Hi all. I've come to the conclusion that there is total confusion in the use of terminology describing pitch decks and pitch bibles. I've taken some classes and listened to webinars recently and industry professionals are all over the place in how they use the terms. Deciphering all of this has led me to the following interpretation of the terminology as used today:
1) Pitch Deck = is the Powerpoint slide show that is image-intense and shown while giving a live verbal pitch over Zoom.
2) Pitch Document = a roughly seven page written document about a TV series that is similar to a proposal/prospectus or design brief in business. It's provided before or after a verbal pitch to sell the series.
3) TV Bible = is the lengthy production document created after a series is greenlit and is used by the writers room and production team to get the series into production. And it is a living document maintained so that writers, producers, directors and production team members who come onto the show during its run have the information needed to do their work.
Often I realize that pitch deck is used when a written pitch document is what's meant. And Pitch Bible/TV Bible is also used when a pitch document is what's being described. Creating an actual series bible would not be done at the pitch stage, but when the series has been bought.
That's my interpretation, for what its worth.
I agree with your pitch deck and TV bible definitions, Candace Egan. I don't know enough about pitch documents to speak on them.
"Creating an actual series bible would not be done at the pitch stage, but when the series has been bought." It's common to make a series bible when you're outlining the series. A series bible is also really helpful when pitching a series. I pitched a TV show to a company before and they wanted a series bible to go along with the pilot. I had a series bible, so I was able to send both.
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I wrote a bible for my stories. It's a great writing tool. Yes, parts of it are intended to be changed and grow as the story and production develop. Other parts of the bible are pretty much carved in stone. If they change, it wouldn't be the same story or the same characters.
For me, a Pitch Deck should include business details. How much depends on the audience and where it's delivered. I'm not sure about the Pitch Document. Maybe that's an industry-specific thing. I've written Business Plans and Business Summaries to describe a project and my approach - but they are always from a business perspective, not a creative one. I got dinged for 5 pages on that. Should be no more than 3 pages.
I've created a 20-page pitch deck for a rom-com that I'm not only trying to sell, but find potential cast members to make it marketable. Its estimated budget is $12-15M, which includes extensive special effects (the lead character spends about two-thirds of the script as a good-natured, singing-dancing 16-foot-1 1/8 giantess!).