136 - Martha's Vineyard - Special Report

Update: 2025-10-07

Description

Episode 136: A Martha’s Vineyard special report on the Joe Alves Documentary shoot.

This week’s episode is a little different. It is a behind the scenes update on our ongoing feature documentary about production designer and director Joe Alves (Jaws, Close Encounters, Escape from New York, Jaws 2, Jaws 3D). I take you through our trip to Martha’s Vineyard in June 2024 to capture Joe’s return to the island for the 50th anniversary of Jaws. Thanks to your generosity, we raised over £7,000 to cover the travel, ferry, car hire, and accommodation. Every penny went into the shoot. In this episode, I share:

The challenges and triumphs of making the trip possible
Shooting new interviews with Joe Alves, Marty Milner, Charles de Lauzirika, and Richard Dreyfuss
Filming at iconic Jaws locations including Menemsha and the 4th July beach.
The overwhelming warmth of the Jaws community and the atmosphere of the anniversary celebrations
How the project has evolved from a short film idea into a full feature documentary
Your support is still needed!

We still have more to do, including chasing interviews with Dean Cundey, John Carpenter, Lea Thompson, and Steven Spielberg. If you would like to support the film, visit the GoFundMe link in the show notes. Thanks again for helping us push this project forward. We could not do it without you.

Support the documentary GoFundMe

This podcast is completely independent and made possible by listener support. If you’d like to help me keep making these episodes, you can join my Patreon community here: https://patreon.com/jamiebenning

Watch more on YouTube:
Check out the Filmumentaries YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes clips and extra content: https://youtube.com/filmumentaries

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