The Treatment
So, I’m working on a preliminary treatment for my upcoming documentary film and because the story will be driven by its characters I’m very interested in following a 3-act story structure. It’s a model I’ve seen work well with stories involving a performance, contest or some sort of effort like a campaign, etc. and think it will work really well for this film.
One resource I recently discovered is UC Berkeley film professor and documentarian Karen Everett who offers the following advice when writing a treatment to gauge interest among potential funders.
The Treatment must…
- Describe the quest
- Articulate the central question
- Imagine the conflict the protagonist will forgo during production
All of this makes perfect sense and will certainly make it into my treatment. And, now I ask you my fellow documentarians… What’s worked for you when writing a treatment? What helped your story stand out among funders?
