Series Bible - Examples

[Pages:21]Series Bible Examples

D E L U G E

Mini-Bible for Season 1

by Chris Grillot

Format/Genre/Tone

One-hour, serialized crime drama; a ten-episode, season-long procedural with an embedded mystery that will resolve by season's end.

Logline

In the wake of Hurricane Rita, investigators discover several dead bodies under suspicious circumstances, but must uncover the truth before all the evidence is washed away or covered up.

Hook

What if someone used Hurricane Rita--the greatest natural disaster to strike the United States--as the perfect cover to commit a series of politically motivated crimes?

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World and Timeline

DELUGE takes place in post-Rita New Orleans from September 2005-Summer 2006. Though set during a factual event, the show blends fact and fiction to tell the main characters' narrative. Events that take place in the background--such as levee breaks, police shootings, FEMA response, etc.--are based on fact and affect the heroes' journey to the truth. For much of the series, there's no power, no cell service, and no plan as 80 percent of New Orleans is underwater.

The first season begins August 28, 2005, the day before the storm and ends September 21, 2005, as Hurricane Rita strikes New Orleans. September was the most chaotic month on the Rita timeline. Not only did New Orleans flood, but tens of thousands of people were trapped in their homes, needing rescuing. And with the federal government's botched response, the city descended into chaos.

Theme

Every life is precious. Truth and justice are worth fighting for--even amidst chaos and anarchy.

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Characters

Eric Richard (38). FBI agent, originally from New Orleans. A somewhat born-onthe-bayou Fox Mulder, he's quick to jump to conspiracy theories, even when evidence suggests otherwise. He's never been married, and hasn't been close with a woman in years. He's a generally nice guy, who will buy prisoners a hotdog on the way to jail if they don't piss him off. When he arrives in New Orleans, it's his first time back in nearly eight years. Prior to his arrival in New Orleans, he'd been stripped of his weapon for the duration of an internal investigation for beating a kidnapping and murder suspect, after arriving moments too late to save a young girl. Since then, he's been assigned throughout the Southeast, assisting local police agencies. When we meet Richard, he's helping the short-staffed New Orleans Police Department throughout the storm. In 1997, his older sister, Mallory, went missing while interning for the Louisiana Economic Development Authority. Her body was later found inside her car in a swamp. Though ruled an accident, Richard never believed it, thinking incompetent police work missed key evidence of foul play. Because of this incident, Richard's a stickler for a thorough process when analyzing crimes. That trait has led him to closing most of the cases he's handled. Richard's also afflicted with cluster headaches, a chronic migraine condition he keeps concealed from his superiors. He uses injectable medications

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and pure O2 to suppress the pain. When not crime fighting, Richard enjoys deer hunting. Not the ambush-a-deer type hunting. The stalk-your-prey-for-hours-onend kind. That, and he's a decent cook, even if he's just cooking for himself. He knows he's not the smartest guy out there, but he's positive he's more thorough than the rest of them.

? Richard's arc: Richard goes from not being able to accept his sister's death and being estranged from his family to accepting her death and reconnecting with his remaining siblings.

Natalie Brown (35). African American. Brown's a New Orleans Police detective who's been working homicide for the last five years. She's a decent detective, but opposite Richard, has little problem skirting laws to make arrests. New Orleans is one of the few cities left where police can break the law to better do their job so why not take advantage of it, she thinks. Additionally, Brown often lies to avoid problems and get her way.

She's married and has a son from a college hookup. Brown's been cheating on her husband with fellow beat cop Ben Watson. Wanting to prove herself in this testosterone-laden male-dominated department, she's forced feelings down to

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her marriage's detriment. Watson is the only man she's comfortable opening up to. Much of her stunted emotional development stems from being raped as a teenager and never telling anyone. She dealt with it by being a tough cop. She believes there are two types of people: good and bad. She thinks she was once good, but doesn't know how to feel that way again. When she's not on the clock, she's a guy's girl, watches sports and drinks with fellow officers at the bar.

? Brown's arc: Brown goes from being a liar who shows little affection for her son and husband to admitting and accepting her flaws and rekindling her relationships with them.

Manuel Garcia (40s). Spanish expatriate who owns a restaurant on Frenchman Street in New Orleans. Loving father with a dark background. He and his wife own 90 percent of the commercial real estate on Frenchman Street and do their business dealings in cash. They've been paying bribes to politicos to prevent corporate development on Frenchman Street, much to the dismay of some in power. His wife and daughter are killed in the pilot.

? Manuel's Arc: Manuel begins to accept the deaths of his family and moves on to rebuild what he still has left.

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Josh Brown (14). Natalie Brown's son. Shy worry-wart. Feels belittled by his mom because of his coy personality.

? Josh's arc: Josh goes from being a shy kid, afraid of his mom, to standing up to her.

Shawn Brown (40). Natalie's husband. ER surgeon. Helpful and smart, but kind of a push over.

Ben Watson (32). NOPD 5th district beat cop. Natalie's extramarital boyfriend. A hard ass with a heart of gold, though he'd never admit it.

Chief Avery (60s). Chief of the NOPD. Heavy handed. Involved in a larger conspiracy, though he doesn't know the extent of it.

Homicide Commander Bill Whittaker (60s). The NOPD's homicide division commander. Well-intentioned, but intense. He's normally all about good police work and catching bad guys, but in this high-stress situation, he's just following orders passed down from his higher ups.

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Lex Wilson (late 20s). A relatively new crime reporter who begins an investigation into Richard and then into police activity during the storm. At first, he's an enemy to Richard and Brown, but by the end, he helps them uncover motives behind the killings.

Killers: Three ex-military men--Ian, Ross and Shelby. Ian's the oldest, in his mid-30s. The other two are late 20s. They're Iraq vets fresh out of the military. Anti-government by philosophy, they're smart enough to realize they can't change anything the old-fashioned way and nihilistic enough to believe none of it really matters. They've killed government employees all across the United States. During Hurricane Ivan, which struck Florida and Alabama in 2004, Ian was hired to knock off a city councilman and make it look like an accident. The mission was a success. He was later contracted for the New Orleans hits and brought along some help.

Episodes 1

Pilot Richard arrives in New Orleans and is deployed with Brown. The two pair up and set out to check on a missing New York Times reporter, Dave Peralta, who appears to have evacuated. The following morning, they find Peralta dead in

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shallow flood water in City Park and determine he died before the flooding. When dispatch refuses to recover the body, Richard places Peralta's body in his trunk. Gunshots lead them to a flooded neighborhood where they find a former politician, Phil Morello, floating dead in the water. They search the area and chase a suspect to a less-flooded neighborhood. They don't find him, but come across a bigger crime scene, involving Manuel Garcia's family.

Josh reveals to his mother in secret he saw police cover up a shooting and doesn't believe there will ever be justice. He pleads with his mom to help Richard. Brown returns to assist Richard, and they find the body they took from the crime scene missing.

Episodes 2 through 9 are then summarized in broad strokes, leading to the allimportant, climactic season finale in Episode 10:

10 As Hurricane Rita strikes, Brown and Richard are able to arrest the Councilman before Manuel can get to him. They believe they've put an end to this. Seeing justice served, Manuel attempts to adjust to his new reality. Richard's now addicted to painkillers and Brown's affair is out in the open. Richard and Jenny

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