FLAWS – The True Story of The Making of JAWS – Blacklist 8

As the title might suggest, I just received my first 8 (second evaluation ever) on the Blacklist for my original screenplay, FLAWS!

After becoming a second rounder in the 2023 Austin Film Festival, I took the screenplay and improved it some more for good measure. Not only to ensure that it was up to snuff creatively but also because the story being told MEANS SO MUCH to me, personally – and I’d imagine a great many others, as well. How could that be? Well…

TITLE: FLAWS

GENRE: Drama, Comedy

LOGLINE: “Young director Steven Spielberg undertakes the challenge of his career when he begins production on one of the most infamously difficult film shoots in history – an adaptation of the best-selling novel, JAWS.“

PAGES: 122

BLACKLIST LINK: https://blcklst.com/scripts/157163

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**SCORE**

OVERALL – 8

PREMISE – 8

PLOT – 7

CHARACTER – 8

DIALOGUE – 7

SETTING – 8

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STRENGTHS: Hilarious, insightful, and exciting, “The Shark is Not Working” is a wonderfully entertaining portrayal of the story behind the birth of the summer blockbuster and the breakout movie of the most beloved filmmaker of all time. We are invited to witness a challenging and troubled production. It can be funny at times, but it is not outright farcical. We can see that Steven Spielberg and his contemporaries are serious about making this movie, despite all the difficulties involved, and we are along for the ride. This is a true treat for fans of “Jaws” itself. We get to see to see in detail, sometimes humorous, sometimes inspirational, the development of key elements, from Steven pitching the explosive ending to Peter Benchley himself, to Robert Shaw contributing the core line about a shark’s eyes.* The ending is not only happy, but magnificent. There is an epic quality to this script, because of “Jaws” itself, and the rest of Spielberg’s career.

WEAKNESSES: Pretty much all we see of Steven Spielberg himself is in his professional and public life. We get to know him as a filmmaker, but less so as a person. Steven’s family, relationships, and Judaism are not present onscreen here. Other than a brief scene of a talk with Goldie Hawn as he prepares to make “The Sugarland Express”, we don’t get much sense of his previous career either. Steven expresses gratitude and incredulity that he is given this monumental assignment when his very first theatrical feature has not even been released yet. With that in mind, it would be a good idea to show us more of the background that led him here in the first place, getting the trust and faith of the studio. Considering how popular “The Fabelmans” was, an audience might want this to have at least a few more biopic aspects. For that matter, “Bruce” could get more exploration, both the shark himself as well as the namesake.

PROSPECTS: “The Shark is Not Working” is an effective script with a lot of appeal both commercial and personal. “Jaws” remains one of the most popular films of all time, and arguably the birth of the summer blockbuster. Steven Spielberg’s own significance and popularity cannot be overestimated either. With that in mind, it’s easy to see the interest in this particular project. If Spielberg himself has any interest in supporting it, that could definitely help. Casting would be very interesting. The right actor could do a lot with playing the legendary director.

*[Author’s Note: It was actually Roy Scheider.]

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BACKGROUND

Like a great many filmmakers, my love of movies came both from watching the films themselves as well as from the plethora of behind-the-scenes materials that came about with the advent of home media. The most impactful of which – to me – was Steven Spielberg’s immortal classic, JAWS.

Specifically, I can remember being a child and watching not only the film itself, but the Behind-the-Scenes mini-documentary included on the VHS release. In fact, WHENEVER I watched JAWS, I *always* watched the documentary – getting to see even a small glimpse into how the movie was made (including the many on-set issues as described by the artists themselves) only served to ENHANCE my love and appreciation for the film. For me, the behind-the-scenes tale might as well have BEEN part of the movie.

As such, somewhere in the back of my mind, I always had this sneaky suspicion that the story behind the making of JAWS would ITSELF be an amazing movie… however, over the years, such a film never materialized. Sure, there were documentaries, but nothing that took the very production itself and DRAMATIZED it for both fans and general audiences alike. So, much like Brody himself, I decided that if no one else was going to solve this problem, I guess it would have to be me…

THE SCREENPLAY

My goal was to craft the perfect “companion piece” to JAWS itself – a film you’ll want to watch alongside it, before or after every viewing.

That said, attempting to bring the TRUE story of the JAWS production to life while still finding a way to condense the events into a runtime that mirrors the film itself AND making it entertaining and relatable to general audiences (who, while they have likely seen JAWS, are also generally unaware of many of the behind-the-scenes woes) was quite the tall order.

As a result, I undertook MONTHS AND MONTHS of research from across the entire JAWS spectrum – books (like The JAWS Log), documentaries, and interviews with the cast and crew. You name it. Finding actual quotes, anecdotes, and any small bit of trivia that might help best tell this story.

All of these and more went into crafting the most complete version of events possible – from creating a giant timeline to trying my best to get even the small details right. However, this also had to be balanced with keeping the story tight and well-paced, so as to avoid getting bogged down in the technicalities.

When I tell you that crafting this story was an intense labor of LOVE, I’m not lying. And that was just for the FIRST DRAFT. Since then, there have been YEARS of revisions and corrections, large and small, to get this screenplay into the place it DESERVES in order to tell this story properly.

Today, the screenplay is finally in a state where it (in my opinion) SHINES. As a fan of JAWS first and foremost, I can undoubtedly say that THIS is the movie I’ve always wanted to see – and one I can bet a great many others have, too. A film that brings to life the struggle, the fun, the excitement, the heartache, and the humor behind the making of one of the greatest films of all time.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Besides the screenplay itself, I’ve also worked hard to try and make it into more of a full-fledged “package.”

First of all, having a love for design, I always make faux posters for ALL my completed screenplays – this one being no different. While certainly not a FINAL result, I hope that it helps give the idea of exactly what I think the “vibe” of this movie and its marketing should/could be. As a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ve included two variants in this post for your viewing pleasure: POSTER 1 and POSTER 2

Beyond that, I’ve also created a FULL 48-PAGE LOOK BOOK for the film that can be shared with producers and other interested parties. The detailed PDF goes through nearly every aspect of the movie itself – from the inherent benefits of capitalizing on the love of the original film without sullying it with a sequel/remake, thoughts on cinematography and the “look” of the movie (color palette, visual style), era-correct soundtrack (not explicitly stated in the script, but absolutely on my mind for certain scenes), potential casting choices for nearly the entire ensemble (chosen not just for ability but also star power and physical resemblance/age), and TONS of behind the scenes photos of the actual JAWS production – itself a wonderful look into the potential physical production/costume design/set design of THIS film.

GOALS

As a FAN of JAWS who believes with all his heart that this could be a HUGE success, both for the continued popularity of JAWS and for the pocketbooks of Universal (the perfect home to bring this story to life, for obvious reasons), I want nothing more than to be able to work together with a team of dedicated professionals to continue the legacy of the film that made us all afraid to go into the water… After all, this movie’s “Gonna need a bigger budget.”

However, while I believe in this screenplay unequivocally, I’m also realistic: I currently have no actual inroads within “the industry” – be that contacts, major credits, etc. As such, I have no reliable way of getting this screenplay into the hands of those who can help make it a reality. (Hence, part of my decision to finally submit to the Blacklist when I felt it was “ready.”)

For example, I’d love to get it into the hands of Ian Shaw, who I feel is the PERFECT choice to continue his tradition of playing his father once more – only this time, immortalized on film. Such a partner could likewise open doors and make connections that could help take this movie from words on a page to the realization of the dreams of JAWS fans (and I believe general audiences) around the world.

CONCLUSION

For all of you who’ve read this far – thank you! I genuinely appreciate it! This story and screenplay mean the world to me… if you can’t already tell.

As for my next steps, I’ve already put in for my two free evaluations (fingers crossed) and plan on using the accompanying tweet to begin BLASTING about the screenplay on my own – admittedly small – social media(s). I’m also considering querying with producers at Universal and even those individuals connected to the JAWS production itself (as I would imagine they’d have quite a vested interest in seeing this film exist, as well).

Keep writing and keep enjoying writing.

Chris