{"id":23319,"date":"2025-07-09T10:05:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T11:59:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:59:04","slug":"behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes of\u00a0Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Geographic\u2019s annual SharkFest programming stunt returned over the weekend, kicking off with Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory<\/em>. Promising over 25 hours of programming, the event continues to deliver the types of blue-chip specials Nat Geo is known for, showcasing these apex predators from a variety of different perspectives.<\/p>\n

Billed as a \u201ccrown jewel\u201d of the stunt\u2019s lineup is\u00a0Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story<\/em>, premiering on July 10 on National Geographic and arriving the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. A unique hybrid, the doc, directed by Laurent Bouzereau, delivers a cinematic history of Steven Spielberg\u2019s iconic blockbuster alongside a message about the importance of ocean conservation with an array of experts, among them executive producer Wendy Benchley, whose late husband, Peter Benchley, penned the novel upon which\u00a0Jaws<\/em>\u00a0is based.<\/p>\n

Produced by Amblin Documentaries and Nedland Films, \u201cThis documentary is the most honest telling of the making of\u00a0Jaws<\/em>,\u201d Spielberg said in a message recorded for the world premiere last week.<\/p>\n

Benchley was immediately drawn to Bouzereau\u2019s pitch for the look back at\u00a0Jaws<\/em>; one that would focus on the positive impacts of the film, she tells\u00a0TV Real Weekly<\/em>. \u201cThe legacy of this film started right away,\u201d Benchley notes. \u201cIt didn\u2019t take 50 years. There was a 30 percent increase in marine applicants at the University of Miami\u2019s\u00a0Rosenstiel\u00a0<\/em>School immediately following the release of\u00a0Jaws<\/em>. Peter got thousands of letters from people across the world talking about how fascinated they were, how they wanted to learn more about sharks, whether it was educators or young people or grandparents. Yes, there was fear and an uptick in shark tournaments. Peter and I were just horrified that somehow people took this fictional book and movie as a license to kill sharks. That gave us added incentive to get out there and be with scientists and learn all we could and then help to educate people about sharks and how important they are to the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bouzereau is among those who were instantly moved by the blockbuster upon its release five decades ago. \u201cI wanted to highlight the generational aspect of what\u00a0Jaws<\/em>\u00a0means,\u201d he tells\u00a0TV Real Weekly<\/em>. \u201cThe film is timeless for so many incredible reasons. It\u2019s an auteur movie; it was the first time for me, as a kid, seeing it in France, that I recognized the name of a director and wanted to see everything that this man did. And being influenced by the Americana aspect. If it had been set in Miami, it would be dated today because Miami has changed so much, but this island [Martha\u2019s Vineyard] hasn\u2019t. It is the same. You can spot all the locations because they\u2019re still there. So, he was able to freeze frame this slice of a story, and it made me want to move to America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bouzereau assembled an A-list lineup of Hollywood directors to reflect on the legacy of\u00a0Jaws<\/em>, including James Cameron, Jordan Peele, J.J. Abrams, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro and, of course, Spielberg himself. These aren\u2019t talking-head interviews, Bouzereau stresses; \u201cthese close-ups are my action shots. Doing those incredible interviews and close-ups on a generation of filmmakers who are changing film history themselves or have already was essential. Each of them took a bite out of\u00a0Jaws<\/em>\u00a0and made it their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bouzereau emphasizes, though, that the doc is more than just a film about a film. \u201cI hope it is about the journey, about the courage of not giving up. It\u2019s about the adventure of life. It\u2019s about the triumph of the human spirit and invention in the field of cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benchley, meanwhile, is hopeful that viewers will respond to the film\u2019s messages about protecting these awe-inspiring creatures. \u201cI hope [audiences will] understand, through the documentary, how important sharks are for the health of the ocean. We need our apex predators to keep the balance. I also hope they will figure out how they can support marine protected areas or nonprofit groups that are working on the ocean or the environment. This is the only planet we have. We need to work on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laurent Bouzereau and Wendy Benchley tell World Screen Newsflash about National Geographic’s upcoming Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":23321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[11029,11223,1009,9681],"class_list":["post-23319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story","tag-laurent-bouzereau","tag-national-geographic","tag-wendy-benchley","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Scenes of\u00a0Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Scenes of\u00a0Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Laurent Bouzereau and Wendy Benchley tell World Screen Newsflash about National Geographic's upcoming Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-09T14:05:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-09T15:59:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/07\/JAWS50-725.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/\",\"name\":\"Behind the Scenes of\u00a0Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-09T14:05:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-09T15:59:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/behind-the-scenes-of-jaws-50-the-definitive-inside-story\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Behind the Scenes of\u00a0Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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