Writing the Bible and Pilot of Your TV Series



Overview

A TV Bible is the blueprint for a television series. When an industry reader receives a Bible they will ask a series of questions – Does the writer have a vision? Why does this story need to be told and why now? Why is this writer the best person to tell this story? Where does the series fit in the market? And most importantly – why would anyone want to watch it?

During this course, under the guidance of an experienced Head of Development, you will gain the skills and know-how needed to answer all of these questions in a compelling manner. 

The course will try and mimic as closely as possible the experience of developing a Bible in the industry, so it would be advisable for writers to arrive on week one with an idea of what they want to work on.

The principal sections of a Bible are – the log-line, genre, theme, world, tone, characters, pilot and episode summaries.

In each class there will be a short talk laying out what the industry is looking for in each of these sections and then you will be given exercises so that you can work on writing your own versions. There will also be an opportunity for you to share your work and receive feedback. You will then be expected to continue working on each section as homework.

At the end of the ten weeks, you will have the first draft of a TV Bible, the outline of a pilot and the tools needed to go on and develop the project further if desired.

Programme details

Course starts: 26 Sep 2022

Week 1:  Introduction and Log-Lines

Week 2:  One-Sheet

Week 3: Genre and Tone

Week 4:  Theme and World

Week 5:  Character Biographies

Week 6:  Character Biographies - rewrites

Week 7:  Pilot Outline

Week 8:  Episode Summaries

Week 9:  Episode Summaries 2

Week 10:  General Feedback

Certification

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £269.00
Take this course for CATS points £10.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Mr Tom Pemberton

Thomas is the Head of Development at Mind's Eye Entertainment, where he has overseen the development of such projects as - Recall with Wesley Snipes, Humanity Bureau with Nicholas Cage, Distorted with John Cusack and Christina Ricci, Daughter of the Wolf with Richard Dreyfus and A Score to Settle with Nicholas Cage. Dangerous with Mel Gibson has just been released and Fury will shoot later this year.

 

 

Course aims

To provide writers with the know-how to produce professional TV Bibles.

Course Objectives:

  • To provide writers with an understanding of the elements of a Bible.
  • To demonstrate the criteria that the industry is looking for when assessing a TV Bible.
  • To give the writers the confidence to develop their own ideas inline with these criteria.

Teaching methods

- Introductory section, outlining key areas of work within each section.

- Description of required reading and recommended reading.

- Presentation of materials taken from additional (eg. online) sources, relevant to each unit.

- Area for short responses to extracts from key Bibles.

- Tutor responses and exercises.

- Assessment and feedback.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course students will be expected to have gained the following skills:

  • an understanding of the key elements in a TV Bible;
  • a knowledge of what makes a successful and compelling TV Bible;
  • the techniques to further develop and expand their idea to satisfy the requirements of the industry.

Assessment methods

Students will be expected to work on the sections of the TV Bible for their homework. In addition, they will be expected to submit the four key sections of the TV Bible - Log-line, One-Sheet, Character Bio's and Episode Summaries for review. Then at the end, these sections will be put together to make up a full TV Bible. 

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

No prior experience or training is required for this class. However, the course will be focused around developing the writer's own ideas for a television series. So it would be preferable if the writers could arrive with an idea in mind that they want to work on. 

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support