How to Write a Film Treatment

An easy to understand instruction on writing and registering a film treatment

A film treatment is a ‘glorified’ synopsis of a story or novel. They are not difficult to do and many production companies will accept them in lieu of a screen play.

The cover page can be a simple design printed on color paper. At the top center type in: Film Treatment. This should be bolded and 14 font. Then center your story or novel title. This should be bolded and larger font depending on how long your title is. You can put border lines above and below the title. At the bottom center in 8 font and bolded, you will type in: Registered with Writers Guild East (or west) and beneath that your registration number.

A table of contents page listing in order: Author Bio, Cast of Characters, Locations, Film Treatment. Only the treatment needs page numbers at the bottom.

The first page in the body of the treatment is the Author Bio.

The next page is the Cast of Characters page/s. Center and bold the title: Cast of Characters. Beneath that write small descriptions of your main characters. I am putting a sample of one of mine to give an idea.

SAMPLE: Sharon McCoy is a bright and sometimes outspoken accountant. She has a sense of humor and a pleasant personality. Her world is shaken when she discovers a devastating secret about the husband she loves. Harboring thoughts of suicide, she turns to her friend, Doctor J.P. Knight.
Sharon is in her late twenties. She is beautiful at five-feet-six-inches tall. Her short cropped hair is auburn and her eyes are green.

The next page has the bolded and centered title: Locations. List locations that will be needed in the production of the film.:

SAMPLE: Office Settings: One large office has many desks & workers with computers. A psychiatrist’s office has leather furniture, file cabinets and a desk. Another similar office, plusher with a sliding bookshelf behind the desk is depicted. All offices should have window.

The most important element is the film treatment. Center and bold your title. The first paragraph should have wider left and right margins than the rest of the treatment. The first paragraph is a short and concise synopsis/hook. Example:


COUNTERMEASURES

Uprooted from her happy and secure existence, Sharon McCoy is thrust into a maze of fate, misconception and danger. What seems an ordinary introduction turns out to be a fateful event that foreshadows tremendous changes about to occur in this young woman's life. Doctor J.P. Knight seeks Sharon's expertise in accounting to help set the financial affairs of one of his patients in order. They develop a friendship. Several weeks later, she makes a heartbreaking discovery about her husband. Harboring thoughts of suicide and facing the possibility that she is married to her brother, she turns to her new-found friend. Together, they work through the mesh of fate, doubles, misconceptions and danger to get to the truth.

FIRST SCENE
A panorama of the Rocky Mountains comes into view. The scene shifts to the Denver skyline and zeroes into the window of an office building. A large office area with many desks comes into view and focuses on an attractive twenty-eight-year-old woman working at a computer. Then, it shifts to an older woman escorting a tall, middle-aged man toward the desk with the young woman.

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Even though it isn't shown here, a film treatment has justified margins. You are in a sense creating a small magazine. Try to describe the opening scene.

Beneath this and with a line skip, begin a to-the-point synopsis of your first chapter. Use bolded lines or asterisk lines to separate the chapters. Use line skips to separate time frames or scenes within a chapter. It is okay to use some dialogue in your chapter descriptions to emphasize a particular scene. Chapter descriptions should not be drawn out and should be confined to one or two paragraphs.

Now, you need to register your treatment with the Writers Guild East or West. You can find addresses at http:// www.wga.org. Write first and request the packet for registering your treatment. This will include a special envelope where you seal your treatment. Once you send this in with the fee, you will receive your registration number. Put that on the title page. When you send out queries to production companies, be sure to mention that your treatment is registered and put the registration number in the letter. Type the registration number at the bottom of your cover page. Print out copies and staple it twice on the left edge. You may use color paper or card copy for the front and back.

More writing tips can be found at the Writer's Resource Directory at my website: http://www.carolkluz.homestead.com