What’s the difference between a screenplay synopsis and a screenplay treatment

I got this question recently:

“I’m a little confused. Say you have the Hollywood Creative Directory and have only the fax and address of a given company. Do you fax the query and treatment or just the query by itself? And if you use use snail mail, do you send the query and treatment? What is the difference between a treatment and synopsis?”

Typically a treatment is a much longer and more detailed description of the screenplay than a synopsis. Treatments are often written before the script is written as a guide for the screenwriter and producer so that the screenwriter doesn’t waste time writing a draft that the producer isn’t going to like. In fact many paid writing assignments have a payment schedule which includes the treatment as a step towards the first draft. I’m a big proponent of outlining your story before turning it into a screenplay, but there really isn’t a good reason to write up a formal treatment if you’re writing your screenplay on spec.

Typically a synopsis will be a less than one page summation of your screenplay’s story. I usually try and include a short synopsis (like less than half a page) of my story in my query letters. In some cases if you submit just a logline in your query letter you will get someone asking for a short synopsis and in other cases you might find an assistant who reads your script and likes it and then wants a synopsis from you to pass along to their superior. I also include synopses of all my scripts on my screenwriter website so if a producer is checking out my site they can get a good feel for which projects might be right for them. I also feel like a short synopsis really helps you boil your story down and decide what’s important, so it can be a very helpful tool in trying to do re-writes, too.

There really is no exact definition or specific requirements (that I’ve ever heard) that defines what a treatment is or what a synopsis is, but that’s the gist of it.

Now to answer your specific question about what to include with your query letters… I would include a short synopsis with your query letter no matter how you make your submission (fax, snail mail, or email). If it means sending two pages via mail or two pages via fax that’s fine. But if you can be very precise and pack your synopsis into your query and keep it all on one page that’s even better.

Check out my post Writing a synopsis for your screenplay if you have any questions about how to write your synopsis.

Tagged as: query letters, screenplay synopses, screenplay treatments

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