2.Main Content
Training
The Treatment Room
Give your story a makeover in our Treatment Room.
A practical workshop which aims to help you best express your screenplay idea in treatment form.
Tuesday 19 May & Tuesday 2 June 2009
"...a really useful course, not only for helping you distil your script down into treatment format, but also great for improving your storytelling skills generally."
Lucy Moore, Screenwriter
A treatment is often one of the first documents to be requested of a screenwriter yet often the very last one they want to write. Rather than embrace the format writers have too often been drawn into thinking a treatment is simply a necessary evil – a short cut for time poor producers or funders, otherwise unable to read the 100 odd pages of a well-crafted script. Combine this with the confused messages and lack of guidance from the industry itself over just what a treatment is and what it should look like and such reluctance is understandable.
No Nurse Ratched here - our Treatment Room will be gentle on youYet a treatment is often the most telling form a story can take. Stripped of dialogue, pacy scenes and vibrant characters the story’s spine is necessarily exposed and the discipline of reducing a screenplay into a short prose document is often invaluable in revealing core story issues that are less easy to identify in a fully-drafted script.
Taught over two days (held a fortnight apart) the aim of this workshop is to demystify the function of treatments in the UK film industry and to equip participants with both practical and creative processes to help them successfully convey their screenplay idea in a prose document form. Participating writers will have the chance to put the theories into practise by writing a short outline of their own current projects, which will then be discussed in a development session on the second workshop day.
To participate in this course, writers must submit a 1 – 2 page outline of a current project (whether or not they have completed a full draft at this stage) and must also be prepared to discuss it with fellow participants.
Course Outline
Day One
10.00 - 11.15: So what is a treatment, exactly?
This first session introduces the different functions that a treatment has in the UK Film Industry, when treatments might be requested and why.
11.15 - 11.30: Coffee Break
11.30 - 1.00: The strength of the idea
One of the primary functions, and challenges, of a treatment is to express the story of the film in a simple and clear form. This session considers how readers and producers assess whether the idea on the page evokes a film they would want to make or develop.
1.00 - 2.00: Lunch Break
2.00 - 3.15: Does it know what it is?
As treatments are often considered to be a selling document it can be very tempting to try to make the project feel commercial or full of dramatic events suitable for the big screen, yet in doing so there’s a danger of creating confusion about what kind of film you intend this to be. This session considers the importance of communicating a clear understanding of genre and how to write your story in a way that conveys an awareness of the audience it’s destined for.
3.15 - 3.30: Coffee Break
3.30 - 5.00: Writing the treatment
The first day ends with a practical guide to writing a film story as a 1-2 page outline. What is essential to include? What can be left out? How do you convey the tone of your film and express visual style in a prose document? And is there anything that you should never do in a treatment?
After the first day of teaching, participants will be invited to redraft their project outlines and submit them to The Script Factory one week later. These will then be distributed to the tutor and fellow participants for discussion on the second day.
Day Two
10.00 - 1.00: Development sessions
The morning of the second day is devoted to group development sessions during which time each writer will receive individual feedback from a tutor. Divided into two groups of four, participants will have the opportunity to listen-in on the feedback given to their fellow writers and will be invited to offer their own observations where appropriate. As it is often much easier to learn principles when they are applied to other people’s work rather than your own, this form of development discussion is not only highly enjoyable but also very revealing and beneficial.
1.00 -2.00: Lunch Break
2.00 - 3.45: Other Development Documents
This session concerns the function of the treatment as a development document rather than a selling one. Participants will consider why and when it can be more helpful to write treatments rather than full drafts. This session also introduces various other development documents such as the step outline and scene breakdown.
3.45 - 4.00: Coffee Break
4.00 - 5.00: Approaching the Industry
This closing session considers the practicalities of approaching the industry and answers all your questions about what to send and to whom.
The course is primarily taught by Justine Hart one of The Script Factory's co-directors, and will be held at The Soho Theatre in Central London - details on how to find Soho Theatre are here.
Photo: Clare Muller
Booking Information
This course is limited to eight writers. The fee for this course is £260 + VAT (total £299.00) which includes a comprehensive training pack. Script Factory members can take advantage of a 10% discount (total £269.10). Co-writers or producers may also attend the course for an additional fee of £75 + VAT (total £88.13), however only one project can be submitted per team.
For further information on this course or to book a place, please contact us on 020 7851 4890.