Intrerview: Erik Hollander, Director of JAWS documentary 'The Shark Is Still Working'
When did you first see Jaws and what are your memories of that first viewing?
I first saw Jaws when it was re-issued for a two-week engagement prior to the release of Jaws 2 in 1978. When it was originally released, my parents were not cool with me seeing it as an 8-year-old, despite my obsession with the ubiquitous Jaws ads on television, and the cover of Peter Benchley's novel that my dad owned. For the intervening years, I had to make due with my fertile imagination based on playground chatter about every detail of the movie. It was all my playmates were talking about. Of course, not wanting to feel left out, I simply lied to my friends, saying how awesome the movie was, and constantly parroting details I was gleaning from everyone else. Years later, when I finally did see the film at the nearby cinema, I was blown away; my long-gestating expectations wonderfully exceeded.
What does Jaws mean to you?
Simply the best film ever made, in my estimation. After a near-lifetime of enjoying it, It feels more like a first-hand lived experience than a favorite flick. When I was 12, Jaws made its TV debut on ABC on November 7, 1979. I recorded the audio on a cassette tape, which I would play over and over at the playground of my school while awaiting my mom to pick me up. This is how I memorized every line, every sound effect, every “da-dum”. Combined with my copy of Carl Gottlieb’s The Jaws Log, these constant stimuli cemented Jaws in my young consciousness, forever.
If someone at that time had told me I’d be making a documentary on Jaws years later (‘The Shark Is Still Working’ would make it onto the official release of Jaws on Blu-Ray) I think I’d have died of anticipation - if that’s a thing.
What is it that makes Jaws such a popular and revered movie, almost 50 years later?
I think it’s fair to say that Jaws made Steven Spielberg as much as Spielberg made Jaws. As a result, cinema has been given a rich legacy of great films and even whole genres that wouldn’t exist were it not for Spielberg’s extraordinary talents. And Jaws is where he cut his teeth, as it were. I also believe that Steven’s unique storytelling genius is largely responsible for lifting what might otherwise be a shlocky B-movie horror flick into the category of ‘mythic tale’ akin to the likes of Moby Dick or Treasure Island. Jaws has proven to be virtually timeless despite its mid-seventies aesthetic.
Erik Hollander with Jaws director Steven Spielberg
What is your favourite moment in the movie and why?
This one’s a long story...
The moment in the film that birthed my fascination with Jaws from the earliest days was, and still is, the opening attack on Chrissie. For the four years leading up to my first viewing of the movie, all I had to “experience” Jaws were the tidbits offered by TV ads - heavily featuring the beginning of her death scene and, of course, the poster artwork, suggesting the terrifying sequence - which became a total obsession for me. (More on that later).
My mother was in nursing school in 1975, and she had a number of medical textbooks, some of which had many photos of diseased people, gory wound photos and strange deformities. As a curious eight-year-old, I had a morbid fascination with the book, which I would sneak in my parent’s room to look at when no one was around.
One day, I walked in and found a book on my dad’s dresser that displayed a huge shark with knife-like teeth hurtling toward a swimming ‘naked lady’. The image mesmerized me. It seemed that this book, though smaller than the other ‘medical’ books, was about dentistry or jaws or teeth. I flipped through this odd little ‘nursing’ book, which, to my dismay, had NO photos at all. Just a lot of writing. But the cover was the most amazing thing my young eyes had ever seen. I had no concept of ‘novels’ at the time.
Fast forward several years, after having watched Jaws more times than I could ever count, I had a very vivid dream one night. In it, I was swimming at the beach (here in Florida) and simply decided I would swim all the way to Martha’s Vineyard and see if I could find the buoy from Chrissie’s death scene. Somehow, I made it all the way and suddenly, there it was - sitting in - of all places - a big landlocked lake. (Dreams are weird). So, I grabbed it from one of its rings and swam all the way back to Florida, dragging it behind me. I remember the sensation of almost giving up because of the strain, and fear a shark would get me... but I wasn’t about to give up. (After all. it was MY dream). I managed to traverse the distance, made it home and placed my prize in the family swimming pool. (Which we didn’t even have at the time). It still remains one of the most vivid dreams I can remember from that time.
Moving ahead to 1988, Two dear friends of mine and I went to Martha’s Vineyard for real, on a Jaws pilgimage, back before it became a “thing” on the island. After visiting several of the locals who appear in Jaws and seeing all the locations from the film, we ended up meeting the amazing Mr. Lynn Murphy, who was heavily involved with all shark effects and boat wrangling for the production. Spending a good part of the day with him, we were taken to a section of private land where he had placed the “Orca 2” (used for the sinking scenes in the film). After taking several photos of the boat’s remains, My friend, Mark Burton spotted the rusting, somewhat crushed “Chrissie buoy” tangled up in tall grass. Upon seeing it, I was blown backwards. Lynn, amused at our childish excitement, said we could take it with us, (“Help clean off my island of all this old junk!” I remember him saying, laughing). After a giddy back and forth over who gets to keep it, my totally awesome friend quickly relented and graciously deferred to me knowing how much that scene meant to me for my whole life.
Since that day, I’ve been the owner of the iconic screen-used buoy (which was not a real one, but a prop created by the team that built the mechanical sharks). It was no small amount of work, bending it back into shape and removing the rust before sealing it. In fact, the entire thing was so rusted from fourteen years exposed to the elements, that had it not been restored when it was, there’d be precious little left to salvage. My grandfather had a huge hand in restoring it before he passed away. Ever since, it has held a special sentimental value, on top of that of being in Jaws.
Over the decades, its been a fixture in 17 different domiciles, used as a coatrack, a Christmas tree, and a photo op, among other things. In 2005, I shipped it to Martha’s Vineyard to be displayed at a prop exhibit for JawsFest’05,and it was there that I had the privilege of having Susan Backlinie (Chrissie Watkins, herself) autograph it.
Today, it stands in the corner of my home office surrounded by several other Jaws props, (Including Matt Hooper’s leather rucksack) A Yellow Barrel, and of course, my ORCA model on display in an enclosed cabinet. One of my joys is to photograph friends and fans beside the buoy with the rucksack slung over their shoulder. It always gets quite the reaction whenever folks visit. Considering the crazy dream mentioned above: The irony refuses to be lost on me.
Erik (far left) with Jaws author Peter Benchley
So, to sum up, the Chrissie death scene is certainly my personal favorite in Jaws, (How could it not be?) The scene also is widely considered one of the most memorable and iconic opening scenes in movie history. Having said that however, EVERY part of the film is pure perfection!!!!
Who is your favourite character and why?
All three leads are impeccable. It’s hard to categorize them in terms of favorites, as they make up the exciting third act as one whole cloth in my opinion. Having said that, I am a bit partial to Roy Scheider as Brody. Perhaps mostly because of the personal friendship that my fellow TSISW producers and I got to forge with him in his final years. His support was integral to the documentary as both the narrator and associate producer. He was truly our greatest ally in the process and loved being a part of it. None of us will never forget the amazing times we spent with him.
Tell us about your incredible ORCA model.
(First, I owe some credit to Jesse Thompson - a very talented and dedicated Orca model builder, who has done many over the years.)
For me, it all started when I finally succumbed to my long-time obsession to own an Orca scale model, and looked on eBay for one to purchase. I promptly found one that Jesse had made, which although quite pricey for me, was too hard to pass up. I had seen many for sale before, but none of them had a what I considered an accurate hull shape. This one did. So I bid on it ...and won.
Once I received it, however, there were several issues I had with the quality of piece, particularly in its detailing. I’ve only built a modicum of model kits over my lifetime, but when I do, I am truly obsessive about detail and accuracy. I couldn’t help myself. So, on and off, over the following nine months, I deconstructed the model down to its raw hull and started over from scratch, utilizing the newly-released Jaws Blu-Ray with its stunning new clarity as a reference source for every aspect of the build.
What materials did you use?
Mostly thin basswood to replace balsa wood parts originally used, and thin acrylic for windows. (As a fun bonus, I actually incorporated a small fiberglass piece of the authentic sinking ORCA into the stern section of the model. So, it basically contains D.N.A. from the real thing.)
How did you manage to achieve such an accurate and detailed recreation?
I’m still sometimes asked if I would share the schematics I used to build my ORCA, but I have to say I never used any blueprints, reference charts or instructions. I simply eyeballed my way through the process. There was a lot of trial and error, and re-thinking how I would approach every aspect.
The process was slow, organic, messy, and sometimes literally painful. At one point for example, I was using an X-Acto blade to cut the letters for “ORCA” and sliced my thumb but good. In my dedication to realism, I quickly applied some of the blood dripping from my hand onto the transom of the boat - where Brody dishes out the chum. Combined with a little red paint, It certainly added an authentic tone, making it look like dried blood from many days’ use.
Painting was the real fun part for me. It was very important to get the colors right, which required a lot of testing. I used to work at an animatronic company called Sally Corporation back in the nineties, where I was in charge of art-finishing props and themed environments. Weathering, in particular, has always been a passion of mine. And the ORCA required lots of it: Rust, grime, paint-peeling, hard water spots, fish blood, and even purple and white seagull poop, for example. All were a delight to work into the model. Over the months, the project came together until I was satisfied, and I was finally able to have my dining room table back.
So, with the exception of the excellent hull made by Jesse Thompson, everything else is my own work. After I completed and posted it online, Jesse contacted me and graciously complimented the overhaul I had done. We kept in touch for a while, and I was happy to share tips on weathering, how to make cloth folds on a miniature scale using wet paper, distressing techniques, etc. He has since implemented some of the tricks I shared, and uses them on his own ORCA builds. He’s the go-to guy if you want an accurate ORCA model. I HIGHLY recommend him for his excellent work - if he’s still making them these days.
What was the hardest part of the process?
Probably working on the inner cabin parts once the cabin was secured. Also, navigating around the delicate mast details without snagging the wires and delicate miniature instruments. The latter became more difficult due to the build-up of superglue residue on my fingertips, which diminished my gripping ability significantly.
Any advice for Jaws fans out there looking to make their own ORCA?
Probably don’t. Unless you have more free time, discretionary money, and band-aids than optimism. ;)
But if you take on the work, know what you are getting yourself into. Hope the short video “My Little ORCA” I made will help in that regard.
What makes the ORCA so iconic?
The overhaul of the original lobsterboat, “Warlock” spearheaded by Production Designer, Joe Alves was so visually effective for the third act –the wide cabin windows allowing the viewer to experience the claustrophobic, tiny, tenuous refuge of our heroes juxtaposed against the blue vastness of the shark’s domain in every shot... brilliant! The iconic pulpit design, the dismal green color scheme against a red hull outlined in black - Perfection!
(An aside here, I’ve noticed that the color “red” is associated with each fatal attack by the shark in Jaws (and I’m not referring to any blood). 1). Chrissie’s death - the buoy is red. 2). Alex Kintner’s swimming trunks are red. 3). Teddy Grossman’s little boat - red. 4). The ORCA-with its red hull lining...) Don’t know how intentional that was, but kinda cool.
Any plans to make more Jaws related models?
Nope. :) I did assemble a Millenium Falcon (Bandai) sorta recently though. - Different galaxy.
One last thing...
Going back for a moment to Jaws’ influence on my life...
Today, as a professional graphic designer, I still credit Roger Kastel’s painting for the Jaws novel for inspiring me to design book covers and poster art - now my own ‘bread and butter’. In childhood, many were the times I practiced my art skills by drawing Roger’s famous shark and swimmer. I still have some examples in a box somewhere.
As it turns out, one of my long-term clients is Author Steve Alten - most of whose MEG novel covers bear my artwork. In 2018, when Warner Bros. released the Jason Statham blockbuster, The MEG, based on Steve’s book, I was given the privilege to design the title treatment for the film. And now, a wrapped MEG 2 is preparing for worldwide release next year. (Still waiting to see if I’ll be involved again.) The irony is not lost on me that after decades of obsessing over a shark novel cover, I’d be creating shark-centric imagery for contemporary novel covers and their inspired film adaptations.
Anyway, back in 2005, when I finally met Roger Kastel at his New York home during the filming of The Shark is Still Working, I asked him to sign the cover of a Jaws novel I had brought with me, which he happily did. I also brought along a copy of Steve Alten’s novel MEG: Primal Waters, (featuring my cover art) to give to him, in appreciation for the inspiration his work had been to my career. The moment meant a lot to me.
Then, he asked me to sign it for him.
Wait. What?
So there I was, signing my cover art on the actual art table upon which he painted, not only the Jaws masterpiece that I had imitated for as long as I could remember, but also The Empire Strikes Back poster - another favorite of mine! It was, simply surreal. And one of my most meaningful moments related to Jaws. Thanks Roger!
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