Studying Unmade, Unseen, and Unreleased Film and Television: Histories, Theories, Methods

Unmade, unseen, and unreleased film and television are an overlooked phenomenon in film and media history, despite a substantial amount of the financial and labour resource of these industries being invested in projects that are never produced or distributed.

This edited collection investigates the key themes, debates, methods, and theories adopted in the study of unmade, unseen, and unreleased film and television. Each of the contributors provides a state-of-the-art overview of their particular topic, setting out the key arguments, and reflecting on relevant case studies. Setting out what is at stake in the study of unmade, unseen, and unreleased film and television, it serves as a foundational text for students and those new to this field of enquiry, as well as a key reference text for established researchers.

The collection is centred on major aspects of defining the unmade, unseen, and unreleased, exploring methods and approaches adopted by scholars working in the field and providing critical surveys of existing output. The collection surveys the scale of unmade projects and examines innovative research methods by bringing together case studies on film and television industries from across history and across the globe.