If you are contemplating writing a screenplay or TV Movie, you should write a treatment first. This is basically a 4-20 page, double-spaced short story of what your screenplay will be about. It will act as a roadmap for your story, guiding you in the writing process and helping you develop the script’s structure. Story structure is the toughest part of a script to get right. It’s how your story builds in drama, and it contains all the twists and turns needed to keep the reader and audience riveted.

The treatment will show our experienced story analysts what is working and what isn’t with your story. It’s so much easier to fix it in the treatment stage than it is in the screenplay stage. That’s because with a screenplay when you change one thing, ten others need changing, and when you change those ten things, fifteen other things need changing and so on and so forth. It’s a house of cards. Get the story right in the treatment stage and the script will be a lot easier to write.

You may submit a treatment based on a feature, TV or cable movie. It should be a minimum of 4 double-spaced pages to give our readers a chance to properly assess you r story. It must be a fully realized story.

Here’s what you get:

Our story analysts will read your treatment and write a three page , single-spaced coverage report of your story. It will include an assessment of your story’s premise, structure, main characters, act breaks, and ending with appropriate suggestions. It will also include an opinion of your story’s commercial appeal.

Treatment Q&A

Can I see some samples of a treatment?
Buy the Dave Freeman Treatment Pack from Writers Store.com for about $20. It contains several samples. Also, search the internet for “movie treatment” or “screenplay treatment.”

Can a treatment contain dialogue?
It can but sparingly just to give it the “flavor” of your main characters.

Do I have to include every story beat?
No, otherwise it would be as long as the screenplay. Include the act breaks and major plot points. Make the theme and character arcs obvious. What is at stake for the hero?

Will you help me sell the treatment?
We do not offer industry referrals for treatments since it ’s so very rare that unproduced writers sell treatments. Our feedback will help you to write your screenplay, which can then be sent to us for a critique and possible industry referrals.

What if I don’t have a complete story? Will you help me finish it?
No. This service is designed to help you fix a completed story, not help you write one that isn’t finished.

Fee

• Treatment Critique - $75.00 online or offline submission. This service is for a 4-20 page double-spaced treatment. One inch margins around the entire page. Add $1 per each additional treatment page over 20.
  
  
• 2-3 week turnaround
  
  
• For 3 Day Rush Service Add $50. Online submission only, with credit card payment. In by 2PM, PST. (Hollywood Time), back by 6PM, PST 3 days later. SUNDAYS do not count in this time frame. You must have a working e-mail address for this rush service.

  If you don’t need a rush and want to snail mail the treatment with a check (in USD against US bank) or a money order in USD, that’s fine. Also, a personal check will slow things up. We won’t make a move until the check clears. And please, don’t send CASH in the mail.

  Confused? Best to e-mail us by using the “contact us” e-mail form linked at the bottom of all our pages. Or call us at 1-800-589-1022.