Cine Novelist

Guide

Series bible

A series bible (or show bible) is what you hand a producer, network or room alongside a pilot. A story bible is a working reference for the writer. A series bible has a second job: it has to convince someone the show can run, episode after episode or season after season, and that you know where it's going.

What a series bible must answer

  1. What is the show? Logline, format (half-hour or hour, ongoing or limited), genre and tone.
  2. Why does it run? The engine: what generates new stories every week.
  3. Who carries it? The core characters, with arcs across the season.
  4. Where is it going? Season one shape, and where future seasons go.
  5. Why now, and why you?

Series bible outline (copy)

1. TITLE PAGE · logline · format · episode count · runtime
2. THE SHOW IN ONE PAGE: premise, tone, comparable titles
3. THE ENGINE: what generates episodes; the recurring conflict
4. WORLD AND RULES: setting; how things work           [law / hypothesis]
5. CHARACTERS: for each lead: want, need, flaw, season arc
6. PILOT SUMMARY: one page
7. SEASON ONE: episode-by-episode, a paragraph each
8. THE LAST-EPISODE TURN: what the season builds to (may be withheld in pitch copy)
9. FUTURE SEASONS: a paragraph each
10. TONE AND VISUAL STYLE: references; what it is not
11. CREATOR'S NOTE: why this show, why now

Limited vs ongoing series

A limited series bible should make the ending feel inevitable. Section 8 carries the weight. An ongoing series bible should make the engine feel inexhaustible. Section 3 carries the weight. Many bibles fail by treating one as the other.

Protect the turn

If your season builds to a reveal, decide early what the bible discloses and to whom. A pitch document may withhold the last-episode turn. The working bible shouldn't. Cine Novelist is built to respect this. A withheld last-episode turn is treated as withheld, and the desk won't silently cut the last act or episode when working on your material.

On the desk

Bible builds a working book with law (what the pilot or episodes establish) and hypothesis (where you intend to go) kept apart. Develop stress-tests the premise and engine before months of pages. Pitch packs the room with stills, motion and voice. Generated frames are hypotheses until a human adopts them. Market looks at what a buyer will hear.

Length and format

Most series bibles run 10 to 30 pages. Lead with the one-page show summary and the engine, because executives often read only those. Keep episode summaries to a paragraph each.

Questions

What is a series bible?

A document pitched alongside a pilot that explains the show's premise, engine, characters, season arc and future seasons.

How is a series bible different from a story bible?

A story bible is a working reference for the writer. A series bible also has to sell the show's ability to run.

Should a series bible reveal the ending?

Pitch copy may withhold the last-episode turn. The working bible should record it.

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