How to write a commercial treatment
Your treatment is the beginning of the production process. Whether you feel like you’ve “won the job” yet or not, this is your opportunity to visualise the commercial you are going to direct.
It’s like displaying a very specific artistic vision to a very picky audience of one. And that one person is the brand (or cause) you are advertising. You will likely be submitting to a creative team, or agency, and yes you need to satisfy them, but the audience of one is the creative brief.
“Give me the freedom of a tight brief.” — David Ogilvy, Confessions of an Advertising Man (1963)
A creative brief is like a very narrow metal entryway to a huge field of possibility. If you pay attention to it you will glide through into a world where your creativity can play and prosper. Ignore it and you will bang your teeth on the metal and clunk to the floor in a world of pain.
Consider including slides that explore the following, with every decision not only justified as an expansion of your creative intrigue and interest, but very specifically as a response to the creative brief. If you have been briefed well, the agency or client will have a consumer insight, and that is your guiding light.
[Note: I personally favour crafting narrative elements first and placing them into a treatment with care, so I can then support them spectacular visuals that communicate far beyond anything the words can do. It’s not an instructive, I’m just a story-led type.]
Title
Open with the title, followed by a short conceptual thought that anchors the idea in tone and intention. Reflect the brief back to the client so they feel seen and heard (and can trust you). The concept should immediately communicate how the story moves and why it matters, not through description but through energy.
Cinematography
Break down the cinematography with clear examples. Consider:
Look and feel. Clarify what the visual texture of the film feels like. Is it naturalistic or stylised, crisp or grainy, documentary or commercial? Be exact. Your references may live across several worlds, but your treatment should define which one belongs to this story.
Transitions and you’ll use them, explain the rhythm of cuts, and how the camera’s movement will carry emotion. This is where your visual thinking becomes legible.
If camera mmovement is central to your idea, describe it. For example, if the film contains wind or motion as a motif, explain how the camera engages with it. Does it move with the subject, around them, or remain still while the world moves past? Each choice communicates something different about what the film is saying.
Styling and Art Direction
Be specific about how the art direction expresses tone. Colour palette, wardrobe, materials, and lighting all determine the visual language. Decide whether you want rich contrast or softness, texture or polish, and make those choices intentional.
Production Design (Spaces, Palette and Locations)
Treat production design as part of storytelling, not an accessory. The physical environment carries emotional information. Describe how surfaces, space, and structure help to communicate character, rhythm, or atmosphere. Give a sense of the world this story lives in. Interior or exterior. Constructed or natural. Urban or elemental. Palette and environment define the emotional temperature of the film, so articulate the feeling of each space.
Shooting Location
Be transparent about realisation. If large-scale visual effects or abstract sequences are involved, outline how you plan to achieve them and with whom. It isn’t just about production detail, it’s about communicating authorship.
Movement Direction
Movement connects emotion to image. Camera choreography and performance direction are ways of articulating energy, not just action. Even stillness should feel deliberate.
Scripts as Single Slides
If dialogue or voiceover is part of the work, give it its own page (s). Let it sit cleanly, full screen, surrounded by space or images. This allows the reader to pause and feel the rhythm of the line before returning to image.
Casting Brief and Notes
Casting is vital and detailed. Describe who lives in this world, the kind of presence or energy that brings the film alive. Respond again to the brief and the target audience. People will relate when they feel seen.
Tone
Tone is the emotional architecture that holds everything together. It lives in colour, pace, silence, and the way one image meets the next. When tone is clear, the reader feels the world before you’ve made it.
ADD VISUALLY Cinematic Elements
Your treatment should move the way your idea moves. Consider adding subtle animation or GIFs to communicate motion, rhythm, or transformation. A treatment that breathes invites the reader to imagine the film more vividly.
Additional things you might include:
Pre-empting concerns the client may have about your choices. Making them feel confident your choices are the correct ones.
Storyboards (if requested).
Introduction to the broader team you work with.
Relevant case studies, articulating how you do what you do and why it works.
Something not on this list that you’re screaming at me to include. Think I missed something vital? Get in touch.
Process and Reflection
Write as you build. Begin with story, then layer visual form until the film starts to breathe on the page. Every treatment is a test of alignment between instinct and intention. When that alignment lands, it feels effortless.
I’m Doug Crossley. I tell stories and I help people tell theirs. If you’re ready to work with someone who brings warmth, rigour, and creative partnership to the process, explore my treatment writing services and how the right collaboration can help your story become what it’s meant to be.
Want to discover more? Book a free call to discuss your project.
