory chapter explores the cultural and historical significance of the individual and places her in the overall historical context, as well as how her actions, beliefs, or positions influenced not only women’s history but history as a whole.

See the entire series on the ABC-CLIO Web Site

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Women’s Stories Matter – and Earn Awards

Women’s Stories Matter – and Earn Awards

Sian Heder reminded us how hard it is to be both a writer/artist AND a Mom – but we do it anyway — So do it anyway.

AND she won 2 major awards for a film about a young woman chasing a dream. That has happened only 3 other times in Oscar history (for Gigi, West Side Story, My Fair Lady – all musicals). Don’t let them tell you female stories aren’t powerful enough to earn awards – or audiences.

Women’s Stories Matter – and Earn Awards

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  3. From The Journal Of Screenwriting V5 Issue 3: That was then this is now …  The Canyons – with Paul, Bret, James and Lindsay by Alex Munt
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  5. From The “When Women Wrote Hollywood Archives 35: The Collected Lorna Moon

Dr. Rosanne Welch Guests on Women in Film & Video DC Oscar Panel Podcast [Audio]

60854458c4d1acdf4e1c2f79c4137142d85d78e379bdafbd69bd34c85f5819adAs a warm-up to the upcoming Oscar ceremony, the Women in Film DC podcast invited me in my position as Executive Director of the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting to a panel discussion about the women who have won Oscars from the beginning of the famed award ceremony. Having watched most of the ceremonies from the time I sat in front of the TV in my grandparents’ house cross-legged and begged to stay up past 11pm on a Sunday/school night, I had plenty of information.  Then, as editor of When Women Wrote Hollywood I had the chance to talk about the many female screenwriters whose names aren’t well known, but who wrote or otherwise contributed to films from Queen Christina (Salka Viertel) to It’s a Wonderful Life (Frances Hackett) to The Piano (Jane Campion).

Listen to this podcast

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Women in Film & Video DC

From Media & Monuments…

Topics that come up include women’s writers penchant for using their art for social justice, how the rise of the studio-as-factory system affected female employment, and how will streaming services change what films can be made – and can be nominated. I hope you enjoy the listen:

Ahead of the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, board member Sandra Abrams sits down with two amazing women to discuss Oscar’s history on nominations of women in non-actor categories. Our guests are Dr. Rosanne Welch, Executive Director of the MFA in TV and Screenwriting Program at Stephens College, and Leslie Combemale, a syndicated film critic known as Cinema Siren, and the creator and host of WomenRockingHollywood – an annual panel at Comic Con in San Diego which highlights female filmmakers. The women reflect on female representation throughout Hollywood’s and the awards show’s history, how it has changed, and what they see for the future.

For more Oscar information

Dr. Rosanne Welch

Leslie Combemale: https://cinemasiren.com/ and https://lesliecombemale.com/ and https://womenrockinghollywood.com/

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  3. Stephens College MFA Alumni Chase Thompson and Michael Burke Talk About Their MFA Experience on the Starcatcher Podcast [Audio Except]
  4. Learn More About the Stephens College MFA in TV and Screenwriting with this Open House Session [Video]
  5. 05 Do You Know Who Wrote Your Favorite Films? from Why Researching Screenwriters (has Always) Mattered [Video] (51 seconds)

A Woman Wrote That – 29 in a series – You’ve Got Mail (1998), Writer: Nora Ephron

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 29 in a series - You've Got Mail (1998), Writer: Nora Ephron

JOE

 

Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

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  4. A Woman Wrote That – 22 in a series – Bring It On! (2000), Writer, Jessica Bendinger
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A Woman Wrote That – 22 in a series – Bring It On! (2000), Writer, Jessica Bendinger

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 22 in a series - Bring It On! (2000), Writer, Jessica Bendinger

TORRANCE

You’re a great cheerleader, Aaron, and you’re cute as hell, but maybe you’re just not ‘boyfriend’ material.

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Where’s Her Movie? Sculptor, Selma Burke – 15 in a series

“Where’s HER Movie” posts will highlight interesting and accomplished women from a variety of professional backgrounds who deserve to have movies written about them as much as all the male scientists, authors, performers, and geniuses have had written about them across the over 100 years of film.  This is our attempt to help write these women back into mainstream history.  — Rosanne

Where's Her Movie? Sculptor, Selma Burke - 14 in a series

Selma Hortense Burke (December 31, 1900 – August 29, 1995) was an American sculptor and a member of the Harlem Renaissance movement.[1] Burke is best known for a bas relief portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that inspired the profile found on the obverse of the dime.[2] She described herself as “a people’s sculptor” and created many pieces of public art, often portraits of prominent African-American figures like Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune and Booker T. Washington.[3][4] In 1979, she was awarded the Women’s Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award[5]

— Wikipedia

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Where’s Her Movie? US Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Maria Sotomayor – 14 in a series

“Where’s HER Movie” posts will highlight interesting and accomplished women from a variety of professional backgrounds who deserve to have movies written about them as much as all the male scientists, authors, performers, and geniuses have had written about them across the over 100 years of film.  This is our attempt to help write these women back into mainstream history.  — Rosanne

Where's Her Movie? Us Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Maria Sotomayor - 14 in a series

Sonia Maria Sotomayor (Spanish: [ˈsonja sotomaˈʝoɾ];[1] born June 25, 1954)[2] is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009 and has served since August 8, 2009. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic and Latina member of the Court.[3][a]

 — Wikipedia

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Where’s Her Movie? Educator, Salomé Ureña – 13 in a series

“Where’s HER Movie” posts will highlight interesting and accomplished women from a variety of professional backgrounds who deserve to have movies written about them as much as all the male scientists, authors, performers, and geniuses have had written about them across the over 100 years of film.  This is our attempt to help write these women back into mainstream history.  — Rosanne

Where's Her Movie? Educator, Salomé Ureña - 13 in a series

Salomé Ureña (October 21, 1850 – March 6, 1898) was a Dominican poet and an early proponent of women’s higher education in the Dominican Republic.

Around 1881, Salomé with the help of her husband opened one of the first centers of higher education for young women in the Dominican Republic, which she named “Instituto de Señoritas”. Within five years, the first six female teachers had graduated from the Institute, something uncommon at the time. — Wikipedia

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A Woman Wrote That – 19 in a series – You’ve Got Mail (1998), Writer: Nora Ephron

This new “A Woman Wrote That” post is an echo of the Writers Guild campaign of a few years ago (“A Writer Wrote That”) where they noted famous movie quotes and credited the screenwriter rather than the director.  The difference here being that we will be posting lines from films written by female screenwriters.  Feel free to share! — Rosanne

A Woman Wrote That - 19 in a series - You've Got Mail (1998), Writer: Nora Ephron

KATHLEEN

When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.

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  4. A Woman Wrote That – 17 in a series – Father of the Bride (1991), Writer: Nancy Meyers
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