Why A Film Treatment Is Important?

What is a film treatment? Why do I need a treatment if I already have a synopsis in place? I mean, is it really that important?

These were just a few questions that ran through my mind after I’d just secured the full copyright for my synopsis. And, quite honestly, I wanted to skip having to write a treatment all together because writing my synopsis, which made me decrease my 22-page script down to one was completely draining.

On top of that, my film was kind of getting on my nerves. I’d been so laser-focused on it every day for the last few months.

I needed space.

I needed time away to miss my film so when I return back to it, my energy and focus would be much stronger with new perspectives and ideas. Besides, by me only concentrating on my film, all my other responsibilities and projects were getting left behind and going unfinished.

To find out if a treatment was really necessary, I decided to turn to one of my film bibles by Carole Lee Dean, called, “The Art of Film Funding”. And low and behold, one of the passages I happened to breeze through was an interview recap she had with a filmmaker named Xachery Irving, who created the film “American Chain Gang”.

In that recap, she asked Xachery how he went about bringing his film to life.

He stated, “The most important thing one needs to do during [their] planning stage is to become very organized. You need to have a good treatment, a solid pitch, and a clear presentation of what it is that you want to achieve with the film.”

(Oh gosh!! Why?!!! No! No! No!)

After a few days, I decided to get over myself and begin finding out how to write a treatment. According to the word on the street, there are no set rules on how to write one and they can range from 3-30+ pages. (Goodness!)

Then, I came across the treatment for “The Terminator” written by James Cameron and it was explicitly detailed. I mean, you actually felt like you were in the movie. So, I decided to do the same thing. In the end, the first draft of my treatment came out to 8 pages. Then, I sent it off to my script supervisor for her to review.

A month goes by, and I’m completely knocked flat on my behind. I’m disappointed because I received an email back from my script supervisor saying that my treatment was too long. Instead, it should be 2-4 pages so someone can read it quickly. It also needed to be in short story and prose form. (SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE!!!)

Luckily, she sent me a link to a website (found here) that led me to the treatment for “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”. (Much simpler than the Terminator)

After following the style of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, my treatment went from 8 pages to 3. My script supervisor provided her feedback with only minor notes and grammatical errors for me to correct. (Whew! Thank God!)

Then, I asked her, what’s the simplest way to understand what a film treatment really is and what it’s needed for? And she stated,

“A treatment is like a pitch. It tells the end reader what your story is about which is why it’s best to make it a short document especially if you have investors/funders interested. And only if you’re like James Cameron in Hollywood should [anyone] be writing a treatment that’s 60 pages long. Treatments that’re extremely long are due to the script haven’t been written yet which is how Hollywood usually goes about their films”.

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The author is not liable for any losses or damages related to actions of failure to act related to the content in this article. If you need specific legal advice, consult with an attorney who specializes in your subject matter and jurisdiction.