Seger, Linda 1971-

PERSONAL:

Education: Colorado College, B.A., 1967; Northwestern University, M.A. (dramatic arts), 1968; Pacific School of Religion, M.A. (religion and the arts), 1973; The Graduate Theological Union, Th. D., 1976; Immaculate Heart College Center, M.A. (feminist theology), 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cascade, CO. E-mail—lsseger@aol.com.

CAREER:

Writer, script consultant, screenwriter, director, educator, theologian, and public speaker. Script consultant and entrepreneur, 1981—. Grand Canyon College, Phoenix, AZ, assistant professor, 1969-71; McPherson College, McPherson, KS, assistant professor, 1976-77; Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, instructor, 1993—; University of LaVerne, LaVerne, CA, assistant professor. Conducted classes at the University of California, Los Angeles Extension, the University of Southern California, the University of Wisconsin Extension, Lone Mountain College, and the Pacific School of Religion. Guest lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Colorado College, University of California, Santa Barbara, Biola College, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Presenter of speeches, seminars, and workshops in more than thirty countries. Frequent guest on radio and television programs, including All Things Considered, Good Morning L.A., Good Morning New York, and on National Public Radio (NPR) and the Cable News Network (CNN).

Director of numerous theatrical productions from 1965-1980, including The Diary of Anne Frank, Fiddler on the Roof, The Fantasticks, The Comedy of Errors, The Madwoman of Chaillot, You Can't Take it with You, Poor Richard, Five Finger Exercise, Under Milkwood, Night Must Fall, The Visit, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, and The Second Shepherd's Play.

MEMBER:

Artemis (professional women's organization in Colorodo Springs, CO).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Candlelight Award, Regents University, 2000; Living Legacy Award for contributions and support for women in film and television, International Women's Moondance Film Festival, 2001; Distinguished Alumni Award, Pacific School of Religion, 2002; Medallion to the City of Marseilles, France, 2002.

WRITINGS:

Making a Good Script Great, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY), 1987, 2nd edition, Samuel French Trade (Hollywood, CA), 1994.

Creating Unforgettable Characters, Holt (New York, NY), 1990.

The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film, Holt (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Edward Jay Whetmore) From Script to Screen: The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking, Holt (New York, NY), 1994, 2nd edition, Lone Eagle (Hollywood, CA), 2004.

When Women Call the Shots: The Developing Power and Influence of Women in Television and Film, Holt (New York, NY), 1996.

Making a Good Writer Great: A Creativity Workbook for Screenwriters, Silman-James Press (Los Angeles, CA), 1999.

Web Thinking: Connecting, Not Competing, for Success, Inner Ocean (Makawao, Maui, HI), 2002.

Advanced Screenwriting: Raising Your Script to the Academy Award Level, Silman-James Press (Los Angeles, CA), 2003.

Jesus Rode a Donkey: Why Republicans Don't Have the Corner on Christ, Adams Media (Avon, MA), 2006.

Author of three confidential movie-of-the-week and miniseries projects, and nine film projects generated from consultation seminar in Galicia, Spain. Author of dramatic production Der Strand von Trouville, 1998.

Contributor to books, including Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture, Baker Books, 2005; Signs of Life in the USA, Bedford/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000; and Horse Healers, 2007. Contributor to periodicals, newsletters, and Web sites, including Women in Film Newsletter, Screenwriters Newsletter, Screenwriters Forum, Ask the Pro, ScriptMag, Creative Screenwriting, and WGA Journal (London and Los Angeles). Author of column for Screenwriters Forum, 1992-95.

SIDELIGHTS:

Author Linda Seger is a noted expert in screenwriting, a frequent speaker on screenwriting topics, and a well-known script consultant and editor whose analysis and evaluation techniques have been in use since she developed them as part of her doctoral dissertation in 1981. A biographer on her home page pointed out that Seger has consulted on more than two thousand scripts, including more than forty produced motion pictures and some thirty-five produced and broadcast television programs. She works with an international clientele training script consultants and editors. Seger remains a popular conference speaker, workshop moderator, and seminar presenter. A member of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Seger often speaks on topics related to spirituality in screenwriting and the creative process. Among her numerous books on screenwriting and related topics is When Women Call the Shots: The Developing Power and Influence of Women in Television and Film. In this volume, Seger calls on her own longtime career and the works and opinions of other notable female writers, directors, producers, and actors to highlight the increasingly important role that women play in the entertainment industry.

In From Script to Screen: The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking, written with Edward Jay Whetmore, Seger and her coauthor assess the modern system of moviemaking and its interlinked components. The authors look at all aspects of the creative and technical moviemaking process, from the excitement of the initial idea, to the composing of the music, to the writing, editing, casting, production design, and much more. In assessing the book, Entertainment Weekly reviewer D.A. Ball observed, "You'll like films much more when you know how they're made." While Seger's work is directed toward the film professional, a Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that "it's engrossing enough for any film buff who wants to know more than what Premiere [magazine] can tell them."

Seger is also concerned with the state of modern politics, and in Jesus Rode a Donkey: Why Republicans Don't Have the Corner on Christ, she carefully assesses the monopoly on Christian values that Republicans appear to have assumed in the beginning of the twenty-first century. Seger criticizes the administration of President George W. Bush as well as conservative organizations such as Focus on the Family that often claim a moral and theological superiority that does not hold up in reality. The majority of her message is that Democrats also adhere to many important Christian ideas, and that they are not bereft of Christian values, as they are often portrayed by Republicans and their conservative critics. Simultaneously being a Christian and a Democrat "can be inclusive, rather than exclusive," noted a reviewer in Campaigns and Elections.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 1992, Donna Seaman, review of The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film, p. 804.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, April, 1997, review of When Women Call the Shots: The Developing Power and Influence of Women in Television and Film, p. 1346.

Campaigns & Elections, September, 2006, review of Jesus Rode a Donkey: Why Republicans Don't Have the Corner on Christ, p. 58.

Entertainment Weekly, February 11, 1994, D.A. Ball, review of From Script to Screen: The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking, p. 50.

Film Quarterly, fall, 1988, Ernest Callenbach, review of Making a Good Script Great, p. 66.

Library Journal, February 1, 1994, David C. Tucker, review of From Script to Screen, p. 78; December 1, 1996, Jane E. Sloan, review of When Women Call the Shots, p. 96.

Publishers Weekly, September 23, 1996, review of When Women Call the Shots, p. 66; December 1, 2003, review of From Script to Screen, p. 53; June 26, 2006, review of Jesus Rode a Donkey, p. 48.

Quill & Quire, July, 1993, review of Making a Good Script Great, p. 53.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2003, review of Advanced Screenwriting, p. 237; February, 2004, review of From Script to Screen, 2nd edition, p. 225.

School Library Journal, August, 1994, review of From Script to Screen, p. 187.

ONLINE

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (August 2, 2007), filmography of Linda Seger.

Jesus Rode a Donkey—The Book,http://www.jesusrodeadonkey-thebook.com (September 12, 2007).

Linda Seger Home Page,http://www.lindaseger.com (August 2, 2007).

Linda Seger Web log,http://www.instituteforprogressivechristianity.org/crossleft/ (August 2, 2007).

Screenwriter's Utopia,http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/ (August 2, 2007), Rita Cook, "Screenwriting: When Women Call the Shots," interview with Linda Seger.