Writing the Documentary Treatment:

The documentary treatment is an essential part of the development process for a documentary. It visualizes your documentary in written form. It helps to get your ideas on the page, working through potential themes, characters and story angles.

This workshop focuses on writing a treatment, the narrative blueprint for your film. Exercises will bring out your approach and the story's direction and sharpen research for the story you're telling. We will also do exercises that explore your main characters and scene visualization. We conclude with a brief look at loglines that can help crystallize your story.

Teaching Artist: David Taylor

David Taylor is an award-winning writer and producer, most recently for the narrative audio series The People’s Recorder, which received a 2025 Signal Award for Best History Podcast. He wrote and co-produced the Smithsonian Channel documentary film, Soul of a People, nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award. He wrote that film’s companion book and other books including Cork Wars: Intrigue and Industry in World War II, which received an Independent Publisher Book Award for history. His writing appears in the Washington Post, Outside, Scientific American, and Smithsonian, and received an Outstanding Feature Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists. He teaches at Johns Hopkins University and enjoys collaborative storytelling.

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