Contact

Phone: 470-578-6297

Email: aweinst6@kennesaw.edu

Office Location: EB 108

Office Hours:
By appointment

Research

    book cover       book cover

"This book answers all the hard questions every aspiring writer asks and the rest of the screenwriting manuals avoid. It's astonishing that this essential addition to every screenwriting library hasn't existed before—and a cause for celebration that it finally does now."

—William Rabkin, Writing the Pilot

"An essential book – so accessible, so beautifully written, so encouraging and realistic and specific. It covers all the bases. Anyone contemplating a career as a screenwriter MUST read this book!"

—Dr. Linda Seger, When Women Call the Shots

  •   Writing Women for Film & Television

     

    Writing Women book cover

    Writing Women for Film & Television (Routledge, 2023) is a detailed guide to creating complex female characters for film and television. Written for screen storytellers of any level, this book will help screenwriters and filmmakers recognize complicated portrayals of women on screen and evaluate the complexity of their own characters. Writing Women for Film & Television provides a thorough analysis of key female characters in film and television, illustrating how some of our greatest screenwriters have developed smart, nuanced, and intriguing characters that successfully portray the female experience.

    The book features in-depth discussions of women’s representation both on screen and behind the scenes, including interviews with acclaimed women screenwriters and directors from around the globe. These conversations detail their perspectives on the relevance of women’s screen stories, the writing and development processes of these stories, and the challenges in getting female characters to the screen.

    With practical suggestions, guidelines, and a review of tired clichés to avoid, this book leaves readers prepared to draw their own female characters with confidence. A vital resource for screenwriters, filmmakers, and directors, whether aspiring or already established, who seek to champion the development of rich, layered, and unforgettable female characters for film and television.

    CONTENTS

    1. SHE IS ON SCREEN: Women's Representation in Film & Television

    2. SHE COMES OF AGE: Young Women

    3. SHE FALLS IN LOVE: Smitten Women

    4. SHE CLIMBS THE LADDER: Working Women

    5. SHE CARES FOR THE FAMILY: Nurturing Women

    6. SHE DOESN'T PLAY BY THE RULES: "Mad" Women

    7. SHE SPARKS CHANGE: Trailblazing Women

    8. SHE IS SEEN: Developing "Reel" Women
  •   Routledge Book Series
     

    • PERFORM
      Succeeding as a Creative Professional

      Series Editor

      Volumes in this series include essays by scholars and industry experts, as well as in-depth interviews with successful writers, directors, producers, actors, and other film, television, and theatre professionals working around the globe.

      I developed this book series to help my students (and myself!) unravel the exciting, complicated, and challenging aspects of trying to work professionally in the arts. My goal is to offer undergraduate and graduate students insights into the various career tracks in film, television, and theatre, as well as long-term planning strategies to build and sustain a career in the arts.

      Ultimately, my hope is that these volumes will educate and encourage those who aspire to make not just a living but also a life in the performing arts.

  •   Bloomsbury Academic Book Series
     

    • SCREEN STORYTELLERS

      Series Editor

      Forthcoming 2024, SCREEN STORYTELLERS is an accessible book series for undergraduate and graduate students that professors in film, television, and media studies programs can use to accompany their primary textbooks. The intention with this series is to bring much-deserved attention to screenwriters who have developed noteworthy films and television series of significant aesthetic or cultural achievement, critical acclaim, or commercial success, and to offer close readings of the films and series from the perspective of story, screenwriting craft, audience reception, and cultural impact. 

      One of my primary goals with this series is to critically examine some of the great films and television series created by screenwriters whose work is commonly left out of course syllabi. The SCREEN STORYTELLERS series will feature volumes on contemporary and historically significant screenwriters of color, international screenwriters, LGBTQ screenwriters, and women screenwriters, as well as male screenwriters whose work is rarely examined in screenwriting classrooms. Additionally, the series will include volumes on screenwriters whose work we often study in the classroom.

      I welcome proposals from colleagues interested in editing a volume on a film or television writer with a significant body of work. Please feel free to reach out to me at aweinst6@kennesaw.edu.

      Books in Development

      • The Works of Shonda Rhimes (forthcoming 2024)
        Edited by Anna Weinstein

      • The Works of Steven Moffat (forthcoming 2025)
        Edited by William Rabkin, UC Riverside

      • The Works of Tonino Guerra
        Edited by Geoffrey Lokke, Columbia University

      • The Works of Jon Favreau
        Edited by Guy Nicolucci, Montclair State University

      • The Works of Sylvester Stallone
        Edited by Lee Goodare, Newcastle University

      • The Works of Amy Sherman-Palladino
        Edited by Patricia Prieto-Blanco, Lancaster University

      • The Works of Russell T. Davies
        Edited by James Walters, University of Birmingham

      • The Works of Susan Harris
        Edited by Rosanne Welch, Stephens College
    •   Film International Interview Series
       

      • DIVA DIRECTORS
        Film International

        Interviews with Female Filmmakers

        Since 2012, I have been interviewing prominent women filmmakers from around the globe, exploring the many opportunities and challenges women face in bringing their stories to the screen.

        I am grateful to publish these interviews in Intellect’s Film International, Journal of World Cinema. My goal with this study is to highlight the careers of intriguing, controversial, and/or award-winning international women directors and to share insights and inspiration about women’s work in this field. My interviews most often circle topics of 1) the types of screen stories women directors are telling (and why), 2) the types of struggles and successes women directors have working in their country, and 3) the complicated role gender plays in women directors' work both on- and off-screen.

        My interviews in this journal also include in-depth discussions with international feminist film scholars, authors, and film archivists.


      In Progress

      • Interview with Catherine Hardwicke on Prisoner's Daughter (2022)
    •   Additional Books, Essays, Articles & Book Reviews
       
      • "An Era of Female-Driven Film: Nearly 50 years after Ms. warned of women’s 'endangered' status in Hollywood, a look at women’s representation on screen and behind the scenes ," Ms. magazine, Fall 2023.

      • Review of Off the Page: Screenwriting in the Era of Media Convergence, by Daniel Bernardi and‎ Julian Hoxter. Journal of Screenwriting. Volume 10, number 3. Intellect, 2019.

      • “Dressed by Clare West.” Hollywood Heroines: The Most Influential Women in Film History. Ed Laura Bauer. ABC-CLIO, 2018.

      • Review of The Aspiring Screenwriter's Dirty Lowdown Guide to Fame and Fortune, by Andy Rose. Journal of Screenwriting. Volume 9, number 3. Intellect, 2018.

      • “Attraction and the Pursuit of Sex: An Analysis of Writer-Directors Lisa Cholodenko and Lena Dunham’s Female Protagonists.” Women Screenwriters: An International Guide, Eds Jule Selbo and Jill Nelmes. Palgrave MacMillan, 2015: 745–751.

      • “Central Thematic Conflict in 21 Grams and Babel.” Film International, Intellect, 2012.


      In Progress

      • "Writing Women: Challenges & Opportunities in Developing Female Characters for Film/TV." Media Report to Women. (essay, submitted)

      • Review of Sofia Coppola - Interviews, by Amy N. Monoghan. Journal of Popular Film and Television. (book review, in preparation)

      • The Films of Nicole Holofcener. ReFocus: The American Directors Series, Edinburgh University Press. (edited collection, co-editor with Dr. Matthew Sorrento, under contract)
    •   Conference Presentations & Papers
       
      • "Where Are the Women?" Depictions of Real-Life "Women of Accomplishment" in Film and Television, Popular Culture Association (PCA), Chicago, March 2024

      • "Write in the Head: Complicating Factors in Depicting Women's Mental Health in Film and Television," Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), Columbia, Missouri, September 2023 

      • Script Workshop, 60-min pilot, "The Jack Tales," University Film & Video Association (UFVA), Savannah, GA, July 2023
        *Scripts division, TV Pilots, Honorable Mention (2nd place)

      • “Writing Women: Challenges & Opportunities in Developing Female Characters for Film/TV,” Popular Culture Association (PCA), San Antonio, TX, April 2023

      • "The Women Writers of Film & Television Digital Humanties Project: Curated Research & Soft Launch," Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), Vienna, Austria, September 2022

      • "Jewish Women Screenwriters: Kvellers, Kvetchers, and the Golden Art of Spieling," Popular Culture Association (PCA), Seattle (virtual), April 2022

      • "Who Gets the Credit? Women Writers of Film and Television," with KSU student scholars, Southeastern Women Studies Association (SEWSA), virtual, March 2022
         
      • "Teaching Humor & Story in Today's Cancel Culture...Culture," with Dr. Aaron Levy, Georgia Council of Teachers of English (GCTE), Peachtree City, GA, February 2022

      • “Overlapping Boundaries: Balancing the Interests of Multiple Partners in Screenplay Development,” Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), Oxford, England, virtual, September 2021

      • "Selling the Story: Cross-Disciplinary Applications of Three-Act Structure," with Prof. Warren Lewis, University Film and Video Association (UFVA), virtual, July 2021

      • “Her Pages Were Blue: Screenwriter Eleanor Perry’s Battle in 1970s Hollywood,” Popular Culture Association (PCA), virtual, June 2021

      • “Speedwriting Screenwriting: Interrogating the Screenwriting Process,” Popular Culture Association (PCA), virtual, June 2021

      • “Ensemble Films: Complex Narrative Story Structure in Screenplays,” Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), Porto, Portugal, September 2019 

      • “When Wives Wander: An Analysis of Joanna’s Character in Kramer vs. Kramer and Other Depictions of the “Wife” Role in 1970s American Cinema,” University Film and Video Association (UFVA), Minneapolis, MN, July 2019

      • “Motherhood and Mental Illness in John Cassavetes and Woody Allen Films,” Popular Culture Association (PCA), Washington DC, April 2019

      • “Integrating Pop Culture into Foundational Interdisciplinary Classroom Experiences,” Association for Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS), Detroit, MI, October 2018

      • “When Female Playwrights Write for the Screen,” Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), Milan, Italy, September 2018

      • “Female Screen Storytelling: Why It Matters and How It Reflects and Affects Society,” National Communication Association (NCA), Dallas, TX, November 2017
        *Theatre, Film, and New Multi-Media Division, Top Paper Award, 3rd Place

      • “Women’s Screen Storytelling,” University Film and Video Association (UFVA), Washington DC, August 2015

      • “Revolutionary Female Filmmakers’ Perceptions of Women’s Screen Storytelling,” Popular Culture Association (PCA), New Orleans, LA, April 2015

      • “Representations of Women in Film: Character Complexity vs. Social Responsibility,” Film & History, Madison, WI, November 2013

      • “Representations of Motherhood in Nicole Holofcener and Lisa Cholodenko’s Films,” Rocky Mountain MLA, Vancouver, WA, October 2013


      Papers/Presentations in Progress       

      • "From Nicole to Catherine to Julia: The Female Protagonists in Nicole Holofcener's Films," Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), Czech Republic, September 2024 (accepted)
    •   Invited Workshops & Lectures
       
      • "Masterclass in Screenwriting," Opelika-Auburn Film Arts Collective, July 24, 2023

      • “Screen and TV Writing: Talking Shop,” with Prof. Mitch Olson, Red Clay Writers Conference, Kennesaw State University, April 15, 2023

      • “Women Film & TV Writers of Color,” with KSU student scholars, Center for Africana Studies, Kennesaw State University, February 8, 2023

      • “Undergraduate Research in the Classroom,” with Dr. Mandy McGrew, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Kennesaw State University, virtual, Sept 13, 2022

      • “Major Dialogues: High Impact Practices in the Classroom,” with Drs. Lara Smith-Sitton and Rochelle Harris Cox, English Department, Kennesaw State University, virtual, Nov 15, 2021

      • “Lillian E. Smith Birthday Panel Discussion,” with Dr. Matthew Teutsch, Georgia Center for the Book, Decatur, GA, virtual, December 2020

      • “Working in Hollywood: Insights from PERFORM: Succeeding as a Creative Professional,” Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK, virtual, November 2020

      • “Hollywood Story Structure: What You Can Learn From It,” Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, virtual, October 2020

      • "Workshop: Women in Media," Auburn Global, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, March 29, 2019

      • "Representations of Women in Film," Auburn Global, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, (mulitple lectures) 2018-2020

      • Interview with author Dave Eggers, Auburn University "Common Book," with Dr. Andrea Kelley, Auburn, AL, September 13, 2017

     

    ©