We’re going to need a bigger book! Hollywood Soapbox chats with author of new ‘Jaws’ project

Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged e-mails with Matt Taylor, author of Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard, a new coffee-table book that details what happened when Steven Spielberg and his crew landed on the Massachusetts island  in the 1970s and filmed one of the most influential blockblusters of all time. Taylor’s book, which will be released Oct. 1, is a 296-page historical snapshot of how a community was forever altered by one large shark.

How did you get attached to the project?

In the beginning, that is to say, before I got involved, there really wasn’t any type of tangible “project.” Jim Beller (jawscollector.com) had been making periodic trips to Martha’s Vineyard, where I had just moved back to, in search of never-before-seen Jaws production photos … stuff shot by Vineyard locals who had witnessed the making of the movie in 1974. He had collected a handful of photos from several local people with the intention of one day — somehow — creating a coffee-table-style book out of them.

The original conception called simply for a foreword and epilogue — no text throughout the book except maybe for captions.

He eventually was introduced to me. I was working on a local, Martha’s Vineyard-based historical documentary at the time and was looking for other stuff to get involved with. I initially agreed to supply Jim with the foreword and epilogue he wanted, but then, after thinking lots about it, decided that this material had so much more potential than to simply be a photos-only coffee-table book.

Having spent summers on the island my entire life, I knew tons of locals who had worked on the production of Jaws, and had many, many photos of the behind-the-scenes stuff that they had packed away in attics, boxes and drawers for 30 years. It took a bit of prodding over the course of a year or so, but I was finally able to convince Jim that we should create a book that was far more than just photos and captions.

I wanted to create something that felt like Rinzler’s Star Wars and Indiana Jones books — a book jam packed with all kinds of stories, photos and anecdotes. Mainly because the production of Jaws is so legendary and deserved, I felt, to finally be told through a combination of never-before-heard stories, and never-before-published photos. I was on the island year round, had all of these people and their photos at my immediate disposal, and in November 2007, launched myself into the project full-time.

Could you describe the first time you saw Jaws and how it affected you?

I was too young that first summer, and so finally, at age 7, my mother considered me old enough to see it, and it was one of the most memorable and exciting events of my childhood. I was absolutely mesmerized. I can remember how intensely my heart was pounding throughout the movie … particularly the third-act stuff.

How difficult was it compiling all of the photos and information?

Compiling all of the photos and information was both fun and completely exhausting. The most difficult — and time consuming — part was researching the chronology of the production. The book traces the filming on a day-by-day basis, from May 2 until Sept. 19.

Did you meet any resistance from locals, or were they open to telling their stories?

Locals weren’t so much opposed to telling their stories and sharing their photos. They’re just very set in their ways, and are the types of people that, for the most part, aren’t all that intrigued with pop cultural type stuff.

Most of the local islanders I involved — with the exception of a few (particularly Lynn and Susan Murphy, who made the book as far as I’m concerned) — had a “been there done that” type mentality about the movie and couldn’t understand why I was being so particular in my research. I think a lot of them still see the movie as this sort of invasion of B-movie Hollywood to the island, even though, of course, it is one of the greatest, biggest movies of all time. There are a handful of locals I spoke with, or know of, who were in the movie, and still, to this day, have not seen it.

After working for so long on the book, are you tired of Jaws?

I was never really a fanatic of any particular movie. I always loved the movie Jaws, but actually never even owned a copy of the film until I began working on the book. I came at the project more as an historian compiling information on a very historical time in the history of the island that had never, in my opinion, been thouroughly, or properly researched and documented.

Am I tired of Jaws after all of the work on the book? Absolutely! I still think it’s one of the greatest films ever made, though. I just don’t think I’ll feel like watching it for a very long time.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Click here to purchase a copy of Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard.

• Click here for more information on the book, including how to snag a limited edition copy with an actual piece of the Orca II.