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 or film project.^[1]

Types

Bibles are updated with information on the characters after the information has been established on screen.^[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' 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

• Canon (fiction)
• Prompt-book

References

External links

• How to Write a TV Bible