The Treatment
Episodes
Jeff Bridges
24 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Bridges (The Last Picture Show, Texasville, Tron, The Big Lebowski) is a lucky break for first-time writer-directors. Thirty-five years ago he go...
Geoffrey Fletcher
17 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
The novel that gave us the film Precious has been pursued by producers since it's publication. First-time screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher is the man wh...
Scott Schuman
10 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In 2005, Scott Schuman began blogging. His site, proof-positive that pictures tell the story, is now a book...
Colin Firth
03 Feb 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Oscar nominated-actor Colin Firth's film career is like a walk through the library. He's been in adaptations from A Christmas Carol, to Nostromo to Pr...
Guy Ritchie
27 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, director Guy Ritchie (Revolver, RocknRolla) brought high-voltage filmmaking to modern London. He c...
John Cooper
20 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
For John Cooper, new director of the Sundance Film Festival, it's all about moving into the future and maintaining tradition. Something old, something...
Oren Moverman
13 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
"Intimate" and "confessional" are not adjectives you'd expect to hear in a film about the Iraq war. Director Oren Moverman's The Messenger looks at th...
Tom Ford
06 Jan 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis speaks with fashion designer, writer-director-producer Tom Ford about his feature film debut, A Single Man, an adaptation of Christopher Isherwo...
Jason Reitman
23 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
What's easier, directing your own screen play or someone else's? After Juno, Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking) has returned to directing his own, ...
Viggo Mortensen
16 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
He's a poet, a musician, a painter and a photographer. But we know Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises, The Lord of The Rings) best as an actor. The ada...
Wes Anderson
09 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Martin Scorsese once called Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) his logical heir. Is it the way Anderson...
Werner Herzog
02 Dec 2009
Contributed by Lukas
From shorts to features, fiction films to documentaries, directing to acting, Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre, The Wrath of God, Grizzly Man, Res...
Chris Weitz
25 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
How do you make a sequel to one of the most talked-about romances of all time? If you're Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy, The Golden Compass) m...
Lee Daniels: Precious
18 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
"Precious," the story of an overweight and abused Harlem single mother fighting to survive, won this year's Sundance Film Festival’s Audience and Gr...
Matthew Weiner
04 Nov 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Wen it started three seasons ago, Mad Men was a show not good enough for HBO. Now the rest of TV struggles to keep up with it. Creator Matthew Weine...
Jason Schwartzman
28 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
He's worked with Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola and Judd Apatow on the big screen. Now Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Funny People, The Darjeeling Limited,...
Chris Rock
21 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Rock is known for his potent and direct stand-up comedy. As a filmmaker he’s turned that same unblinking eye on himself and black culture. His...
Nicolas Winding Refn
14 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis hosts Danish writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher, Fear X) to talk about his new film, Bronson. The film is loosely based on the life of...
Scott Hicks
07 Oct 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Shine, Snow Falling on Cedars, No Reservations… Director Scott Hicks is attracted to source material. His newest, The Boys Are Back, is another film...
Joe Berlinger
30 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
From Brother's Keeper to Some Kind of Monster, director Joe Berlinger has made documentaries on communities in crisis. He goes to the Ecuadorian Amazo...
Laura Jacobs
23 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Jacobs has a luminous eye for detail, social and physical. It can be glimpsed in her writings on fashion and culture or in her novels, such as h...
Jane Campion
16 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Writer-director Jane Campion (In the Cut, Holy Smoke) has felt the passion and complications left in its wake, from The Piano to her newest, Bright St...
Armando Iannucci
09 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A war in the Middle East may break out. What's more important than saving lives? Saving face, as seen in director Armando Iannucci's briliant satire, ...
Geoffrey Smith
02 Sep 2009
Contributed by Lukas
The moving and crafty documentary, The English Surgeon, deals with the life and works of Dr. Henry Marsh. Its director, Geoffrey Smith (The Children o...
Bobcat Goldthwait: World's Greatest Dad
26 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
You know Bobcat Goldthwait as the assaultively loud comic not concerned with fire safety. As a writer-director (Windy City Heat, Sleeping Dogs Lie) ,...
Quentin Tarantino
19 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Jean-Luc Godard once said all you need to make a film is a girl and a gun. In Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction; Kill Bill, Volume...
Judd Apatow
12 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis hosts writer-producer-director Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin) whose latest film is Funny People, starring Seth Rogen and Adam ...
Nancy Miller
05 Aug 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Nancy Miller (The Closer, CSI: Miami) sets her shows outside the LA-New York universe and gives them a deeper view of character. Saving Grace, ...
Lynn Shelton
29 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Writer-director Lynn Shelton's (My Effortless Brilliance, We Go Way Back) new film, Humpday, asks several questions...
Isiah Whitlock, Jr.
22 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. has worked with talents from David Mamet to Spike Lee to Dave Chappelle. On HBO's The Wire, his portrayal of Senator Clay Da...
Sacha Gervasi
15 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
From Anthrax to Poison, Guns and Roses to Metalica, these are just a few groups inspired by Anvil, the most influencial band you've never heard of. It...
Chai Vasarhelyi
08 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
As a musician, Youssou N'Dour has always been about faith. In the documentary I Bring What I Love, director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (A Normal Life) ...
Nick Dawson
01 Jul 2009
Contributed by Lukas
From Utah farm boy, to pioneering film editor, to director of some of the 70's and 80's greatest films -- such as Shampoo and Being There, it's all pa...
Anne Fletcher
24 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
After years as a choreographer, Anne Fletcher moved into directing with Step Up and 27 Dresses. Her newest, The Proposal, is a comedy about dancing ar...
Todd Phillips
17 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Director Todd Phillips (Starsky & Hutch, School for Scoundrels, All The King's Men) has a gift for finding guys who have to show the worst side of...
Brad Silberling
10 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
For television fans, the phrase "not a routine expedition" ranks up there with "a three-hour tour." Director Brad Silberling (Casper, Lemony Snicket's...
Pete Docter
03 Jun 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis hosts writer-director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc, Toy Story, Wall-e) to talk about his latest film, Up, the first Pixar movie to be projected in...
Lloyd Kaufman
27 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Troma Studios co-founder Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead) has been about do-it-yourself. His new book, Direc...
Russell Brand
20 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) has established his own separate wing to the garden of earthly delights...
Rian Johnson
13 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis hosts writer-director Rian Johnson (Brick) whose new film is The Brothers Bloom, starring Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo.
Matt Tyrnauer
06 May 2009
Contributed by Lukas
After a tenure at Vanity Fair, Matt Tyrnauer has turned to making documentaries. The subject is the couturier, Valentino, at the end of his career but...
James Toback
29 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
From the scripts for The Gambler and Bugsy to his own films as a director, James Toback has made intensely personal work. His documentary, Tyson, is h...
Tim Disney
22 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
The past twelve months have seen slew of films on perversions of justice. American Violet brings that material to a smaller, more intimate scale. Dire...
Steve McQueen: Hunger
15 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Turner Award-winner Steve McQueen’s directorial debut, "Hunger," is based on the 1981 IRA hunger strike in Northern Ireland's infamous Maze prison. ...
John Hamburg
08 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Comedy about shifting definitions of masculinity is where writer-director John Hamburg (Zoolander, Safe Men, Meet the Fockers) finds laughs. His...
Tony Gilroy
01 Apr 2009
Contributed by Lukas
A world where the protagonist and the viewer doesn't know where he stands. From the Bourne films, to Michael Clayton and the new film, Duplicity. It's...
Ellen Kuras
25 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Cinematographer turned filmmaker, Ellen Kuras (Summer of Sam, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan) dedicated yea...
Jody Hill
18 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis hosts writer-director Jody Hill (The Foot Fist Way) whose latest work is the HBO TV series Eastbound & Down.
Diablo Cody
11 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
From the blogosphere to an Oscar (Juno) to Showtime. It’s quite a career for screenwriter Diablo Cody. Her series, The United States of Tara, looks ...
James Gray
04 Mar 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis hosts writer-director James Gray (The Yards, We Own the Night, Little Odessa ) whose latest film is Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwynet...
Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen
25 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
As America's only black-and-white comedy team, Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen wrote the book on comedy. Now they've written a book...
Barry Jenkins
18 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Medicine for Melancholy, the debut film from writer-director Barry Jenkins, takes a dreamy contemplative look at a young African American couple in Sa...
Danny Boyle
11 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Director Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Millions) has moved from suspense film to post-punk despair, to zombies, to the cen...
David Fincher
04 Feb 2009
Contributed by Lukas
In just six films, director David Fincher (Seven, Panic Room, Fight Club) has established themes and textures. So much so that his latest, The Curiou...
Sally Hawkins
28 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Actress Sally Hawkins has had quite a year, stemming from her third collaboration with writer-director Mike Leigh. Happy-Go-Lucky is bright-eyed comed...
Ed Zwick
21 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
Director Edward Zwick has made films (The Siege, Glory, Blood Diamond) about social causes, but also about social responsibility. His newest, Defiance...
Steven Soderbergh
14 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
In the 20 years since Sex, Lies and Videotape, director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, Oceans Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen) has made 20 f...
David Fincher
07 Jan 2009
Contributed by Lukas
In just six films, director David Fincher (Seven, Panic Room, Fight Club) has established themes and textures. So much so that his latest, The Curiou...
Jenny Lumet
31 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis Mitchell hosts actress-teacher-writer Jenny Lumet, whose screenplay Rachel Getting Married has been made into a critically acclaimed film, starr...
Darren Aronofsky
24 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Director Darren Aronofsky is know for portraying anguish in his films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) with dazzling stylistic flourish. With T...
Ron Howard
17 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Frost/Nixon, from director Ron Howard (Happy Days, Arrested Development, Apollo 13, A Dangerous Mind) is the the interview as blood sport, with a fall...
Richard Jenkins
10 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
You may know actor Richard Jenkins in his role as the dead father in Six Feet Under, or his films with the Coen Brothers, Mike Nichols of the Farley B...
Marc Forster
03 Dec 2008
Contributed by Lukas
There's probably no director working who's made films focusing on a characters with a compact with loneliness the way that Marc Forster has. (Finding ...
Tim Kring
26 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
For writer-producer Tim Kring (Chicago Hope, Crossing Jordan), his series Heroes was a way to bring a full meal to audiences...
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
19 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Though Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine are different shows, both took times to catch on. Julia Jouis-Dreyfus talks about the move fro...
Lance Hammer
12 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Low-key photorealism, well-chosen non-actors and an achingly heart-felt drama played out in the Mississippi Delta. That's Ballast, the feature film di...
John Malkovich
05 Nov 2008
Contributed by Lukas
WEB EXCLUSIVE! Actor John Malkovich (The Killing Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, Being John Malkovich, The Sheltering Sky)John MalKovich has to be engage...
Stefan Forbes
29 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Before the Swift Boat Veterans and the dirty tricks of Karl Rove, Lee Atwater treated political ads as trailers for horror films. Director Stefan Forb...
Steven Bochco
22 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
No living writer/director has influenced TV in the way that Steven Bochco has.
Simon Pegg
15 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Actor and writer Simon Pegg (Spaced, Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) has found a way to integrate his pop-culture obsessions into movie and TV proj...
Clark Gregg
08 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
You probably know Clark Gregg as an actor from The New Adventures of Old Christine or Iron Man. You should also know him as a writer-di...
Ed Harris
01 Oct 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis Mitchell hosts actor-director-writer-producer Ed Harris (The Right Stuff, The Truman Show, Pollock) whose latest film as screenwriter, director,...
Stuart Townsend
24 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Stuart Townsend is best known as an actor. For his writing and directing debut, Battle in Seattle, he chose the 1999 WTO conference as his source.
Wayne Wang - Web Exclusive
17 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Director Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club) not only moves from studio films such as Maid in Manhattan to indies such as Smoke, but also blu...
Alan Ball
10 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Six Feet Under and his Oscar-winning screenplay for American Beauty established Alan Ball's interest in the underside of American life. His feature di...
Edgar Wright
03 Sep 2008
Contributed by Lukas
You know director Edgar Wright from his films Hot Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead, but his partnership with actor Simon Pegg precedes them. They also worke...
Don Cheadle
27 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis Mitchell hosts actor Don Cheadle (Oceans Eleven, Oceans Twelve, Oceans Thirteen, Crash, Hotel Rwanda) whose latest starring role is in the film ...
Susanna White
20 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Paranoia, hostility and patience -- not exactly the stuff of war dramas. The seven-part mini-series, Generation Kill, focuses on just that. Susanna Wh...
Ben Stiller
13 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Meet the Fockers, The Cable Guy, Reality Bites) is a director, producer and writer. But he's first and foremost an actor who's...
Courtney Hunt
06 Aug 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Elvis Mitchell hosts writer-director Courtney Hunt whose debut feature film, Frozen River, won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festi...
Jenji Kohan and Roberto Benabib
30 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The suburban dealer-mom of the cable series Weeds has moved her act to the beach and Mexico. Weeds’ executive producerss Jenji Kohan and Roberto Ben...
Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight
23 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Christopher Nolan makes films in which the protagonists' emotional chaos is mirrored in the physical world around them. His second Batman film is the ...
Jonathan Levine
16 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
What do you get when you bring Ben Kingsley, Method Man, Josh Peck and Mary-Kate Olsen together? Besides the dream episode of Access Hollywood, you ge...
Alex Gibney: Gonzo
09 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
WEB EXCLUSIVE: 2008 has been quite a year for director Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room). Two documentaries he was involved with were...
Andrew Stanton
02 Jul 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Animated films have had many stars: animals, fish, toys, bugs, cars... WALL-E is the first with a lead with no face. It's a trash compactor. Is this t...
David Hajdu
25 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1930's and 40's, comic books were as popular as movies -- and more influential. So much so that serious steps were taken to stop them. Writer D...
Walter Mirisch
18 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Some Like It Hot, The Magnificent Seven, In the Heat of the Night, the original Pink Panther. If you're lucky, you've seen these films. Walter Mirisch...
Michael Patrick King
11 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
For writer-director Michael Patrick King (Will and Grace, Murphy Brown) every season of Sex in the City was about changing expectations, which means h...
Jay Roach
04 Jun 2008
Contributed by Lukas
What's crazier than Austin Powers or Meet the Fockers? The 2000 presidential vote count, perhaps. It's the subject of Jay Roach's new film, Recount. C...
Henry Bean
28 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
As a writer, Henry Bean is responsible for films about self-destructive protagonists who skirt justice in Deep Cover Internal Affairs. With his direct...
Doug Pray
21 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Documentary filmmaker Doug Pray manages to nose his way into outcast societies -- de facto families -- with his films. Hype, on the 90's Seattle music...
Jon Favreau
14 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Favreau understands power. As an actor, he broke through by writing a roll for himself in Swingers. Then he made the move behind the camera as the...
Garth Jennings
07 May 2008
Contributed by Lukas
If you were creating an indie comedy about two London boys coming into their own in the 80's, the last title you'd use is Son of Rambow – unless you...
David Mamet
30 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
There are few figures in American culture as with as potent a step as David Mamet (American Buffalo, House of Games, Heist), first as a playwright, th...
Vadim Perelman
23 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
It's not often that filmmakers turn to literary devices rather than film conventions for their work. It happens to be the case for director Vadim Pere...
Anthony Minghella
16 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The late writer-director Anthony Minghella (Michael Clayton, Cold Mountain, The English Patient, Truly, Madly, Deeply) focused on characters trying to...
Charles Burnett
09 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
He's one of America’s premier filmmakers and has devoted his career to bringing a nuanced portrayal of the African American experience to the screen...
Kimberly Peirce
02 Apr 2008
Contributed by Lukas
What a difference a decade makes. In the 1990's, director Kimberly Peirce brought Boys Don’t Cry to the big screen. Almost a decade later, she retur...
Mark Harris
26 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
What do Dr. Doolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Bonnie and Clyde and In the Heat of the Night all have in common? All play a prom...
James Lipton
19 Mar 2008
Contributed by Lukas
The book Inside Inside not only takes a behind-the-scenes look at the television show Inside the Actors' Studio, but at its creator and host, James Li...