What’s ‘The Bible’?
Sell your TV Series
That fiction TV series are taking over the audiovisual market it is not news. Internet, VOD platforms and traditional TV channels have realized, TV series are the new star product. So, it is the ideal moment to pitch that TV series idea of yours to the market. But, what form should you give it, how should you present it? From a screenwriters point of view, the bible is the answer.
When trying to present your film or TV projects (short films, feature films, documentaries, tv-series or programs), you will have to adjust the information to the medium you’re trying to present it to. A sales dossier, a small document with the synopsis and the full script can be the right material for a film production company or a sales agent from a TV channel, but in the case of TV series, it is paramount that you prepare a concrete document, without mattering at what stage your work is.
The bible that you prepare as a screenwriter will differ in some aspects from what you could prepare from the point of view of a production company, or a project in which you already have a technical and artistic crew committed to the project. So, we’re gonna start from assuming that you are a screenwriter, you have a brilliant idea for a TV series and you want to give the first step to bring it to light.
What information should the bible contain?
Only because of its name we can imagine that it is a document considerably long. In my experience, a bible with the right information is around 20 pages. Of course, it isn’t an exact science, so, it doesn’t mean if yours is 15 pages it will be an incomplete bible, nor that if it’s 25 pages, you’re overdoing it. But now you will see that, following the structure of Indispensable sections that we have prepared in this article, that’s the usual number of pages you will get to.
Let’s get to it.
- Series File Card: I like to start off my bible with a clear, concise and descriptive file card: title, format, genre, periodicity and tagline. Knowing the name of your TV series is obviously necessary. It also should specify how many episodes will the first season have and the duration of each of them (for instance, in the 1970s in Spain, TV series episodes were 70 minutes long, much more than what we usually see in the United States TV series). Are you going to present a drama? A comedy? A sci-fi series? Don’t forget to indicate how often will the series air, though it is true this is an aspect that is more in the field of the production team, it is very different a TV series thought out for after dinner every day than a TV series thought out for the night primetime hour once a week. Lastly, a good idea is to close the file card with a tagline that leaves a clear idea about the show; a line with a punch which could end up in the promotional poster, and which will make your series so much more appealing.
- Synopsis: Regardless of your file card, the start of the bible should leave a clear idea or statement about what kind of TV series the reader is about to get into; it should be as close to what you want to do as possible. In my opinion, I think a synopsis is better than a logline. The logline is more brief and concise, but if you’ve reached to convince someone to read your bible it’s because you have caught their attention, at least a little bit, therefore a synopsis is a more suitable format where you can expose what’s your story going to be about. But careful! When I say “synopsis” I don’t mean a long and detailed description of all the action of the series, I mean something briefer.
- Presentation and declaration of intentions: this is one of the most important points on this list, especially having learnt it’s something that all public funding contests ask for it. In this part, I try to answer the question I believe the reader of the bible will first ask himself or herself: what’s different about this TV series? Here I can explain what motivated me to write it, what inspired me, what other TV series is similar to, what’s the ultimate objective…I think this is the place where you can most elaborate on whatever literally idea you want to explain, describe. Before getting deep into the content of the series, a little bit of context will help the reader to get into the situation. Do you remember that part of school exams where they’d ask you to “justify your answer”? I imagine the producer/ head writer as the teacher who you have to convince about the why of this tv show; this is the perfect place to do that.
- Themes. As in any fiction work that prides itself, your TV series, behind its story and events that occur in it, has an emotional background, traces that address some everyday realities with which the viewer can feel identified. Even though we’re not teenagers anymore, a lot of us got into “13 Reasons Why” (Netflix, 2017) which talks about friendship, love, loss and personal growth; though we’re not into the crack making and dealing business, we all felt passionate about the evolution, changes and growing desire for power that Walter White goes through in “Breaking Bad” (Vince Gilligan, 2008). Therefore, themes that you are going to take on in your TV series must be very explicit and clearly explained in this section. Because, independently of the genre, and the way you have of telling the story, these are the ones that end up getting your audience hooked.
- Characters. Differently from feature films, the TV series bible allows us to develop in-depth our characters. After all, this is one of the biggest differences with cinema, the capacity to go deeper into the psyche of the characters. I dedicated a page to each main character, with a brief section to describe the physical attributes (in case there’s a feature that stands out), but mostly, I describe their psychology, their motivations, their objectives and its way of facing obstacles. Plus, though this is an optional thing, you can accompany the text with some visual reference: an actor, a photomontage, an illustration…In essence, let your protagonists and antagonists be known. Let the reader get to know their charisma, its way of being and what makes them different.
- Plot map. Here we need to stop and specify an important aspect: at what point of development is your TV series in. If you have the idea of selling it as soon as possible, to find someone who will get things started, this is a fundamental point. Even though you might not have written the script yet, it is key to count with a plot map, at least of the first season. A thematic development of the story and what will happen in each episode. A table where you develop the main plot and add the subplots. But, let’s see this with a hypothetical example. Imagine you are developing: CSI: Barcelona. Following the line of success of its predecessors, it is a procedural police TV series, where agents resolve cases in each episode (auto-conclusive plot), but also, they develop a general plot (continuous plot) with its personal relationships or a bigger or more important case. In this case, your plot map will indicate, in each episode, that auto-conclusive case (the victim, the investigation, the resolution) and the advances with the continuous plot. Is it a bit confusing? Don’t worry, if you don’t organize a plot map in the end, there is no written rule about how to do these things. Organize it by characters? Chronologically? By order of importance? We will see some tricks later.
- Aesthetics and style: Again, this might be a section related to the production team, but as the creator of your TV series, I’m sure you imagine it a certain way. Does your main character break the 4th wall? Do VFX have a big part in the action? Is it black and white? In this part, you can talk about those differentiating factors that will make it original and attention-grabbing.
Something additional…
These are the basic points that you should cover in your bible always. Depending on the state of development of your TV show, and how many people have engaged in the project already, you maybe would like to add some other points: team CV, shooting locations, budget, production plan…
Take into account who’s going to be reading your bible, so choose wisely what information you’re going to include. For instance, if you’re looking for a production company, they will not care if you have prepared a production plan, because they will want to develop their own if it comes to that. Or, if you’ve already given this step and you’re looking for a broadcaster to whom sell the rights of the TV show, the estimated budget will be very important.
What about adding a script? When pitching a TV show, the most likely is that whomever you are pitching to will want to read first the bible. If in those 15–20 pages you achieve to convince and get his or her attention, they’ll want to have a look at the script for the pilot. In that case, wait for them to ask for it, do not include it with your bible, as it will look sort of scary and non-appealing to present a thick dossier.
Production companies and TV broadcasters receive all kinds of projects in different stages of development. There are teams who jump into writing the scripts of a whole season at once. Solitary writers who will flesh out an idea on their own. In my opinion, the minimum necessary to have ready is the TV show bible and the script for the pilot episode. From then onwards, the more the better.
Some tricks and advice
I’ll leave here some tricks that can help you put together your bible in an effective way. As we’ve already talked, take into account that this is a document with a lot of room for creativity, so, don’t stick to theory only.
- Tell them what does your series compare to, what references you have followed, what inspires you. Don’t be afraid, no one will accuse you of plagiarism because your TV show is about a police brigade or about family issues. And aim high! Even if it’s very similar to other existing shows, don’t use as a comparison that TV show that was cancelled after the first season or that one that has garnered terrible reviews. Producers want to believe they have in front of them the next national (or international!) TV success, so use references that are up to the task.
2. Lean on the visual. If something has taught us Filmarket Hub, is the importance of a good poster. If you are skilled in graphic design or have a budget to hire a designer or if you have a friend who can help you out, let the cover of your bible be the teaser poster of the show. If you also have a mood trailer to accompany it, even better.
3. Are you a little bit confused with how to put together your plot map? A formula that is very useful for me is to use an Excel sheet (or a wall full of post-its) and to develop the characters and each corresponding plot in parallel. In the upper row, write down the episode number. On the left, the name of the characters. That way, I explain what the main character, the secondary character, the antagonist (at the least) does in each episode. I use different colours, which ends up creating a map, which, read horizontally, allows us to give a clear look at how stories start and end.
It is time for your series!
Probably there hasn’t been a better time for TV series than the one we’re living now. From the start of the Golden Age of fiction on TV at the end of the ’80s, TV shows have experienced amazing growth in terms of audience, impact, production and prestige. What before was considered a step back in any film professional's career, today is totally the opposite. Directors, screenwriters, actors and teams are fighting to work on TV productions.
The market is more open than ever and TV broadcasters everywhere are looking for new content to be produced. So, if you’ve got a project on the line and you want it to become part of a TV channel’s grid, don’t forget you can upload them to the market at Filmarket Hub, where we have periodical pitching events for TV shows and feature films in development.
Prepare your bible, your pilot episode and…let’s go!
