Team Melissa

By Connie Panzariello '12, News Editor

According to Dr. Martha Lauzen’s annual Celluoid Ceiling Report, a collection of statistics of women’s appearances as professional filmmakers in Hollywood, only 8% of screenwriters working today are female. That means, for clarity’s sake, that 92% of films are written by men, with women being depicted from a male perspective. In addition to this sad statistic, women account for only 17% of executive producers, and despite the recent triumph of Kathryn Bigelow at this year’s Oscars, 7% of directors (that’s 2 points down from last year).

However, our very own Bennington College can lay claim to having educated one of Hollywood’s up and coming females in film– Melissa Rosenberg, our 2010 Commencement Speaker. While Rosenberg is mostly known on our campus for being the screenwriter of the Twilight Saga movies , a simple Google search points out her diverse profile. She wrote hit 2006 movie, Step Up and has written for and executive produced The O.C as well the gone -too -soon Love Monkey among other prominent network and cable shows. Currently, she is the showrunner (the top position on a television show) and head writer of the Emmy-Award winning Dexter.

Rosenberg studied Dance at Bennington but shortly after graduating, she moved to Los Angeles to be involved in the film industry.

CP: How do you feel about returning to your alma-mater to be the Commencement speaker?

MR: I am really excited. I haven’t been back since I graduated and its an extraordinary honor. I was blown away to be asked. I’m nervous about the speech, but I’m hoping to impart some good words of wisdom on the graduating class.

CP: Has your education and experience Bennington had a hand in shaping or influencing your career?

MR: It has in ways that can’t even be defined. Its been a great gift – the abitlity to create one’s life for oneself and how to learn , instead of cramming learning into a curriculum. You find information and you make what you want happen. Bennington attracts unique students and it takes a very strong individual to get what Bennington has to offer. It has served me well in my endeavours. No career in Hollywood is just available – you have to go out and get it. It is really the wild west and no one wants you there, you have to carve a space out for yourself. It takes tremendous drive to pursue a career in Hollywood and make it happen. You really have to go and get it.

CP: We’re all of course, really excited that you’re working on the Twilight Saga. How has that experience been?

MR: It has been a wild ride. It was extraordinary for that to have landed on my lap and I can’t believe how big it has become. It has changed my life. This has been an amazing year – its been a blessing, but of course it also occasionally causes me to bang my head against my computer. It does present some creative challenges.

CP: Yeah, I mean it must have been a really interesting story to adapt because you have to portray this ordinary girl surrounded by all these extraordinary people and creatures.

MR: It has been because, you know, its all told from her point of view which is a really intimate experience in the book and it was hard to keep it cinematic. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also brutal. Writing is hard, that’s why not everyone does it.

CP: I’ve read about the work you’ve done with the Writer’s Guild and the Hollywood League of Women Writers. Can you talk a little bit about how that came about ?

MR: The League came out of when the union [The Writer’s Guild] when on strike and we saw that it was show writers who were making things happen. The League has no political affiliation – it defines itself as neither republican or democrat. We mostly focus on internet and broadcast freedom, as well as the candidacy of women in Hollywood. If you look at the simple facts – the Writer’s Guild, I believe, is only made up of about 28% women and the Directors Guild, maybe 12 or 13%. Women aren’t even really represented and while I’ve seen some advancements made, the underrepresentation is still really prevolent and those are numbers that are on par with what’s happening to women nationally.

CP: I guess speaking of that, as I understand it and what I’ve been told now by you, is that Hollywood is still mostly a boy’s club. Can you talk about your experience as a female in this predomninantly male business?

MR: Yes, it is still definitely a “boys club”. When I started, there was usually only one woman on a writer’s staff – my agent would contact a television showrunning staff about me getting a job and they would say “Oh, we already have that woman.” But now more women are writing and some are showrunners. We’re making inroads, but it is still largely disproportionate. Again, the advancements have been small. But, with that, it is very important to me to mentor young female screenwriters and to be a decent role model for them. Right now I have three young women who I mentor and I think its great because I never had a mentor. Like I said, there was usually only one woman on a show’s executive staff, so its been really good to provide that for young women who want to work in this field.

CP: I know Breaking Dawn is coming up and that you must be busy with that – but I was wondering if you had any more plans for the future?

MR: I am right in the middle of that now but I’m hoping to soon start my own Production Company – it would be called “Tall Girl” (Rosenberg herself is six feet tall) and I really want to use it to help bring strong roles for women. I’m not at all interested in chick flicks – I’d like to make family stuff and big fanboy comic book adaptations . Roles where woman would kick-ass and not just be “the girlfriend”. They would have complex parts and become real people on screen. With the company as well, my goal is also to help young writers and especially female writers make films as well. I guess this is also where Bennington has helped – I have been trained to make things happen.

CP: I think lastly I’d just like to know if you have any advice for the graduating seniors?

MR: That is definitely something I will cover in my speech but (pause) okay, this is hard, but I think I would tell them to continue on the path that they have started at Bennington. You have been given a wonderful path that will serve you well and I speak from experience. You have what you need.