Introduction: A Sequel and a Shift

This book is unique in that it is a sequel. Academic publications do not usually have sequels. Sequels in the film industry limit novelty as much as possible to minimize risk, whereas in science, like in art, risk-taking is a virtue and relevance flows from originality and novelty. This book, however, departs from its predecessor, Films That Work, ¹ not through minimal variation, but through what the language of management calls diversification and expansion. In business, diversification and expansion result from a quest for profit. This book has a different motivation: It reflects the conviction that the work which the first book started was not finished, but only beginning. It also reflects the reality that a significant number of scholars, many of whom are now represented in this volume, shared this conviction and had already set out to consolidate and expand the field mapped by the first book.