Build the director's treatment
you send to win the job.

A director's treatment is a short, image-led document a director writes to win a job. It shows how they would make a commercial, music video or branded film from an existing script or brief: the core idea, their approach in their own voice, the look through lighting, camera, casting and design, the structure moment by moment, and the references that make those choices concrete. It pitches a specific interpretation, not a summary of the script.

Open with the idea in one line and a short director's statement. Then show the spot or film beat by beat, followed by the look: lighting and colour, camera and movement, casting and performance, wardrobe, locations and production design, each with captioned references. Add music and sound, edit and pacing, and practical notes on shooting the product and the shape of the shoot days. Close with a brief case for why you are the right director for this brief.

As short as the idea allows and long enough to show the look and the structure. Commercial treatments are read quickly by creative teams comparing several directors, so image-led pages with a few lines each outperform long essays, and the idea should be clear before the first page turn. A branded film with more story can justify more pages than a thirty-second spot. If a page could be removed without the reader losing a decision, remove it.

A director's treatment pitches an interpretation of work that already exists: an agency's script, a brand's brief or an artist's song. A pitch deck usually pitches a project that does not exist yet, such as a feature or series seeking financing, and covers the story, the market, the team and the budget. Both use visual references and a clear idea, but a treatment is about how you would direct it, a pitch deck about why it should be made.

A film treatment is a prose summary of a story, written during development to show a screenplay's plot, characters and structure before or instead of a full script. A director's treatment is visual and interpretive: it takes a script someone else wrote and shows the look, tone and approach the director would bring. Screenwriters and producers write film treatments; directors write director's treatments to win commercials, music videos and branded films.

Read the agency script and brief until you can state the problem the spot has to solve, then find the one idea only your version would bring. Write that idea in a line, describe the thirty or sixty seconds moment by moment, and decide the look through light, camera, casting, wardrobe and locations, with captioned references for each. Show how you would treat the product and the end frame, add music and sound, and keep practical notes short.

From films, commercials and music videos, photography books and archives, their own previous work, and frames grabbed from YouTube or Vimeo, with licensed stock where a specific image is needed. What matters more than the source is the caption: say what each reference is for, whether it is the light, the framing, the wardrobe or the performance, because a reader will otherwise copy the wrong quality from it. Group references by decision rather than by where they came from.

Yes, with the heavy lifting, but it should not supply the vision. In Storyflow the AI reads the script and everything on the board, so it can gather references for a described look, draft a beat-by-beat structure, generate frames no reference captures on Pro and Max plans, and lay the finished board out as a treatment PDF. The idea, the voice of the director's statement and every creative decision stay with the director, which is what the agency is buying.

Usually a clear idea stated early, references that prove the look instead of decorating it, and credible practical thinking about how the spot will be shot, particularly the product. Creative teams compare treatments side by side, so the one that answers the brief's actual problem, shows the structure of the spot, and reads quickly tends to beat one that is more beautiful but harder to follow. Relevant previous work matters, but it supports the treatment rather than replacing it.

Send a PDF named with the brand, the spot and your name, sized so it opens quickly on a phone and a laptop, with the idea visible on the first page. A view-only link is a useful second option when the treatment includes motion references or a storyboard the creative team may want to browse, and in Storyflow the agency opens it in a browser with no account. Follow the agency's deadline and format exactly.

Not yet. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. A producer or cinematographer you invite can work on the bid with you, and agencies reading the treatment through a view-only link never need an account. AI image generation is on Pro and Max.