Production Bible
A comprehensive document containing all creative guidelines, character details, and visual references for a production.
Definition
A production bible compiles everything defining a project's creative vision—character biographies, world-building details, visual style guides, tone references, and story arcs. For series, it ensures consistency across episodes and seasons.
This living document guides every department from writers to wardrobe to post-production.
Why It Matters
Complex productions involve hundreds of people making thousands of decisions. Without a bible, creative drift is inevitable—characters change, visual styles diverge, world rules contradict.
The bible serves as the single source of truth keeping everyone aligned.
Examples in Practice
The Breaking Bad bible detailed Walter White's character arc across all seasons, enabling writers to plant early seeds for later payoffs and maintain consistent character logic.
An animated series bible specifies exactly how characters can move, what expressions they can make, and color codes for every environment—ensuring outsourced animation matches studio quality.