A bible, also known as a show bible or pitch bible, is a reference document used by

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

s for information on characters, settings, and other elements of a television or film project.

Types

Bibles are updated with information on the characters after the information has been established on screen. For example, the '' Frasier'' show bible was "scrupulously maintained", and anything established on air — "the name of Frasier's mother, Niles' favorite professor, Martin's favorite bar...even a list of Maris' ozens offood allergies" — was reflected in the bible. The updated bible then serves as a resource for writers to keep everything within the series consistent. Other bibles are used as sales documents to help a television network or

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

understand a series, and are sometimes given to new writers when they join the writing staff for the same reason. These types of bibles discuss the backstories of the main characters and the history of the series' fictional universe. Television series often rely on writers' assistants and

script coordinator A script coordinator is a role in the production of a film or television series. The script coordinator is responsible for producing each draft of the script and annotating it for ease of use for the production team. On a television series the scri ...

s to serve as "walking bibles" in remembering details about a series.

Writers Guild of America

In the United States, writing the bible of a produced series earns that writer the 24 units of required credit necessary to qualify for membership in the Writers Guild of America.

References

External links

How to Write a TV Bible
Continuity (fiction) Reference works Television terminology {{tv-stub

Types

Writers Guild of America

See also

References

External links