Call for Proposals: Edited volume on screenwriter, actor, director, and comedienne Elaine May

***EXTENSION*** Abstracts now due by January 25, 2026.

SCREEN STORYTELLERS

The Works of Elaine May

Edited by Jonathan Winchell

This edited volume on the works of Elaine May will be a book in the SCREEN STORYTELLERS series published by Bloomsbury Academic. Seeking 250-word abstracts for previously unpublished chapters on Elaine May’s work as a screenwriter and comedy writer. Final chapters will be 3,000-3,500 words, written for an audience of student readers.

The SCREEN STORYTELLERS series is designed for students, professors, and enthusiastic

consumers of film, television, and new media who seek information about contemporary and

historically significant screenwriters that is both accessible and critically rigorous. The intention

with this series is to bring much-deserved attention to screen and television writers 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. Each volume explores the works of a single screen storyteller. The series places a

strong focus on examining works by screenwriters often left out of classroom syllabi, including

women, writers of color, LGBTQ writers, and international writers.

There have been several books published on Elaine May in recent years, including The Films of Elaine May (ReFocus series) edited by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Dean Brandum, Nichols and May: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers series) edited by Robert E. Kapsis, and Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius by Carrie Courogen. These books explore May as a film director, comedienne, actor, and screenwriter. The Works of Elaine May will focus on May’s work as a writer: screenwriter, script doctor, comedy writer, and improv writer/actor. Please see below for a list of May’s credited and uncredited screenwriting work.

The Works of Elaine May

Elaine May has been one of the most influential comedic voices in American comedy, film, television, and stage for more than seven decades. She revolutionized comedy in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the comedy duo with Mike Nichols, performing on television and Broadway and making Grammy-winning albums. In 1967, May began acting in films, and in the 1970s, she became a groundbreaking screenwriter and film director at a time when few women were writing and directing feature films in Hollywood. She wrote films such as Such Good Friends, Heaven Can Wait, The Birdcage, and Primary Colors and directed films such as A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and Ishtar. Although her credits as a screenwriter are limited to seven feature films to date, she was widely known as one of the top script doctors and consultants, working on films ranging from Tootsie to Reds to Bill Murray films such as Ghostbusters II and What About Bob? As a screenwriter, director, actress, and comedienne, she has remained one of the most significant women creatives from the second half of the 20th century to the present day. She is currently in development on a fifth feature film with Dakota Johnson attached in the starring role.

I welcome contributions from scholars of film, television, media studies, and popular culture, as

well as working practitioners, including screen and television writers, filmmakers, and

playwrights. Chapters may explore individual works or may interrogate a single theme, question,

or construct across multiple works. I expect many chapters will offer a critical analysis of Elaine May’s work so readers can expand their knowledge and understanding of the screenwriting

and comedy craft, and many chapters in this volume will include historically sophisticated

commentaries, exploring May’s career through the lens of production, reception, and creative

collaborations and dynamics.

Possible chapter topics include but are not limited to:

--May’s produced works as a credited screenwriter: A New Leaf; Such Good Friends; Mikey and Nicky; Heaven Can Wait; Ishtar; The Birdcage; Primary Colors

--The Heartbreak Kid: one of the four films May directed but did not write.

--May’s uncredited screenwriter, script doctor, and script consultant work (see extended list below)

--May’s work with frequent collaborators: Mike Nichols, Jeannie Berlin, Peter Falk, Walter Matthau, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Neil Simon, Bill Murray, Woody Allen

--Nichols and May (comedy/improvisational writing)

--May’s literary adaptations: Such Good Friends; The Heartbreak Kid; Primary Colors

--May’s adaptations of other films: Heaven Can Wait; The Birdcage

--May’s work as a writer in early television

--A woman’s representation of difficult men. (Nearly all films that May wrote have complicated male leads.)

--Crime genre: A New Leaf; Mikey and Nicky

--Ishtar: behind-the-scenes reports, initial critical reception, impact on May’s career, and its reappraisal over the decades

--May’s influence on screenwriters and directors given her relatively small filmography as a credited screenwriter and director

Please submit a 250-word abstract along with a 150-word biographical statement to Jonathan Winchell (jhwinchell237@gmail.com) by January 25, 2026. Please title the subject line of your

email: Abstract – The Works of Elaine May.

Please direct questions or inquiries to jhwinchell237@gmail.com. I welcome submissions

from scholars at all stages of their careers, as well as practicing and aspiring screen and

television writing professionals. Please share this announcement with colleagues whose work aligns with the focus of this volume.

***EXTENSION*** Abstracts now due by January 25, 2026.

For more information about the SCREEN STORYTELLERS book series, please visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/series/screen-storytellers/ or contact series editor Anna Weinstein at aweinst6@kennesaw.edu.

Elaine May’s Film and Television Writing

Television

• A Degree of Frost (1964). TV special. Script by David Frost. Special material by Christopher Booker, John Cleese, Barry Cryer, May, Frank Muir, Denis Norden, Bill Oddie, Janette Scott.
• The Jack Paar Program- “Liberace, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dickie Henderson, Mike Nichols & Elaine May” (1964). TV episode. Directed by Hal Gurnee. Written by Bob Howard, Paul Keyes, David Lloyd, and May.

Film

Credited Screenwriter

• A New Leaf (1971) Written and directed by and starring May, based on the short story “The Green Heart” by Jack Ritchie
• Such Good Friends (1971). Directed by Otto Preminger. Written by May (as Esther Dale) and David Shaber, based on the novel by Lois Gould. Uncredited writer: Joan Didion.
• Mikey and Nicky (1976) Written and directed by May.
• Heaven Can Wait (1978). Directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry. Written by Beatty and May, based on the play Harry Segall. Uncredited writer: Robert Towne. Previously filmed as the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan.
• Ishtar (1987). Written and directed by May.
• The Birdcage (1996). Directed by Mike Nicholas. Written by May. Based on the earlier screenplay of the 1978 film La Cage Aux Folles, written by Francis Veber, Édouard Molinaro, Marcello Danon, and Jean Poiret, based on Poiret’s play.
• Primary Colors (1998). Directed by Mike Nicholas. Written by May, based on the novel by Anonymous (Joe Klein).

Uncredited screenwriter, script doctor, script consultant, and script revisions

• No Nukes (1980). Documentary. Directed by Danny Goldberg, Anthony Potenza, and Julian Schlossberg. Uncredited documentary footage directed by Barbara Kopple and Haskell Wexler. Writing contribution by May.
• Reds (1981). Directed by Warren Beatty. Written by Beatty and Trevor Griffiths. Script doctor: May. Script revision: Robert Towne (uncredited).
• Tootsie (1982). Directed by Sydney Pollack. Story by and written by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal. Uncredited writers: Barry Levinson, Robert Garland, Robert Kaufman, and May.
• Going Hollywood: The ‘30s (1984). Documentary. Directed by Julian Schlossberg. Written by Charles Badaracco. Uncredited writer: May.
• Labyrinth (1986). Directed by Jim Henson. Story by Dennis Lee and Henson and screenplay by Terry Jones. Script doctor: May.
• Scrooged (1988). Directed by Richard Donner. Written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue, inspired by the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Script doctor: May.
• Ghostbusters II (1989). Directed by Ivan Reitman. Written by and starring Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Script consultant: May.
• What About Bob? (1991). Directed by Frank Oz. Story by Alvin Sargent and Laura Ziskin. Written by Tom Schulman. Script consultant: May.
• Wolf (1994). Directed by Mike Nichols. Written by Jim Harrison and Wesley Strick. Script revisions: May.
• Dangerous Minds (1995). Directed by John N. Smith. Written by Ron Bass, based on the book My Posse Don’t Do Homework by LouAnne Johnson. Script doctor: May.
• I’m Not Rappoport (1996). Written and directed by Herb Gardner. Script consultant: May.

Shorts

• Bach to Bach (1967). Directed by Paul Leaf. Written by and starring May.
• In the Spirit Promo (1990). Video written and directed by and starring May.