mini TREATMENT BY
DYLAN MARANDA
and
SEQUOIA
What a joy to get to pitch and make things with you again. The trust I have in our creative partnership is immense, and I hope we can cook up some magic for this lovely idea you have.
As always, every treatment I write is the starting point of a conversation, not the end-all be-all. I hope you know that about me by now 💫
But know that if anything feels off about this approach, it is up for discussion.
Let’s dive into it.
Yeehaw!
🤠
In my mind, the best ideas are often the simplest — you have one of those here.
Our shooting approach should reflect that. If the shots are gritty but elegantly cinematic, if our spurs look amazing, and if our product and end card shots are memorable, we have a recipe for a special spot.
Beyond those fundamentals, I see 4 key components to the success of this piece:
Production Design
Location
Visuals
Shot List
I’ll go into each in detail, but the overarching idea is to preserve the simplicity of the concept — and spend our time and resources dialling in what’s on screen.
💫
Our production design should reflect the character serving the story.
He works with his hands, runs his own ranch, and has great taste in boots and beer. He likely grew up in this world — a couple of generations deep. He drinks the same beer his dad did. He likes things the way they’ve always been done.
What does that look like?
Vintage — but functional.
A vintage fridge.
Country stylings.
Wood furniture.
A worn (but not ragged) couch.
The small details that tell us who this couple is by showing, not telling.
Given constraints, we can’t build everything from scratch. But I love finding locations that are already 80% there, enhancing rather than bringing in everything ourselves...
Robyn Tilby will be leading production design — she’s exceptional at building grounded, lived-in spaces with taste and restraint.
If there are any specific callouts that we have for production design, let’s chat about it.
This is a big one.
We’ve already begun looking into options, but locking this in will be our first major step.
We want to immediately read “working ranch” — cinematic scope, but nothing that feels posh. Our hero needs to work at this place, live at this place, and watch Yellowstone at this place. A next-gen rancher.
We’re hunting for the right fit -- but I want to show you some of the progress we are making. Keep in mind, we still need to start the process of director scouting... But there are some good vibes getting sent our way already.
Logistically, we need to prioritise a location where our porch view works seamlessly with interiors to avoid a company move.
Here are some looks already jumping out from our initial pull last week…
OUR BEER SHOT
First things first, I absolutely love the reference frame you shared.
Let’s make that shot happen.
Top-down angle. The boot comes up and rests on the thigh. Our hero bottle comes in and opens. The label faces us naturally, but as expected, a spray from the sideways open action. It’s perfect.
I would love to overcrank here for slow motion — this is our hero moment, and our first real look at the spur design in action. Let’s give it the time it deserves.