Bible (screenwriting)
A bible, also known as a show bible or pitch bible, is a reference document used by screenwriters for information on characters, settings, and other elements of a television, film or video game project.[1]
Types
Bibles are updated with information on the characters after the information has been established on screen, scripts, or writer's notes.[2] 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' [dozens of] food allergies" — was reflected in the bible.[2] The updated bible then serves as a resource for writers to keep everything within the series consistent.[2]
Other bibles are used as sales documents to help a television network or studio understand a series, and are sometimes given to new writers when they join the writing staff for the same reason.[2] These types of bibles discuss the backstories of the main characters and the history of the series' fictional universe.[2]
Television series often rely on writers' assistants and script coordinators to serve as "walking bibles" in remembering details about a series.[2]
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.[3]
See also
References
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