Women Make Horror: Filmmaking, Feminism, Genre, Alison Peirse (ed.) (2020)

Review of: Women Make Horror: Filmmaking, Feminism, Genre, Alison Peirse (ed.) (2020) Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 270 pp., ISBN 978-1-97880-512-5, h/bk, $120.00 ISBN 978-1-97880-511-8, p/bk, $29.95

Fear and wonderment in a limitless world: Learning to write from a child’s point of view

During my 25 years working as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, I developed a reputation as a writer who could craft vivid and believable scripts about young people. Initially, this was based on my teleplay for the first episode of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories series, and later for the semi-autobiographical Josh and S.A.M. released by Columbia Pictures. I also wrote uncredited revisions of DreamWorks’s Small Soldiers and Castle Rock’s Alaska, both involving prominent child characters. I have to confess that my reputation for writing content for children and adolescents realistically did not stem from any natural ability. It came from mining my personal childhood memories, and from studying movies and literature I felt authentically captured what it is like to be new in the world. This text explores my journey writing from a child’s perspective.

Just dancing with ideology? The role of dramaturgs within the socialist mode of children’s film development

The dramaturgs of the Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft (DEFA), the GDR’s state-owned film production company, played a particular role in socialist children’s film culture. Within the production process, they acted as important mediators as well as developed themes and defended them before the state film censors. In this article, I argue that screenwriting for children and the changing role of the dramaturg were remarkable inasmuch as the creative collaboration between authors, dramaturgs and directors became a collective process of navigating between politics, education, film and the young audience that can reasonably be described as ‘collective authorship’. First, I will show how DEFA children’s film production was an example of the ‘state-socialist mode of children’s film production’ and examine Szczepanik’s model in the light of the current question. Following this, I will examine the structural and practical development of children’s film production in view of both official images of the child and the images of children anticipated by the filmmakers. At the same time, I will discuss the role of dramaturgs as participants in a collective authorship process.

The Science of Writing Characters, Kira-Anne Pelican (2020)

Review of: The Science of Writing Characters, Kira-Anne Pelican (2020) New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 200 pp., ISBN 978-1-50135-724-4, p/bk, $26.95; h/bk, $90.00; Kindle, $24.25

Backwards & In Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film, Alicia Malone (2017)

Review of: Backwards & In Heels: The Past, Present and Future of Women Working in Film, Alicia Malone (2017) Coral Gables, FL: Mango Publishing Group, 242 pp., ISBN 978-1-63353-617-3, p/bk, £12.99

Writing inclusive and diverse children’s television: Transgender representation in ABC Australia’s First Day

This article presents a case study of the Australian children’s television programme, First Day (ABC Australia 2020–present), which depicts a young transgender girl’s experiences beginning high school. The article explores the screenwriting process involved in creating inclusive and diverse children’s television, drawing on an original interview with Julie Kalceff, the show’s screenwriter and director. Kalceff discusses her screenwriting process writing for and about children who occupy liminal and marginal spaces and the research, writing and consultation processes undertaken to create her pioneering work with trans characters as lead protagonists. The resulting series explores the universal experience of starting the high school journey, while allowing for a normalizing of gender diversity on-screen – hopefully the first of many of its type in the future. By foregrounding historically marginalized characters, screenwriters can explore universal social, psychological and physical trials, and in the process, break down stigmas surrounding LGBTQ people.

A Tale from Constantinople: The History of a Film that Never Was, Bo Florin and Patrick Vonderau (2019)

Review of: A Tale from Constantinople: The History of a Film that Never Was, Bo Florin and Patrick Vonderau (2019) Höör: Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposion, 248 pp., ISBN 978-9-18748-341-7, p/bk, SEK 200 (approx. $24)