“Welcome to WellesNet, a site dedicated to the works of one of the 20th century’s great talents, Orson Welles. We’re still under construction (and will be for a while), but do check out what’s here and what’s going to come. Here you’ll be able to find information on Welles’ works in film, theater, radio, and television, as well as works about Welles, reviews, and hopefully a lot more.”
– Jeff Wilson, March 2001
By RAY KELLY
In the 15 years since Wellesnet’s debut, the Orson Welles Web Resource has covered a great deal of ground.
There have been illuminating interviews with Welles’ surviving daughters Chris Welles Feder and Beatrice Welles; colleagues Peter Bogdanovich, Henry Jaglom and Frank Marshall; collaborators Keith Baxter, Gary Graver and Norman Corwin; and a legion of noted authors including James Naremore, Joseph McBride, Josh Karp, Simon Callow, Patrick McGilligan, Todd Tarbox, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Matthew Asprey Gear, and the list goes on.
Wellesnet has probed the history of troubled projects (The Deep, The Magnificent Ambersons); shed light on the life of the late Rebecca Welles Manning and the filming of Don Quixote; and questioned the behind-the-scenes dealings regarding several posthumous Welles-related projects (My Lunches With Orson, The Other Side of the Wind).
Numerous people have been supportive over the years and I would be remiss not to acknowledge the work done by Mike Teal, who has not only overseen and restructured the popular Message Board and Facebook page, but contributed many fine pieces and ideas. Special thanks to stalwarts Roger Ryan, Tony Williams, Michael Hinerman, Alex Fraser, Leslie Weisman, Jaime Marzol, Terry Wilson, Lawrence French, Seth Alexander Thevoz, Marco Pierrard, Kathleen Spaltro, the late Harvey Chartrand and many, many others. And Wellesnet would not exist if not for the vision of Jeff Wilson, who owned and managed the website for its first decade of operation. Thank you Jeff.
We have experienced many surprises together as a community: The discovery of the long-lost Too Much Johnson footage, assembly of The Merchant of Venice and recent restoration and re-release of Chimes at Midnight.
Of course, in 15 years some things have remained unchanged. Welles aficionados still eagerly await completion of the unfinished The Other Side of the Wind, as well as a first-rate restoration of The Magnificent Ambersons – both are reportedly in the works, but we have heard that before.
On a personal note, owning a website can be a colossal headache, but Wellesnet has brought me much happiness. There have been memorable moments like introducing my sons to Chris Welles Feder after a screening of Macbeth; sharing a pizza with Beatrice Welles at her home as she pulled out boxes of her father’s unpublished letters for me to inspect; drinking beer in Woodstock with Roger, Tony and Mike – remarkable gentlemen I only knew by their avatars for years; lunches with former Orson Welles Cinema manager-turned studio exec Larry Jackson; e-chats with Joe McBride, whose outstanding books formed my foundation in all-things-Welles 35 years ago; and a late-night encounter at the Sedona Film Festival with a Wellesnet reader, who slipped me a bootleg DVD copy of The Other Side of the Wind workprint.
A few years back, this website nearly faltered. Now, Wellesnet tallies more than 2 million page views annually with a loyal audience on five continents!
Thank you all for your continued support.
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