Films Not Made

About Films Not Made

From analog rejection to digital resurrection. Films Not Made unearths both Hollywood and indie film projects too wild, weird, or ambitious to ever hit the big screen. Hosts Avi Zev Weider and Amy Hobby invite writers, directors, and producers to join them in ripping open old wounds by pulling out abandoned scripts, impossible casting lists, and brutal rejection letters. Honest conversations with creators and resurrections of the movies that got away.

Publisher

Films Not Made

Category

arts · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Feb 2026

Latest episode

28 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

5 of 17 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   28 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Roadside Attraction: The first statue to move for love

   Host Alex Miller interviews writer Conrad Vernon and comedian Harland Williams about their unmade animated film "Roadside Attraction," exploring love's power through a statue's journey.

2. 

   7 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Repairman with Rex Pickett

   Host Rex Pickett discusses his unmade script "Repairman," revealing its near-production history and personal inspiration in this interview.

3. 

   23 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   While You Were Breeding with Kristin Newman and Blair Breard

   TV writer Kristin Newman and EP Blair Breard share with hosts Amy and Avi the frustrating story of their completed series shelved by the network.

4. 

   9 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The Sisyphus of Niagara: A Dark Comedy's Eternal Struggle

   Filmmaker Joe Maggio and Tom Hall, Artistic Director of Montclair Film, discuss the near-production and potential resurrection of Joe's dark comedy "The Fall" with hosts Amy Hobby and Avi Zev Weider.

5. 

   2 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Shot by Shot: Inside the AI Trailer Workflow

   Host Avi Weider reveals the practical, step-by-step AI trailer workflow, demonstrating how tools like Claude Code and GPT Image 2 bring unmade films to life.

6. 

   26 May 2026

   DJ Natalie's Neighborhood with Natalie Weiss

   Musician and playwright Natalie Weiss has come to resurrect her children's show concept, DJ Natalie's Neighborhood, which she pitches as “Pee-wee’s Playhouse meets Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood set to a DJ beat”. The series is rooted in her real-life, viral "Baby DJ School" and features Natalie as the host alongside her zany puppet roommates in a magical Brooklyn apartment, including Ms. Hay Hay, the glamorous horse diva, and LD the glow worm lighting designer. The core premise is teaching kids musical concepts and ASL to solve everyday problems. Despite getting her foot in the door with top-tier executives at networks like Netflix and Sesame Street, Natalie learned the industry was shifting away from adult hosts in favor of child protagonists. The executives "wanted sanitized boring Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood". Natalie got a renewed sense of purpose, leaving her energized, as she states, with a "total fire under my ass. I just want to work on this again." Come to the playhouse "where beats are dope and life is good." https://www.natalieelizabethweiss.com/ (https://www.natalieelizabethweiss.com/) https://www.instagram.com/djnatalienyc/ (https://www.instagram.com/djnatalienyc/) Go to https://filmsnotmade.com/ (https://filmsnotmade.com/) for info on the show, transcripts and more. Follow the show on https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade (https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade) Subscribe to our https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade (https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade) #DaveedDiggs #DonaldGlover #BillyPorter #AyoEdebiri #AliWong #KeeganMichaelKey #StephenRoot #FilmsNotMade #DJNataliesNeighborhood #BabyDJSchool #NatalieWeiss #KidsTV #PuppetShow #UnmadeProjects #KidsMusic #IndieFilm #ChildrensTelevision #PeeweesPlayhouse #MrRogersNeighborhood #Brooklyn #MusicEducation #ASL #PodcastLife #HollywoodDevelopment #WhatIfWeMadeItNow #HollywoodStories

7. 

   19 May 2026

   Backlot: Adam Schartoff of Filmwax Radio

   Adam Schartoff of Filmwax Radio is a veteran nearing 900 episodes interviewing everyone from Gus Van Sant to Werner Herzog. Filmwax began in 2011 as a small film series in a Brooklyn bar, quickly evolving into a podcast by 2012. Adam, Avi and Amy discuss the biggest challenges in getting a film seen, changes in distribution, incorporation of AI, and working from the heart. We asked his dream guest: Jim Jarmusch, the ultimate New York indie filmmaker he’s been "orbiting" for 15 years. Put that wish out there! Find Adam’s terrific archive at FilmwaxRadio.com (http://FilmwaxRadio.com).

8. 

   12 May 2026

   Stamp & Deliver with Dan MIrvish

   Dan Mirvish, co-founder of Slamdance, comes on to talk about the unmade film that haunted him for years. Stamp & Deliver was a darkly comic postal western — think No Country for Old Men meets Office Space — and it got closer than most. Sets were built in Austin. Brittany Murphy auditioned. Ed Asner and Peter Fonda were in. Neil Young was going to produce and score it. Then 9/11 happened. We go through the whole story, run the original script through our AI pipeline, and give Stamp & Deliver the trailer it never got and still deserves. Our film executive Meredith also stops by with notes — and sounds exactly like every development meeting you've ever sat through. If you love indie film, hollywood stories, development hell, and the ones that got away — this one's for you. https://linktr.ee/atomicfondue (https://linktr.ee/atomicfondue) https://substack.com/@danmirvish (https://substack.com/@danmirvish) https://www.danmirvish.com/Stamp-Deliver (https://www.danmirvish.com/Stamp-Deliver) next film, Atomic Fondue (still raising money!) https://www.danmirvish.com/Atomic-Fondue (https://www.danmirvish.com/Atomic-Fondue)" Go to https://filmsnotmade.com/ (https://filmsnotmade.com/) for info on the show, transcripts and more. Follow the show on https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade (https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade) Subscribe to our https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade (https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade) #FilmsNotMade #UnmadeFilms #DevelopmentHell #StampAndDeliver #PostalWestern #Slamdance #IndieFilmHistory #DanMirvish #IndieFilm #IndependentFilm #FilmHistory #AIFilmmaking #GenerativeAI #AITrailer #FilmPodcast #HollywoodStories #Screenwriting #MakingMovies #MovieTrailer

9. 

   30 Apr 2026

   Backlot—The Amateur Pornographer Table Read

   It's been over 25 years since Matthew Rhys first read the script of The Amateur Pornographer. This project broke the heart of writer-director Christopher Monger. In this special Backlot episode, actor Matthew Rhys, along with Ian McNiece and Meryn Williams Davies, share and read two scenes from the original screenplay. Chris and producer Ted Hope are in the room, reinvigorating the passion behind the script and desire to bring this Welsh film to life. Christopher said, "Seeing Matthew Rhys and Ian McNeice and Meryn Williams Davies read a couple of scenes made me both happy and sad.  Happy in that, yes, I think it is a good script; and sad because, no, it did not get made. When I re-read Amateur Pornographer I was filled with the excitement I had when writing it." Go to https://filmsnotmade.com/ (https://filmsnotmade.com/) for info on the show, transcripts and more. Follow the show on https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade (https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade) Subscribe to our https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade (https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade)

10. 

    28 Apr 2026

    The Amateur Pornographer with Chris Monger and Ted Hope

    Christopher Monger, a Welsh native, was fresh off the Miramax release of his film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain (https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-englishman-who-went-up-a-hill-but-came-down-a-mountain/umc.cmc.4g6bywqqp7hudv24wwh8d18h9?action=play) starring Hugh Grant. His next project was to shoot in a small town in Wales, and producer Ted Hope felt it was a sure thing. The Amateur Pornographer was nearly made with a young Matthew Rhys (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722629/) and later got traction at HBO, with one note: Could the film be set in the United States instead of Wales? Christopher Monger IMDB (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003355/) Ted Hope’s Substack “Hope for Film (https://tedhope.substack.com/)” Check out our curated Letterboxd List (https://letterboxd.com/filmsnotmade/list/films-not-made-episode-6-amateur-photographer/edit/)for some New York mid 90s indie classics to go with our Ted Hope-Good Machine vibe. We have merch! Buy our awesome Films Not Made signature mug (https://cutawaymerch.store/products/films-not-made-signature-mug) or 100% cotton t-shirt (https://cutawaymerch.store/products/films-not-made-vintage-white-t-shirt). Go to FilmsNotMade (https://filmsnotmade.com/) for the all transcripts and more. Follow the show on YouTube@filmsnotemade (https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade) Subscribe to our Substack@filmsnotmade (https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade)

11. 

    14 Apr 2026

    The Sisterhood: The Conspiracy Thriller That Was 15 Years Ahead of Hollywood

    In 2007, producer Effie Brown and novelist Nichol Bradford put together a 40-page pitch deck for The Sisterhood — a global conspiracy thriller about a secret network of women of color who build an alternative system of wealth, protection, and care, and get targeted for it. The deck built an entire world around the project — a transmedia universe of community, content, and activism — before that phrase existed. Hollywood still said no. In this episode of Films Not Made, Effie Brown (producer of Dear White People and Real Women Have Curves, CEO of Gamechanger Films, Academy Board of Governors) and Nichol Bradford (author, technologist, Singularity University faculty, Executive in Residence for AI and the Future of Work at SHRM) join Amy and Avi to finally open the drawer on The Sisterhood — a project that hasn't been pitched in over a decade and somehow feels more urgent right now than ever. Effie's pitch: "Bourne Ultimatum meets House of Cards — but with sisters." A vaccine that could collapse the global drug economy. A murder. A reckoning. And the question underneath all of it: who actually runs the world, and what happens when someone tries to build outside the system? We run the full project through our AI pipeline: pitch deck, casting board (Angela Bassett, Danielle Deadwyler, Regina King, Lashana Lynch, Mads Mikkelsen with a satellite phone in a museum), a full trailer — and a live pitch to our AI film executive, who has opinions. Effie's verdict on whether this could be made now: 1,000%. Guests: Effie Brown (https://www.linkedin.com/in/effie-brown-81443826)Gamechanger Films (https://www.gamechanger-films.com/) Nichol Bradford (https://www.nicholbradford.com/) Films Not Made resurrects Hollywood's wildest unmade films. Subscribe: YouTube@filmsnotmade (https://www.youtube.com/@FilmsNotMade) filmsnotmade.com (http://filmsnotmade.com) Substack@filmsnotmade (https://substack.com/@filmsnotmade) Letterboxd@filmsnotmade (https://letterboxd.com/filmsnotmade/) #EffieBrown #NicholBradford #AIFilmmaking #TheSisterhood #FilmsNotMade #BlackWomenInFilm #DevelopmentHell #FilmPodcast #HollywoodStories #UnmadeFiles #Screenwriting #WomenProducers #BlackDirectors #BlackStorytelling

12. 

    1 Apr 2026

    How to Tame a Fox with Heidi Ewing

    Oscar-nominated filmmaker Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp, Detropia) joins Amy and Avi to open the drawer on How to Tame a Fox — her shelved script about two Soviet biologists who secretly tried to domesticate wild foxes in Siberia while Stalin was busy persecuting anyone who liked science. Based on the true story of Lyudmila Trut and Dmitri Belyaev, this is a Cold War thriller disguised as an animal story — or an animal story disguised as a Cold War thriller, depending on how you feel about foxes that eventually sing. Heidi wrote a full pilot during COVID, had a dream cast (Daniel Day-Lewis, Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix), and then Putin invaded Ukraine and tanked the mood for celebrating Russian scientists. Timing is everything. We fed the script into our AI pipeline, generated a new pitch deck and trailer, and let our AI executive Finn weigh in. Heidi's verdict: still a f***ing good idea. We agree. Some projects don't die. They just wait. Loki Films: https://lokifilms.com (https://lokifilms.com) (https://lokifilms.com/)Heidi Ewing on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/heidiewing/) #FilmsNotMade #UnmadeFilms #DevelopmentHell #HowToTameAFox #HeidiEwing #LyudmilaGrut #DmitriBelyaev #FoxDomestication #SiberianFoxExperiment #FilmPodcast #IndieFilm #DocumentaryFilm #Screenwriting #PeriodDrama #FilmDevelopment #WarOnScience #SovietHistory #ColdWarDrama #StalinistRussia #MagicalRealism #DomesticationScience #AIFilmmaking #Cinephile #FilmPodcast

13. 

    26 Mar 2026

    Backlot —Making the Theme Song

    Every unmade film deserves a score. Here's how ours got one. From the backlot of the show, musician Joe McGinty takes us behind the scenes on how he composed the theme music for Films Not Made! From groovy Conn Electric Band drum beats, to Moog boogie bass lines, to ARP arpeggios, Musonics Vanilla melody, and more. Have listen and enjoy! https://www.joemcgintymusic.com/ (https://www.joemcgintymusic.com/) https://www.instagram.com/joemcginty7/ (https://www.instagram.com/joemcginty7/) https://sidgolds.com/ (https://sidgolds.com/)

14. 

    17 Mar 2026

    American Prometheus: The Other Oppenheimer

    When Christopher Nolan options the same Oppenheimer biography you've been developing for a decade, is it a tragedy or just really, really bad timing? Writer-director Robert Edwards joins Amy and Avi to discuss his adaptation of "American Prometheus," the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer that he optioned in 2006—long before Christopher Nolan made it a billion-dollar blockbuster. The episode captures both the heartbreak of near-misses in Hollywood and the strange consolation of being crushed by one of the greatest filmmakers alive. We discuss what it means to have “your” film made by someone else, the ethics and anxiety around AI in filmmaking, and why Edwards’ take—an “atomic noir” focused on Oppenheimer’s 1954 security hearing—might still have life as OTHERHEIMER. Robert Edwards — Writer/Director (Land of the Blind, When I Live My Life Over Again) The King's Necktie "My One-Way Rivalry with Christopher Nolan": https://thekingsnecktie.substack.com/p/my-one-way-rivalry-with-christopher (https://thekingsnecktie.substack.com/p/my-one-way-rivalry-with-christopher) (https://thekingsnecktie.com/)IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250315/ (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0250315/) 🎬 filmsnotmade.com (http://filmsnotmade.com) | @filmsnotmade #UnmadeFilms #Oppenheimer #AIFilmmaking #DevelopmentHell #Screenwriting #AmericanPrometheus #JRobertOppenheimer #HistoricalDrama #IndieFilm #AtomicNoir #LostMedia

15. 

    10 Mar 2026

    Poodle Power: The Animated Iditarod Film That Didn't Cross the Finish Line

    What if a team of standard poodles ran the Iditarod? Not as a joke—as a real animated feature film. Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell spent nearly a decade trying to make "Poodle Power" happen. Based on the true story of John Suter, who actually raced poodles (alongside huskies) in Alaska's legendary sled dog race until the Iditarod committee banned non-husky breeds in 1990. The project went through countless iterations: from live-action rescue helicopter drama to animated adventure, from Blue Sky Studios meetings to pitch sessions with executives who loved it but wouldn't greenlight it. Amy reunites with her producing partner Anne Hubbell (Provincetown International Film Festival, Kodak) and animation veteran Kent Osborne (SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time) to autopsy eight years of development hell. They dissect the original pitch deck, revisit brutal notes from Oscar-nominated animators, and explore why a perfectly good idea about lovable poodles couldn't cross the finish line. Then we feed everything into the AI pipeline—scripts, decks, news clips, character descriptions—and resurrect "Poodle Power" with a new pitch deck and trailer. Plus, we introduce Bob, our AI film executive, who weighs in on whether this project has legs now. Guests: Anne Hubbell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annehubbell/) - Producer, Co-founder of Tangerine Entertainment, Director of Provincetown International Film Festival Kent Osborne (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0651692/) - Actor, Writer, Director (SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time) Hosts: Amy Hobby (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-hobby-6bb7a522/) - Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning producer Avi Zev Weider (http://www.avizevweider.com/) - Award-winning filmmaker From analog rejection to digital resurrection - Films Not Made hosts Amy Hobby and Avi Zev Weider unearth both Hollywood and indie film projects too wild, weird, or ambitious to ever hit the big screen. You'll hear writers, directors, and producers ripping open old wounds by pulling out abandoned scripts, impossible casting lists, and brutal rejection letters. These honest conversations with creators become AI resurrections of the movies that never were. Subscribe and follow on YouTube and all podcast platforms. Website: filmsnotmade.com (http://filmsnotmade.com) Substack/Instagram/TikTok: @filmsnotmade Pod.Link (http://Pod.Link): https://pod.link/1873083993 (https://pod.link/1873083993) #UnmadeFilms #Animation #Iditarod #PoodlePower #IndieFilm #AIFilmmaking #DevelopmentHell

16. 

    2 Mar 2026

    I Need Love: LL Cool J & Kool Moe Dee Love Story

    What if the legendary 1987 beef between LL Cool J and Kool Moe Dee was hiding a forbidden romance? Filmmaker Michael Tully (Ping Pong Summer, Cocaine Angel) wrote exactly that script during COVID—a hip-hop fairy tale he describes as "Krush Groove meets Brokeback Mountain." And yes, he actually pitched it to Kool Moe Dee himself. We explore why Michael wrote a film he knew would "never get made," how he balanced parody with sincerity, and what happened when he approached one of hip-hop's legends. Then we take his script, run it through our AI pipeline, and create a pitch deck and trailer to resurrect this impossible film. Joining the conversation is Loren Hammonds (Peabody Award-winning producer, Time Studios, former VP at Tribeca Film Festival), who brings his perspective as both a documentary curator and former hip-hop emcee "Mojo the Cinematic." Guests: Michael Tully (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-tully-026559130/) - Filmmaker (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1054429/), founding editor of Hammer to Nail Loren Hammonds (https://www.linkedin.com/in/loren-hammonds-422b2221/) - Head of Documentary, Time Studios Hosts: Amy Hobby (linkedin.com/in/amy-hobby-6bb7a522) - Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning producer Avi Zev Weider (http://www.avizevweider.com/)- Award-winning filmmaker, SXSW From analog rejection to digital resurrection - Films Not Made hosts Amy Hobby and Avi Zev Weider unearth both Hollywood and indie film projects too wild, weird, or ambitious to ever hit the big screen. You'll hear writers, directors, and producers ripping open old wounds by pulling out abandoned scripts, impossible casting lists, and brutal rejection letters. These honest conversations with creators become AI resurrections of the movies that never were. Subscribe and follow on YouTube and all podcast platforms. Website: filmsnotmade.com (http://filmsnotmade.com) Substack/Instagram/TikTok: @filmsnotmade Letterboxd "I Need Love" (https://letterboxd.com/filmsnotmade/list/films-not-made-episode-1-i-need-love/) Pod.Link (http://Pod.Link): https://pod.link/1873083993 (https://pod.link/1873083993) #UnmadeFilms #HipHopHistory #AIFilmmaking #LLCoolJ #KoolMoeDee

17. 

    10 Feb 2026

    Coming Soon: Films Not Made

    What if you could finally see the films that never made it to the screen? Films Not Made is a revolutionary new weekly podcast launching March 3 that uses AI to resurrect Hollywood's most bizarre and heartbreaking unmade projects. We give filmmakers closure and audiences a front-row seat to the greatest movies never made. Subscribe on your favorite platform to hear the stories—and follow our video show to see the films for yourself. Visit FilmsNotMade.com (http://FilmsNotMade.com) for more.

Inside a recent episode

Roadside Attraction: The first statue to move for love

Published 28 Jul 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] The thing that this evokes, which is really nice, and Harlan and I definitely had this in mind, and it's kind of why we got the won't play internationally note, which I don't agree with, by the way. But we wanted it to be a love story to Americana. Because We started the movie in the late 40s, early 50s when Mulligan first got put up. And then about 10 years later, Betty came along. And then we went through the 50s. In the opening credit sequence, we went through the 50s and the 60s and the 70s and the 80s and the 90s. And it brings us to right now when... Route 66, where it used to be a bustling way to get from one side of the country to the other, has just become a flyover, you know? […]

Who has been a guest on Films Not Made

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Conrad Vernon
• Harland Williams
• Rex Pickett
• Kristin Newman
• Blair Breard

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

3.1 / 5

25 ratings

Contact Films Not Made

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Shows with a similar audience

• 

  Happy Tree Friends

• 

  KHO TRUYỆN CỔ TÍCH - CMDD Audio

• 

  The Agency

• 

  American Afterlife

• 

  Thinking in English

• 

  6 Minute English

Questions about Films Not Made