More Clarity, Less Burnout: Notes on the Future of Pitching

This post is a continuation of a conversation I had recently on Instagram Live with Jack Turner — one of our directors, and also the founder of the treatment agency Treat On This. Jack spends a lot of his time helping directors turn raw ideas into polished documents that (hopefully) win pitches. He’s also a brilliant director himself, so he understands both sides of the process: the creative ambition and the reality of the pitch treadmill.

Are these elaborate treatments actually helping us win jobs, or are we stuck in an arms race of who can produce the shiniest pitch deck?

In our conversation, we talked about how treatments have evolved, what actually makes a good one, and why the entire pitching process needs to change. This piece brings together some of those thoughts – part philosophy, part practical advice – for any director who’s ever felt overwhelmed, underappreciated, or just plain tired of the way things are done. It’s also a call to action: we need to start doing this differently.

So grab a coffee (or maybe a stiff drink, depending on how many all-nighter treatments you’ve done this month), and let’s dig in.

Write First, Edit Later: Get Your Ideas Down Early

Jotting down raw ideas immediately after a creative call helps capture inspiration while it’s fresh. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned (and something Jack emphasised) is to just start writing as soon as possible. Don’t wait for the perfect sentence or a grand vision of the whole treatment—get your gut reactions on paper first. After a chemistry call or briefing, your mind is brimming with impressions. Dump those thoughts out early, even if they’re rough. “You have to really nail down your approach in words as soon as you can, because nothing else can take place until that point,” Jack says. “I’ve found that once I spew out a first draft—often bullet points of key beats or visuals—I can later shape it into a coherent narrative. The initial write-up acts as a crib sheet of all the must-hit points while they’re fresh in my mind . Only after I’ve captured those raw ideas do I switch into editor mode to refine wording, trim fluff, and organize the flow." Separating the creative brain dump from the editing phase makes the whole process less intimidating and more efficient. In short: write first, edit later. You can’t polish a blank page, so get some text down early and give yourself material to hone.

Think of this first writing sprint as catching a wave of inspiration – It’s about seizing the gut reaction ideas that excited you in the brief, and pinning them down before production logistics and overthinking cloud your vision. Jot down those nuggets from the initial call – maybe the client casually mentioned a reference they love (or hate). Lock those insights in. “Little things on those initial calls can be a bit of a golden ticket to how the agency might receive certain references. If you name-drop something and they react well (or say ‘that’s too much’), those notes become your compass. Later, when you’re knee-deep in image research or agonizing over wording, you can refer back to that crib sheet of core ideas to stay on track .

Once you’ve spilled your initial thoughts onto the page, you can start shaping them into a coherent outline. Identify the 3-5 key points that you must communicate for this concept. Jack literally starts with bullet points: “Writing first for me means getting those bullet points down – the key points that we’ll have to nail in that treatment, to make it land as best as possible” . Each bullet might correspond to a section of the treatment (for example: Vision/Concept, Visual Approach, Characters/Casting, Tone, Why Me as director, etc.). This list will ensure you cover all the agency’s ask while injecting your unique take.

Quick Tips for Stronger Treatments

Sometimes you just need a handy checklist. Here are a few practical tips I live by (and which echo a lot of Jack’s advice) when crafting treatments:

• Brain-dump right after the call: Don’t wait. As soon as you finish the creative call or brief, jot down all the ideas, phrases, and requirements that popped up. Capture the “golden nuggets” while they’re fresh so nothing slips away.

• Be concise and punchy: Assume your reader will skim. Write in a way that someone could skim and still get the gist. Short paragraphs, clear headings, and simple language will beat long-winded explanations. Get to the point, and your point will hit harder.

• One idea per section: Don’t bury a brilliant concept in the middle of a long paragraph about something else. Give each big idea breathing room. If a particular insight or visual approach is crucial, highlight it in its own section or page so it stands out.

• Use visuals to reinforce, not just decorate: Choose reference images or storyboards that align with your words and reinforce the mood or style you’re describing. The perfect image paired with a lean bit of text can communicate 10x more than either alone. Make sure every visual in your treatment has a purpose and tells part of the story.

• Inject your passion and voice: Write the treatment in your voice, the way you’d excitedly explain the idea in person. If you’re thrilled about an aspect of the project, express that enthusiasm. Let the agency feel your passion through the pages. And if you have a personal stake (like we discussed above), include that anecdote or personal note.

• Get a second set of eyes (if you can): If you have a writer or trusted colleague who can review your draft, use them. A quick sanity check or tweak from a fresh perspective can catch unclear bits or typos. Similarly, if design/layout isn’t your forte, consider collaborating with someone who can make it look slick. Teamwork can elevate a treatment to the next level, and there’s no shame in using a little help to present your vision in the best light.

Using AI as a Treatment Tool

In the scramble to write a treatment, it’s easy to forget half of what was said on the briefing call. Start using AI as it should be used, as a tool to work smarter, it can be a game changer. Specifically, tools like Fireflies.AI that automatically records and transcribes creative calls. Instead of relying on hurried notes or memory, you’ll end up with a verbatim transcript of the call that you (and a potential treatment team) can review afterward. 

Here’s why this is incredibly helpful: often, during the call, the agency or client will drop little insights or offhand comments – that might not be obvious in the written brief . Maybe the creative director casually mentions an additional scene idea, or hints at a tone they love or hate. Those details can fly by in the moment. With a transcript, you can search for that one line about casting or that specific reference they brought up, and boom – there it is in writing .

Beyond capturing details, having the call transcribed means you can be more present in the meeting itself. You’re not scrambling to scribble notes the whole time; knowing the AI’s got it covered. Later, comb through the text (or even use AI summary tools) to pull out the key points and exact phrasing the agency used to describe what they want. Using their own language in you treatment can subtly show them “I heard you.” It ensures you don’t misinterpret anything – if you’re unsure what they meant by “edgier”, you can double-check the transcript’s context. This approach has another perk: you can easily share the call transcript with your researcher or designer who’s helping on the treatment. They too can quickly get up to speed on what was said without you having to recap everything. 

Overall, leveraging an AI transcription tool is like having a cheat-sheet for the brief – it keeps the facts straight and the inspiration points handy. In an age where we have these tools available, why not use them? Recording your brief and transcribing it can save you time, prevent misunderstandings, and make sure those little gems from the call find their way into your treatment.

Clarity Over Volume: Less Can Be More

When it comes to treatments, bigger is not always better. We’ve all seen those 40 or 50-page behemoths packed with long paragraphs on every detail. The reality is that agency folks and clients are crazy busy – if you hand them a novella, they’re probably not going to read a great deal of it . Instead of impressing with volume, aim to impress with clarity. Focus on conveying your vision in a concise, punchy way. 

Jack and I observed that time and again that overly long, essay-style treatments rarely have an advantage: if you weren’t already the frontrunner, writing heaps doesn’t get you any further than someone who wrote just a really concise paragraph. In practice, this means distill your idea down to its most important elements. Make every sentence count. Rather than describing every scene or camera move in flowery prose, give a sharp overview and maybe one vivid example that captures the tone. Not only will this keep the client’s attention, it also leaves room for your visuals to shine. (Even your treatment designer will thank you—Jack notes that if he isn’t forced to split giant blocks of text across many pages, he can make the deck far more impactful visually.) Remember, the goal is to communicate your vision clearly and quickly. If you can say it in 5 pages instead of 15, do it. In the end, a brief, clear treatment that’s easy to digest will stick with readers more than a dense tome that gets skimmed.

Let Your Personality Shine: The Power of Personal Stories

One of the strongest ways to make your treatment stand out is to infuse it with your personality and personal connection to the project. It’s easy for treatments to become formulaic, following the same template and polite language that anyone could’ve written. But clients notice when you put a bit of yourself into the pitch. I always find that really personal treatments seem to be the ones that sort of stick with me. A great example is a director we worked with a few years ago who was pitching a campaign for a polish sausage brand. He happened to be a Polish immigrant in Canada, and he opened his treatment with old family photos of backyard barbecues from his childhood growing up in a polish expat community. Instantly, the pitch stopped being just about selling sausages and became a story of culture and community. Those nostalgic images of him as a kid grilling with family conveyed the heart of the idea without a single bullet point. It explained everything they were trying to tell so succinctly… This is what it’s all about. It’s about family. It’s about community. The agency could feel that authenticity.

The takeaway: don’t be afraid to bring your own story into the mix. If you have a personal anecdote, passion or experience that genuinely relates to the project, use it. Maybe the script reminds you of something from your life, or the brand’s message aligns with a hobby you love. Say so! Show a photo of you doing that activity or a one-liner about why it matters to you. That kind of human touch can be priceless. It not only makes your treatment more memorable, but it subtly tells the client why you’re the perfect fit beyond just your reel – you get it on a personal level. In a sea of directors, letting your personality shine through your treatment can be the thing that tips the scales in your favour.

The Unsustainable Grind of the Pitch Process

Let’s switch gears and talk about something every director knows too well but rarely discusses openly: the pitching process can be brutal. In today’s ad industry, directors often churn out multiple elaborate treatments, unpaid, just hoping to land one job. It’s a high-stakes lottery that demands huge time and creative investment with no guarantee of a payoff.  Let’s not mince words about this, the current pitch treadmill is a significant amount of work in a very short amount of time with no thanks. You pour your heart into a treatment, maybe even pull favors to hire a freelance designer or stay up for 48 hours editing mood films, and sometimes you don’t even get a polite rejection email in return.

It’s no wonder many directors get jaded. The process as it stands is not only unsustainable in the long run; it can take a serious emotional toll. The feeling of sending it off and then it just sort of disappearing into the void is something every director can relate to – that post-send gloom where you’re left second-guessing and refreshing your inbox . Over time, repeated rejections (or worse, silence) after extensive pitch work can chip away at your confidence and passion. And yet, the industry has come to accept this as “just how it is.” We’ve normalized the idea that directors will invest days of labor essentially on spec. This isn’t a sustainable or healthy model, and it especially hurts up-and-coming directors or those without deep pockets to fund elaborate treatments out-of-pocket.

The way pitches are run today often feels like an assembly line that chews up creative energy. Lately there’s been a growing industry conversation about how this system isn’t sustainable. There are calls to make it fairer, such as introducing pitch fees or stipends so directors aren’t footing the bill for all this creative work. In some markets, this is actually moving forward – for example, in Germany a new “pitch cost share” model is being put in place to ensure directors and production companies get paid for the time and effort they invest in pitches  . That kind of reform shows that the issue is recognized: our time has value, and endless free pitching isn’t a viable long-term model.

So what can we do to improve this thankless process?

Changing the Game: A Call for Live Treatment Pitches

One idea picking up steam is to make directors present their treatments live the norm – be it via Zoom or in-person – rather than solely submitting a static document. In some markets, this already happens. In Mexico, that’s how most treatments are presented, directly to the agency. I think that’s fantastic. Imagine that: instead of sending off your PDF into the ether, you get, say, 15-30 minutes in a meeting to walk the agency and client through your vision, in your own voice. You could highlight the key points, convey your enthusiasm and clarify any questions in real time.

This approach could humanize the whole process. It forces the agency to actually hear you out (no more worrying if they only flipped through the images). It also gives directors a fighting chance to convey tone and nuance that can get lost on the page. Jack believes it would add tremendous value: “I just think it adds so much value. And it also makes the directors feel involved, but also well valued, that’s a big part of it.”  When you present live, you feel like an active participant in the process, not a nameless contender lobbing a document over the fence. Even if you don’t win the job, at least you got your day in court, so to speak – you were heard.

There’s also a mental health benefit here. Getting closure is better for our sanity than the current radio silence treatment. “For directors’ mental wellbeing it’s a bigger improvement, for sure,” Jack notes about the live-pitch approach . If you completely bomb the presentation, you’ll know immediately that it’s not your gig (and maybe even why). If you did great but the client’s heart was set on another style, you can often sense that in the room and temper your expectations. Either way, you’re not left in limbo for weeks replaying what you could have written in an email that no one read. Several directors I know who have done live pitches (when agencies allowed it) came out of it saying, “You know, even though I didn’t win, I felt heard and I got feedback in real time. I can live with that.” It sure beats the void of uncertainty.

Implementing live presentations as a norm would require some adjustments. Agencies and clients would need to allot time for each pitching director to present (which, frankly, they should be doing anyway – directors kill themselves for these pitches, the least they can do is schedule 15 minutes to pay attention). It might mean fewer directors shortlisted per project to keep timing reasonable. But that would be a win-win: agencies narrow in on three truly viable candidates, and each gets a fair shot to present. The bottom line is, our industry needs to recognize that the current pitch system isn’t just inefficient – it’s burning out talent. Let’s experiment with formats that restore some respect and reciprocity. 

The Way Forward

The commercial industry is waking up to the fact that the way we’ve been doing things isn’t the only way. Directors are talking to each other about the burnout from pitch madness, and production companies and even agencies are starting to listen. The road to full reform – where directors are routinely paid for treatments or where spec creative work is limited – is a long one, and it’s going to take a lot of collective push to get there. But in the meantime, we can start making changes in our own corner of the world. Push for ideas like live pitching when you can; it’s an immediate way to make the process more humane and interactive. Keep sharing your experiences and advocating for change (even just venting to peers or on forums can build momentum). And importantly, keep honing your craft using the tips and tools that give you an edge without burning you out. That means writing smarter (not just harder), using technology like AI transcripts to work smarter, while at the same time trying to not lose that personal touch in your treatments.

Ultimately, the goal is a pitching ecosystem that’s fair and rewarding for everyone – where directors feel valued for their creative work, and agencies get more authentic, engaged pitches (instead of cookie-cutter PDFs cranked out under duress). It’s encouraging to see experiments happening and conversations growing. As Jack Turner noted, these shifts can make directors feel actually valued. We’re not there yet, but each step – whether it’s a new workflow like a live pitch, or a bold client who agrees to pay a pitch fee – is a move in the right direction.

The best thing we can do right now is support each other and keep the dialogue going. Share your own tips and tricks for making the treatment grind easier. Advocate for yourself when appropriate (it’s okay to ask, “Is there a pitch fee for this?” or to gently float the idea of a shorter pitch format). And above all, try to keep the joy in the process. We got into this field because we love the creative challenge. Yes, the pitching process can be frustrating, but it’s also where initial ideas spark and where we get to imagine the project in our own way. By writing early, staying clear and concise, being unabashedly personal, leveraging new tools, and exploring new pitching methods, we can make that process more enjoyable and effective.

Change is coming, bit by bit. In the meantime, let’s craft our treatments with skill and heart, and push for a healthier industry together. The way forward is ours to shape.