Does anyone have a lot of experience with show bibles? How detailed do you get? I've seen bibles that have every single beat of ever single episode spelled out (the Wire) and bibles that are just concepts, characters and themes (BSG). I'm an unknown writer with a strong pilot working out the series bible. How much should I include?
Bibles
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Re: Bibles
My agent prefers to have solid descriptions of the main and recurring characters, and the TV Guide blurb to the five eps following the pilot, to give readers an idea of the series, and show that it has legs. My bibles end up two or three pages long, over half of which are focused on the characters.
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Re: Bibles
Thanks for all the great feedback. Our first draft of the bible was a series overview, character description, 1/2 page episode synopsis for the first season and then ideas for future seasons. We sent it off to the manager and she just kept asking for more information. Now our episodes descriptions are running 2-3 pages a piece, and she's still asking for more.
I would almost rather start writing the actual scripts at this point.
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Re: Bibles
Originally posted by UnequalProductions View PostThanks for all the great feedback. Our first draft of the bible was a series overview, character description, 1/2 page episode synopsis for the first season and then ideas for future seasons. We sent it off to the manager and she just kept asking for more information. Now our episodes descriptions are running 2-3 pages a piece, and she's still asking for more.
I would almost rather start writing the actual scripts at this point.
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Re: Bibles
Originally posted by CthulhuRises View Post2-3 pages per episode? And asking for more? That seems kind of ridiculous. That's like a Treatment per episode...
I agree that it seems like too much. But we're simply giving the manager what she wants.
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Re: Bibles
Originally posted by KitesAreFun View PostJudd Apatow's bible for "Freaks and Geeks" is online. You can find it by searching on Google. It's incredibly detailed, and runs to about 40 pages. The one series I had optioned had a bible based on that one.
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Re: Bibles
Originally posted by UnequalProductions View Post
I agree that it seems like too much. But we're simply giving the manager what she wants.
It sounds like way too much to me. Long epp descrips are gonna read boring.
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Re: Bibles
To some people, yes. I remember when I wrote the bible for the series that I had optioned. I believe it was 47 pages, if I remember correctly (I'm not home right now, and so can't check). The producer who bought it later admitted not reading the whole thing, but she loved the two full episodes I had written, and was impressed at how much thought and effort I had put into the whole endeavor. So, there's that.
Then again, the show was never made, so there's also that.
But I will say it was incredibly helpful to have written such a long bible because I really felt I knew the characters and the universe of the show by the time I was done, and I found myself developing ideas over the course of writing it.
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Re: Bibles
But Kites,
didn't you sell the show before you wrote the bible? I agree that it would be a good thing to help the writer understand his show, but of all the people I know who set up pilots, I can't think of a single one who used a bible to sell it. I think in the current market bibles are outdated.
And if the OP is using one as a sales tool, I really can't imagine that the execs are gonna read a massive doc. But it's just an opinion.
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Re: Bibles
I'll echo Dolphin. Bibles really aren't something people do in a market where spec scripts actually sell. Really the only bible you need is five sample episodes given in a paragraph (a logline for each a, b and c story, basically). It honestly sounds like your manager doesn't know what's needed to sell a show.
Has your manager been in touch with any potential buyers? Are there any specific requests for what they want to see? I know that the networks during pilot season get very specific about what kind of additional documentation they want.
A lot of the pro writers I know are of the opinion that the more that's put on paper the more there is for someone to find something to disagree with. If it's more than a few pages I think you're really handicapping yourself by offering TMI.
People are always looking for excuses to pass. Don't give them some specific for some future episode that's probably going to change but gets stuck in an executive's brain as something that makes the show wrong.
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Re: Bibles
BattleDolphin: That's correct. The producer who optioned the show asked me to write the bible afterwards. And it's very possible that I ended up doing far more work than was necessary. I guess I was just so impressed and entertained by the "Freaks and Geeks" bible, and the fact that it was Apatow, that I just assumed it was the way to go. I had also never written a bible before. This was back in 2009.
killertv: The show was sent out to other entities, several of whom were genuinely interested. And yes, we never even showed them the bible. We just gave them the two fully-written episodes. So, I'm sure you're right about what you're posting.
Again, I've only sold one show which was never produced, so I'm not holding myself up as an expert. Just sharing my experiences.
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