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What is a TV Show Bible?
A TV Show Bible is a reference document created by screenwriters to help them pitch their TV series. Typically 5 – 20 pages but sometimes a lot longer, a TV series bible is a great way to portray your vision for a TV show and expand the universe of your show in the reader’s mind.
Also known as a pitch bible, a good TV show bible should outline all the main aspects of a show:
- Characters
- Story
- World
- Themes
- Arcs
- Tone, Style and Structure
A TV series bible is essentially a blueprint of the entire show. It gives explicit detail on how each aspect of the show evolves over the season(s). The studio wants to know the entirety of the screenwriter‘s vision, so the bible needs to be detailed yet clear and structured.
The pitch bible is essentially the look, feel and content of your show condensed into an easy to read document. The reader should finish your bible with a distinct idea of what kind of space your series will carve out in the television landscape. And the key aim is for that reader to come away raring to read your pilot.
In this article we will give you a guide to follow so you can write your own TV Series Bible. We’ll break down the key elements to include and how to do so. We’ve also thrown in some TV show bible examples to demonstrate effective and successful pitches.
Once you’ve read our tips and created your TV show bible, submit to Industrial Scripts’ The TITAN Awards, one of the world’s leading screenwriting contests. We’re accepting TV series bibles amongst many other different formats.
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