The Treatment Exercise

Screenwriting month on Writing Forward comes to a close today, and this final exercise looks at a basic component of screenwriting: the treatment.

There are two types of film treatments that screenwriters deal with. One is mandatory, the other is optional. The optional one is called an original draft treatment, and is written before or during the screenwriting process, usually between putting together an outline or creating scene cards (similar to storyboarding) and writing the first draft. It’s mostly used by the writer as a reference point while writing the screenplay itself.

The mandatory treatment is called a presentation draft treatment, and this is the one that will be presented to potential buyers (producers, directors, studio execs) when the screenplay is complete and ready to be sold. It will also be used by producers, directors, agents, and actors who working on preproduction.

If you’ve already finished your screenplay, go right ahead and write that presentation treatment. Everyone else, let’s take a closer look at the original treatment.

This is not at all unlike a short story. Treatments can be up to 40 pages, but this is creative writing, so you bet they can run a lot shorter or longer, depending on the writer and the screenplay itself. No, I’m not going to ask you to write a 40 page treatment, though you’re welcome to write one if you’d like. We’re just going to dip our toes in the water.

From what I gather, a treatment is written in prose style (similar to a short story) and includes the following elements:

• Author bio
• Cast of characters with descriptions
• Locations
• Title of screenplay
• A one-paragraph summary/synopsis/hook

After that, the treatment goes into a detailed summary of script itself, detailing the entire story line. For today’s exercise, try writing a mini-treatment. Include the elements listed above, and a brief summary of the plot.

I realize this exercise could double for novelists. That’s o.k. Many halfway decent screenplays came from novels, so the two are closely related. If you’d rather try this one with a novel in mind, go right ahead. And as always, feel free to post your exercises in the comments, or send them to me.

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Interview with a Screenwriting Professional

Jaden, who blogs at Screenwriting for Hollywood was kind enough to share her Hollywood and screenwriting expertise in this interview. In the wake of the WGA strike, Jaden decided to launch her own online business. She now works as a screenwriting consultant, and she is also a fiction and non-fiction writer. She’s got a lot of Hollywood know-how and a real passion for writing. Check it out.

Tell us a little about your background in screenwriting.

I’ve been writing all my life. I have thousands and thousands of pages. I majored in film and moved to Hollywood with the intention of writing a particular script to change the way the world thinks. So far I’ve written about ten screenplays and I’m shopping some now.

What advice would you give beginners who are interested in screenwriting?

No one will take you seriously if you do not properly format your screenplay. You have to start there.

How hard is it to sell a script in Hollywood?

Can I say impossible? No. Seriously, it seems to be the luck of the draw. Some people make $3 million for an ok script right out of college when they’re 22 years old. While others, like my favorite screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, didn’t make a sale until his late 30s with Being John Malkovich. It took three years from the time it was bought until it was on screen. I’ve heard from other writers that their scripts didn’t come out as movies for 10 years or more; tons of scripts get shelved, never to see the screen at all. The percentage of screenwriters who make a sale is very small and from that is an even smaller number whose scripts are actually made into movies.

What kind of money would a first time screenwriter expect to get if they did sell a script?

The lowest is around $30,000 and I’ve heard of first time writers getting up to $3 million, but that’s less common and usually when they have a big name actor attached to it or there’s a buzz in the industry about it.

How does a first time writer get an A-list actor attached?

Either you know the actor personally because he’s your friend or what’s more likely is that when your agent sends out the script, he sends it to producers, and a lot of producers are also A-list actors. Agents also send scripts to the actors’ agents.

How much control does the screenwriter have over the final film?

Not any — unless the writer is the director or producer or actor. Generally, up until recently, it was commonly known in Hollywood that the screenwriter was not welcome on the film set. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s, it was the producer who was the big cheese. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, it was the director who was the celebrated auteur. In the 90s and 2000s, it has been the actors getting phenomenal pay. For the 2010s through the 30s, hopefully the writers will have their time to shine.

On your site, you offer a service called coverage. What is coverage, exactly?

Producers almost always send scripts out for coverage. It’s a basic breakdown of the screenplay: title, author, genre. It also summarizes the script and includes a rating and an analysis, which tells whether the script is any good. This helps the producers quickly assess the screenplay and decide whether or not they want to read it.

The service I offer is a preliminary coverage to give a writer an idea what the producer will see when the writer sends in their script. This way, the writer has a chance to make important changes before actually sending it out and ruining an opportunity. The form I use is like the ones in Hollywood that the producers see. There’s a detailed description of coverage and a sample form on my web site.

What’s your favorite screenplay of all time?

The Shining, which is based on a novel by Stephen King. Stanley Kubrick & Diane Johnson wrote the screenplay. I was nine the first time I saw it. The last time I saw it, I was lying on the grass in the Hollywood cemetery and the film was projected up on the crematorium. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.

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What the Rest of Us Can Learn from the WGA Strike

photo credit: John Edwards 2008

You’ve probably heard that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has come to a close, and it seems the writers have won. The strike was the result of conflict between the writers and producers failing to reach an agreement to the terms of their contract. Specifically, the writers were asking for an increase in residuals from DVD sales, and also requested that they be granted residuals on new media (internet) as well. That seems fair enough, and the writers received overwhelming support from directors, actors, politicians, and the public.

For the most part, this strike affected television writers, although some film screenwriters probably found themselves out of work for a few months. But what about the rest of us? At first, it may not seem like the WGA strike affects freelance writers, novelists, and bloggers. Yet there’s a lot we can learn from the outcome of the WGA strike.

Self Worth and Willingness to Settle for More

What allowed the writers to go on strike was the knowledge that they deserved fair compensation for their work coupled with the realization that the AMPTP was trying to give them a bum deal. The writers understood that they could get more, they were worth more, and because they understood their worth, they were willing to hold out until they got it. If you write articles for $1, then you could probably learn a lot from the attitude that the WGA presents. The lesson here is to value yourself and your work accordingly.

Community Benefits

The reason the writers were able to organize effectively against the AMPTP was because they had an established community under the guild. This enabled them to collectively agree to strike. It’s a little more difficult for those of us who are providing writing and related services without the protection of a union. In fact, it’s almost impossible for us to band together and collectively rise up against low paying clients. But what we can do is know our value, research the market in which we work, and individually refuse to accept unfair or ridiculously low wages. This is not an easy thing to do, especially when you need to put food on the table. But writers do need to be discerning in deciding rates. If someone offers you $100 to edit an entire novel, ask yourself how many hours it will take, and then could you make more than $100 doing something else with those hours?

Loyalty to the Craft

Writers also must understand that taking low wages has a negative impact on the entire writing industry. If you’re a good writer, even a fair one, your articles are worth more than $1. Period. If you write fantastic articles for such a low rate, you’re not only selling yourself short, you’re driving down income potential for others. On the other hand, if you’re writing articles for $1 a pop, it’s likely that your work is less than fair. In this case, you’re only providing better writers an easy way to compete, and obvious proof that the client is going to get what they pay for. If you can’t get at least $10 for a short article, you might want to hit the want ads.

Quality Matters

Did anyone see Late Night with Conan O’Brien during the writer’s strike? He spent several episodes doing a whole lot of nothing. Why? Because he didn’t have a script! Why didn’t he have a script? Because the writers were on strike. Those episodes were horrendous not only because the quality of his show decreased dramatically, but also because Conan himself supported the writers, but his contract obligated him to continue producing his show. One of the reasons the strike was successful was that we all saw how huge the value of the writers’ work is. Shows that moved forward without writers (such as Conan) lost quality, other shows disappeared altogether. The lesson here: leave the writing to professionals.

Value

It’s estimated that during the strike, Los Angeles lost between $500 million and $2.1 billion. Just because the writers were on strike. That shows just how much value the writers have not only for the producers and studios, but for the economy in general. This goes back to knowing your self worth, but it also involves understanding that writing adds value. If you’re writing a web article, and it’s a good one, that article adds value to the web site it gets published on. If you’ve been hired to edit a manuscript, and that manuscript gets published, you’ve added value to the book. Many writers fail to realize that the services they provide increase the worth of a final product.

Writers Are Not Expendable

Actually, everyone is expendable. A writer can be replaced, and it’s not hard to find another writer. But will the new writer have the same level of skill and produce high quality work? How big will the learning curve be for that new writer to learn the nuances of the projects? Sure, you can replace anyone but it costs employers to do this. And, while one writer may be expendable, all writers are not. Our work is an integral part of culture and the economy. As workers, we do not hold positions that can simply be done away with. Our work matters, it increases the worth of product, and we have an enormous impact on culture — through film, television, literature, music, and more. Look around you. There is writing everywhere. On the back of the cereal box, on fliers stuffed in your mailbox, in the liner notes on your CDs. The image of the starving writer is tired and needs to be replaced with an image of a valuable professional who contributes as a productive and integral member of society.

Don’t you agree?

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