Category talk:Women screenwriters

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We definitely need an article about this -- even today women screenwriters appear to be in a distinct minority. The history of women writing for film & TV would be very interesting, as well as some statistics over time; discussion of relevant organizations that support women screenwriters; history of representation on awards; etc. I'll start thinking about it and gathering information for the article, but perhaps if someone else is more on the ball they can get started. --lquilter 13:48, 20 April 2007 (UTC):Agreed. I would be happy to do some editing but it is not my field so would take some time to work anything up myself. But as a general principle I think we should think of doing articles on, ideally, all of these sub-categories. (Just after we end world hunger but before we achieve world peace.) — scribbling  woman  15:46, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

population explosion
I went through all the American, Canadian & British Screenwriters and added Women Screenwriters to all the Women. However I am sure there are many left out there. I also got a worms eye view of all the radically variant styles people are using and flagged a few stubs I intend to go back and work on. I will probably cruise around WP and find some more women to add to the category. Considering how many nonsense categories WP has already allowed deleting this one is absurd - besides they would destroy all my hard work. EraserGirl (talk) 00:45, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

screenwriter miniproject
I have begun working on women screenwriter articles, so far only Anita Loos and Jay Presson Allen are approaching completion. The research is slow, aside from a few autobiographies, biographical information is spartan. EraserGirl (talk) 06:26, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Alice Guy Blache
This is an article that I've researched. Just thought I'd add it for anyone who wants to read. Women have been involved in the film industry since its birth, from Alice Guy Blache’s “The Cabbage Fairy,” to women’s movements in the 1960s and today with women screenwriters who have won Oscars for their dedication and hard work. However, the first generation women have had a profound impact on society and the silent films of the early twentieth century in order to create a public voice for women of the future. English professor Anne Morey has taught many of the film classes offered at Texas A&M and has a wide background of film, but she specializes in silent film and takes an interest in women screenwriters of the silent film era. Morey was first interested in film when she saw a series of films in New York in the 1980’s run by the Thames Live Cinema silent film festival. These films were exhibited in Radio City Music Hall shown in their original silver nitrate prints. “Silver nitrate prints have a kind of charisma…it’s really quite compelling,” Morey said. The professor has been more interested in the first half of the 20th century saying there is a whole aspect of a kind of cultural archeology and silent film is a way into that moment. When considering the place of women among screenwriters in the 1910’s, Morey said that women were rather more present and more dominant in the field than they were to become. “There was a lot more freedom to enter the film industry in the 1910’s than there was later on. The stakes rise in terms of cost, as each decade goes by,” Morey said. She said the barriers to entry went up gradually, such as when sound entered the film industry in the 1920s, for both corporations and individuals new to the business. Women tended to come out from behind the scenes in the 1930s and 40s in order to act in films that were written by men. However, Morey said there were lots of female directors in the 1910’s and later. “Probably the most valuable screenwriter in the American film industry in the 1920’s and into the 1930’s was Francis Marion,” Morey said. Francis Marion impacted the silent film world with her versatile acting and editing talents, but she preferred screenwriting. In her biography, an Academy Leader named Gavin Lambert said Marion was “as prolific as the silent screen itself.” Some of Marion’s silent film works included: “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1917), “M'Liss” (1918), and “The Love Light” (1921). Morey said, “One thing that is interesting in looking at female screenwriters is discovering their sheer presence in the film industry and their importance during this period.” In Marion’s entire career she authored approximately 136 produced screenplays which is said to be an enormous amount compared to today’s standards of about ten screenplays for the average screenwriter. Other women screenwriters of the time included Anita Loos, author of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and Jeanie Macpherson, an actress turned screenwriter and also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. Morey said she has been interested in the phenomenon of screenwriting during the silent and early sound periods as a way of inviting the American public in. The border of film in that early time period could be easily crossed at times when competitions would be held for the average person to try out for their big break. Morey said directors would run contests for people to be discovered and appear in films. This was one way many young women made it to Hollywood. commstudent(talk)

Women screenwriters
I have been researching this subject for quite some time. I will probably write an article on the topic, after I finish a few more biographies. If you are interested in reading more on this topic, I am building a |bibliography on my user page. Please suggest more titles. EraserGirl (talk) 16:40, 18 March 2008 (UTC)