A TREATMENT, or more accurately a “film treatment,” is a text document that is typically created to aid in the process of a screenplay moving from the text of an original draft to actual scenes in front of the cameras. It is used as a guide for the producer, director, and everyone else involved in the effort – and it is used at various stages in the process.

The initial treatment for a work is often created by the screenwriter, or by someone else on his or her behalf, and is used as part of the marketing effort to have the screenplay accepted for production. This document is sometimes referred to as a “presentation treatment.” In this implementation, the treatment puts the story behind the screenplay in the form of a short narrative - while still outlining the major scenes and interaction of the characters. It is usually short, in the range of five to fifteen pages for most works, and is written in the first person.

A later type of treatment, called a “draft treatment,” is far more lengthy and detailed; it is used as part of the production process for the film itself. This type of treatment lays out each individual scene in significant detail. These documents vary in length between thirty and fifty pages, with some being as long as eighty pages. The draft treatment is essentially the guide used by the film’s director and producer to first create and then maintain the artistic elements of the work that they envision will be a part of the final film.