I will admit I am one of those screenwriters who never, ever wrote a treatment. Until I had a producer tell me,

“...you should have a treatment. the reason is because most producers in the industry know the movies they want to make and reading a treatment helps understand the picture you wrote so time is not wasted as it takes over an hour to really read a script and its a bummer when you read something that just isn't right for someone - EVEN if its great! Most producers know the stories they want to tell.”

Now, I’m in the process of writing treatments for ALL of my screenplays -- both completed and in development.

Keep Writing! (and Reading)

I find it interesting that treatments are coming back around. I've seen it go from the days when treatments were a plus, sometimes expected, to when treatments were laughed at. Now, here they are again. Ken Atchity even wrote a book called "Writing Treatments That Sell," I believe. Treatments used to be much longer than what passes for a treatment today. They literally were a prose description of how the screenwriter would "treat" a pre-existing story or play or novel. They were the writer's "cinematic" approach to the narrative. I wriute treatments for every script, and they usually run 40 - 60 pages single-spaced. Mine have lots of dialogue and every detail I can think of. They are for my own internal use only. I never show them to anyone. But when it's time to do the screenplay, they are an inch-by-inch road map written when I can throw in anything and everything without worrying about page count. It allows me to find the best solutions to scenes and structure. I urge writers to do them as they are the best dress rehearsal for your movie you could ever have.

Treatments are lifesavers for screenwriters. Without them I would be doomed. And so would a lot of other writers. There will be SO MUCH you will run into while writing your screenplay that you will wish you had tackled in the treatment. It forces you to think about your story. It's a gift from God!

Screenwriter Reese