• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

A bad treatment can be cured. UCLA Professional Programs currently accepts applications for “Writing Treatments for Film and Television,” a class taught by Harrison Reiner, story analyst for CBS Entertainment.

A treatment summarizes plots and characters in screenplays and teleplays, putting the basic elements of a story into a bite-size package.

“Sitting in front of a laptop and a blank ream of writing paper and coming up with one divinely inspired scene after another to make up a 100-plus-page screenplay can be pretty daunting,” Reiner said.

Usually five to 20 pages in length, a treatment serves as a blueprint for a screenplay or teleplay. When constructing a skyscraper, a flaw in the blueprints can lead to costly and dangerous defects. By the same token, to avoid the painful and time-consuming task of reworking an entire screenplay, a writer can benefit from a strong outline.

“It’s a way of mapping out the broad strokes of a story before writing a single page of screenplay,” Reiner said.

Reiner has had a hand in many aspects of show business, from production executive at Sovereign Pictures to stage actor. From his various past, he has culled a knowledge of what works structurally and supervised the script development of the Stallone film, “Cliffhanger.”

Reiner currently works as a story analyst for a production company, where he reads treatments and screenplays, and then writes a report, usually called coverage. Coverage can make or break a treatment.

Reiner hopes to give personal attention to writers and to help them bring out the best version of their vision, unlike screenwriting gurus who often spew philosophy in weekend seminars.

“I become intimate with the specific writing styles of each and every student,” Reiner said.

Reiner’s class is open to anyone with a bachelor’s degree. However, the class, part of UCLA’s Professional Programs, is designed for serious writers looking for personalized guidance.

“(I want) disciplined, highly motivated writers of any age and any race committed to bettering themselves, (people who are) unafraid to stumble and take creative risks until they find their true voice and in their work demonstrate a joy for storytelling,” Reiner said.

For more info, go to www.filmprograms.ucla.edu. Class begins the week of Jan. 6, 2003, Tuesday evenings, 7-10:30 pm. Enrollment costs $750 ($650 for current first-year Professional Program in Screenwriting students). The deadline for enrollment is Jan. 6, 2003.