Show Pitch Bible

 

Earlier this month I posted a piece about Character Bibles and how they should be created. Today I am going to delve into how to create a show pitch bible for any television show, or even movie script pitch. For a television show you have the original pilot then the first season of shows and onward. A movie script pitch is a little different.

Right now the concept idea is in your head but you want to get it in front of a manager or agent to help you get it in front of a few producers or executives to get it to screen. So, now’s the time for you to get the story idea out of your head and onto paper. A mentor of mine once said “the story sounds great verbally, but you must put it on paper/computer screen for it to feel and be real. So, get it out of your head now.” He was right. Once I got it out of my head it took on a life of its own and ended up being both a book and a movie script. Although each of my books start out as a movie script because it’s easier to lay out the scenes and who’s in the scene and what’s the dialogue in the scene before becoming said book. In the book there is more description of the scene and surroundings, plus motivation of the characters in the scene which helps make it a book. I call it the fluff in the book. But first let’s work on the story pitch bible.

Every television show started off with a story bible. It’s an all inclusive bible that explains what happens in the series of the television show.  It’s also an approach that helps writing the outline to the show itself. Consider it like a roadmap to the show and how it will flow. It’s an outline of various plots, what characters are in the show during this part of the series and how they can uncover the various secrets in the new show world.

Each series bible (for each show itself in the series) will explore the characters flaws and strengths, the world in which they live and the story that will never be completely explained so as to not give away the plot and twists of the show.

Say for example you as the writer were capturing the essence of a story from a well-known book series. To gain the rights to the book series, you must first share your mystery skills of understanding the series to the author, if their alive. This will help you gain authorization to adapt the book series to television or screen with authority and conviction of the original intent of the story itself. Otherwise, the author is going to turn you down and wait for another writer to come along.

But first let’s explore how you will be the one to pitch the show to the executives and producers of the media world.

For this to work, you must know your show inside and out. That means you must be able to describe every character, every plot point and twist, plus describe the world in which your character lives. You’ll have to do this in less than 10 minutes. So, start memorizing your show pitch. Even if you wrote the best spec sheet, this might not be enough time. However if you write it down on paper or on your laptop, each page is going to be able 600 words which is one minute of your ten minutes, so type it up on your computer or laptop and make it no more than 10 pages. Those ten pages will be your show pitch. So get to writing it out in no more than 10 pages in total. Then start memorizing those ten pages. Have someone time it for you or get your cooking timer and start reading it. If your timer goes off before you’re done, then start again and again until you can do it in 10 minutes.

Remember to use an imagination piece in the first paragraph. For example, in the show pitch for the show titled “He-man.” The creators use:

“Beyond the farthest galaxies viewed by the greatest telescopes on earth. Beyond the limits of our universe, lies another place- a place of magic, myth, sorcery, and science. Through the Cosmic clouds spins a solar system with a type three star twinkling in the ether of interstellar space.”

That pitch line allows the executives and producers to visualize the show under story. And this should be your goal to give them something to visualize and want to know more. If you can create that pitch you’re going to be good to go.

The Logline is the next key component of your pitch. Describe your characters – are they a family or a company or an individual seeking something they might have lost or need to discover. In your logline you’ll also need to create your conflict line.

Then you’ll need to create your blueprint for your show. And I mean the entire show series and also the breakdown of each episode, in one fell swoop. This is called the Story Engine. In other words the plot mechanism that moves your story along from one episode to the next. In order to do this you have to have a strong storyline to build upon and drive forward from one episode to the next.  Consider comparing another similar show that never allowed the writers to finalize the show concept and plot. Don’t allow the concept of the storyline and plots change based on staffing changes, including actors who were to stupid to stick it out.

Your story engine is going to be your logline, is it a drama, a comedy, or a murder mystery detective story.  In other words, one character is the leader over the other actors and they drive the others to do his or her will, but in the end they confront the villain face to face and solve the problem at hand. At the same time they will learn a valuable lesson from the incident and from each other at the same time.

Just like the Character Bible, the story bible contains critical details about the story, the plots, the twists and the motivation of the story in general. Whereas in the Character Bible, the critical details are about the individual character themselves. Their physical features, their quirks, motivations, hang ups, fears, are they married or divorced, dating and who? Were they in the military or a college jerk. Do they have children, if so, who do they live with? Do they drink? Do they smoke? Are they money hungry?

Next, you’re going to explain if your show is going to be an episodic or serial plot show. What does that mean your asking the screen. Well, let me explain. Think about old television shows like Murder She Wrote, how about Perry Mason or Bewitched which is a restarted storyline each week which would make it an episodic show whereas a serial plot would be show that would make you want to binge each Saturday, like Bridgerton, Queen Charlote or how about Downton Abbey.   

If your story pitch is for an episodic series then you have to think about not only season one, but also season 2 and 3. What character will have the conflict and who will challenge them in season 1, then pick up the story again in season 2, but this time how will the challenger challenge character with conflict do the right thing? Etc.

Does this make sense? If so, get to putting that story on the computer and get it out of your head. Once you’re done, reread it over and ask someone else to read it to see if it makes sense. Then begin the effort of finding an agent to help you pitch your story to a producer.

Best of luck.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Graduating with an Associate of Arts from Pheonix University in Business Management, then a degree in Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology, her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. In her spare time, Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, pen and ink, Gouache, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 6 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, and opinion or history pieces each week.