The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (documentary)

The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a ten-minute documentary produced by Paramount Pictures in 1978. The featurette did not contain interviews but instead showcased behind-the-scenes footage of the production of with an accompanying commentary.

Particularly noteworthy were the segments that showed the model makers at Magicam working on the various studio models, the destruction of D7-class breakaway models at Robert Abel & Associates, the fitting of prosthetics to create various alien makeup, and the shaving of Persis Khambatta's head for her role as Ilia.

A rare and unique production, it was not seen for decades after the release of the movie nor was it ever included as a special feature on any of the home video releases. Recently, a version started to appear on the Internet on sites like YouTube but it is not clear if the featurette was ever broadcast on television as it lacks opening and ending credits.

The featurette was a promotional film produced by the studio intended to be shown in public places, as Doug Drexler recalled, "I remember that Paramount was running this in the lobby of Pennsylvania Station in NYC. Friends and I made several trips to Penn Station just to watch it!"