This manual is a step by step guide to writing the perfect treatment, and to using it to perfect your dramatic art and market your work to entertainment buyers and gatekeepers.
As Hollywood insiders know, the first step in selling your story idea for film or television is preparing a treatment, the brief pitch that sells the concept to a busy producer or agent. Now including updates on the latest trends in the industry, writers-producers Kenneth Atchity and Chi-Li Wong tell readers everything they need to know to create an effective and saleable treatment, one that incorporates such key elements as conflict, likeable characters, plot twists, a climax, and visual drama.
Using dozens of examples from actual productions, Writing Treatments To Sell distinguishes between scripts designed for feature films, episodic television, and made-for-TV movies and shows step-by-step how to prepare a treatment for each. Also included is essential information on copyrighting original ideas for screenplays, as well as acquiring rights to adaptable books and true-life stories. With a comprehensive glossary of industry terms and an overview of the various entertainment markets, this book is perfect for students who want to learn how to write an effective script and essential for anyone hoping to get a foot in the door of the exciting scriptwriting business.
From Library Journal
Walter's name is synonymous with excellence in motion picture screenwriting. The guru of the completed script (he previously wrote Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing, LJ 11/15/88), he here offers a tour de force of information for everyone who has ever contemplated writing a movie. While most how-to titles dwell on the three-act structure, strong character development, and other technical skills, Walter urges writers to draw from their own experience. He cheers for films with substance rather than today's matinees that may be shiny and shapely but void of any real soul.
Equally impressive is Writing Treatments To Sell, a debut by two Hollywood writer-producers. Though some of their basic information seems to be a rehash of material found in just about every screenwriting book, everything pertaining to the actual writing of the treatment is original and fresh. There is no better book specifically on treatments. Both titles are highly recommended for appropriate collections. Marty Dean Evensvold, Magnolia Branch Lib., Tex.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reviews:
"At last-someone wrote the book every screenwriter has needed for years. It can make the difference between success and failure in the industry."-Linda Seger, author of Making a Good Script Great and From Script to Screen
"Essential material for the beginning screenwriter and the established writer, both."-Dale Pollack, producer of Blaze and Saturday Night Fever
"With WRITING TREATMENTS TO SELL, Ken Atchity and Chi-Li Wong have written much more than a book on film treatments. It's an essential guide for handling structure, characterization, conflict, and all the other craft concepts that writers have to know, as well as an incredibly useful outline of what makes this crazy business tick. To top it all off, their energy and passion for writing and story-telling is infectious."--Steven Womack, author of CHAIN OF FOOLS.
"Atchity and Wong have created a highly accessible and entertaining step-by-step guide through the creative minefields of motion picture and television development. Thus, they have delivered an indispensable handbook for all novice writers and producers who want to make a living in Hollywood."
Susan Zachary, Exec VP, Rosemont Productions
"Writing Treatments To Sell" was #4 on Los Angeles Times Book Review's Hollywood Bestseller List!
As Hollywood insiders know, the first step in selling your story idea for film or television is preparing a treatment, the brief pitch that sells the concept to a busy producer or agent. Now including updates on the latest trends in the industry, writers-producers Kenneth Atchity and Chi-Li Wong tell readers everything they need to know to create an effective and saleable treatment, one that incorporates such key elements as conflict, likeable characters, plot twists, a climax, and visual drama.
Using dozens of examples from actual productions, Writing Treatments To Sell distinguishes between scripts designed for feature films, episodic television, and made-for-TV movies and shows step-by-step how to prepare a treatment for each. Also included is essential information on copyrighting original ideas for screenplays, as well as acquiring rights to adaptable books and true-life stories. With a comprehensive glossary of industry terms and an overview of the various entertainment markets, this book is perfect for students who want to learn how to write an effective script and essential for anyone hoping to get a foot in the door of the exciting scriptwriting business.
From Library Journal
Walter's name is synonymous with excellence in motion picture screenwriting. The guru of the completed script (he previously wrote Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing, LJ 11/15/88), he here offers a tour de force of information for everyone who has ever contemplated writing a movie. While most how-to titles dwell on the three-act structure, strong character development, and other technical skills, Walter urges writers to draw from their own experience. He cheers for films with substance rather than today's matinees that may be shiny and shapely but void of any real soul.
Equally impressive is Writing Treatments To Sell, a debut by two Hollywood writer-producers. Though some of their basic information seems to be a rehash of material found in just about every screenwriting book, everything pertaining to the actual writing of the treatment is original and fresh. There is no better book specifically on treatments. Both titles are highly recommended for appropriate collections. Marty Dean Evensvold, Magnolia Branch Lib., Tex.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reviews:
"At last-someone wrote the book every screenwriter has needed for years. It can make the difference between success and failure in the industry."-Linda Seger, author of Making a Good Script Great and From Script to Screen
"Essential material for the beginning screenwriter and the established writer, both."-Dale Pollack, producer of Blaze and Saturday Night Fever
"With WRITING TREATMENTS TO SELL, Ken Atchity and Chi-Li Wong have written much more than a book on film treatments. It's an essential guide for handling structure, characterization, conflict, and all the other craft concepts that writers have to know, as well as an incredibly useful outline of what makes this crazy business tick. To top it all off, their energy and passion for writing and story-telling is infectious."--Steven Womack, author of CHAIN OF FOOLS.
"Atchity and Wong have created a highly accessible and entertaining step-by-step guide through the creative minefields of motion picture and television development. Thus, they have delivered an indispensable handbook for all novice writers and producers who want to make a living in Hollywood."
Susan Zachary, Exec VP, Rosemont Productions
"Writing Treatments To Sell" was #4 on Los Angeles Times Book Review's Hollywood Bestseller List!
