The filming of JAWS was a landmark event in the history of both movies and the quaint New England island of Martha’s Vineyard, where the geographic isolation necessitated hiring 100s of locals to work as cast and crew. Among them were many professional and amateur photographers with full access to the production.
I was fortunate to chat with Matt Taylor who spearheaded the project from a concept from Jim Beller about the new version of this book and publisher Titan Books graciously provided some exclusive photos to go with our discussion.
Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard (Updated and Revised Edition) featuring an Foreword by Steven Spielberg arrives in stores and e-tailers on September 2nd!
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FOG!: The idea for this book came from Jim Beller. How early in the genesis of this project did you join him?
MATT TAYLOR: When I met Jim, he wanted to create a book showcasing a collection of photographs he had obtained that were taken by two women from Martha’s Vineyard––Edith Blake and Jackie Baer. Jim’s idea was to put together a book comprised of their photographs, with a little bit of accompanying text about the photos. It was just an idea. The project hadn’t actually started. At the time I met Jim, I, too, had been thinking about documenting some aspect of the film.
I’m a lifelong history buff, and my family has lived on Martha’s Vineyard for many generations, so I was passionate about documenting the making of the film through the perspective of the many local people who worked on it, and whose stories had never really been told. And so Jim and I decided to collaborate on the project using the photos he had obtained from Edith and Jackie as a visual foundation. At that point, I began seeking out and interviewing as many people from the island as possible, researching the production, writing, and obtaining additional photos.
I officially began working on the project full-time in November 2007 and finished in November 2010, so it took exactly three years from start to finish.
What was the process for finding photographs taken by Islanders for their use in the book?
Jim Beller is a collector of movie memorabilia, including photos, so he already had a lot of images when we first began. As the project evolved, Jim and I–-together and individually––brought additional photos to the table. Because I lived on the island, I was able to spend a lot of time tracking stuff down––literally knocking on doors and digging through people’s garages and boxes for long-lost production photos. The process was basically word-of-mouth.
I’d be talking to someone who worked on the movie, and they’d say, “There’s a guy named So-And-So and he’s got pictures, too.” One person led to another.
In addition to interviewing locals who either participated or watched closely the making of the film, how did you begin to organize the stories in a chronological order?
Organizing the stories in chronological order was one of the most challenging aspects of putting the book together. When I first began, I had access to Edith Blake’s photo negative strips. She was on set and taking photos for most of the scenes shot on land, and so I found out, very early on, that by examining the negative strips, I could determine the order in which the scenes were shot. In terms of obtaining dates, The Vineyard Gazette ran fairly regular stories about the production, and would usually mention the dates on which certain scenes were shot.
Or if the article failed to mention specific dates, I would start with the publication date of the newspaper itself–-let’s say, Thursday, May 16. The Jaws-related article from that issue might say something like “Last Wednesday, a breakaway dock was constructed in Harthaven.” I would then know that the crew was building the dock on Wednesday, May 8. Some of the timeline was put together simply by relying on people’s memories.
The Vineyard Gazette didn’t cover much of the stuff that was shot out on the ocean, and so in order to figure out the chronology, we turned to Carl Gottlieb, who co-wrote the JAWS screenplay. Jim Beller knew Carl, and learned that he had a copy of an actual 1974 production log, complete with the dates and times that the scenes were shot. And so it was with the help of Carl that I was able to piece together the chronology of the 3rd act stuff.
The sheer number of photographs that I had never seen before truly sets this book apart. This is obviously the result of residents who wanted to share these images and stories. What was the most interesting story that you came across when speaking to the contributors?
For me, the material I obtained from Lynn and Susan Murphy is one of the most fascinating aspects of the book.
Their story about becoming a couple while working on the film, and how Lynn towed the sea sled sharks and helped with the various effects that were done in the water, adds so much depth. If I had to hone in on one particular Lynn Murphy story, though, it would be how Robert Shaw based his portrayal of Quint on things he saw and heard Lynn do.
Lynn had a pretty short fuse and could be very loud…barking out orders and things. Robert Shaw picked up on it. If you knew Lynn, and then listen to Robert’s portrayal of Quint during the 3rd act, the two men are pretty close.
I’m from Providence and for some reason, I think Massachusetts and RI residents have a devotion to this legendary film like no other areas of the country. What unique Southern New England perspectives did JAWS bring to the screen?
The mention of coffee ice cream is a very Southern New England thing, which is actually rooted in Rhode Island, which was the home of the Autocrat coffee syrup company, and which is why so many people in the area were so into coffee-flavored products back then.
When Chris Rebello is lying on the gurney in the hospital and mentions coffee, he’s asking for coffee-flavored ice cream. Back then, school cafeterias in Southern New England offered coffee-flavored milk to kids at lunch; most area McDonald’s offered coffee shakes, and coffee ice cream was very popular. Chris Rebello’s brother Todd told me that it was Chris’ favorite flavor. And so I’ve always loved that that little bit of Southern New England culture made its way into the film.
It doesn’t seem like the Islanders have the same affinity of the making of the sequel a few years later. Do you think it was because JAWS 2 filmed on both the Vineyard and in Florida? Some key behind the scenes talent returned under director Jeannot Szwarc, yet the film never recaptures the emotional connection that Spielberg brought to the first film? Did anyone discuss the sequel when interviewing locals?
The only people who mentioned the sequel were Lynn and Susan Murphy. When Universal Studios arrived on the island in 1977 to begin filming JAWS 2, they again approached Lynn about helping with the sharks, but before the production really got rolling, the producers decided to pull the plug on Martha’s Vineyard and move everything to Florida.
One of the reasons, I heard, was that local businesses were gouging the studio. People on the island knew how much money Universal had made on the first movie and were overcharging for everything when they came to film JAWS 2. I think the studio was butting heads with the selectmen again, too, and finally got to the point where they said, “Enough––we’re going to Florida.”
Aside from an all-new layout and design, the revised edition includes newly conducted interviews with cast and crew, among them, First Assistant Camera Operator, Jim Contner, who I was unable to include in the first edition because I couldn’t find him. Jim’s amazing stories are now part of the book, which I’m eager for fans to read and enjoy.
I also went back to my original, 2007-2010 interview tapes and extracted commentary that, for one reason or another, didn’t make the first edition, but that I had room for this time around. I’m also eager for fans to see all of the great, super-rare color photos that we’ve included in this new edition. Much of it came from crew members who began sending me their material after the first edition was released. I can’t wait for people to see and read all of this great new stuff.
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And to celebrate the book’s revised and updated edition, thanks to our friends at Titan Books, we’re giving away two copies of this amazing book!
To enter, send an email with the subject header “JAWS MEMORIES” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following question:
What was the mechanical shark’s nickname and who was it named after?
Please include your name, and address (U.S. only. You must be 18 years old).
Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.
Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on September 7, 2025.
