Stephen Scarlata, producer of the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune, has now set out to tell viewers all about the shark thriller sub-genre with a documentary called Sharksploitation – and we’re just days away from having the chance to see the finished film! The Shudder streaming service will be releasing Sharksploitation as a Shudder Original on July 21st. The movie will be streaming in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. And just three days before it starts streaming, we’ve gotten our hands on a trailer that you can watch in the embed above.
Scarlata directed Sharksploitation and produced it with Kerry Deignan Roy and Josh Miller. The feature-length documentary will delve into the sub-genre of sharksploitation films, from Corman’s 1958 She Gods of Shark Reef to the release of Jaws and the subsequent knock-offs.
An alternative synopsis goes like this: In the wake of blockbuster classic Jaws, a new subgenre was born. This new documentary explores the weird, wild cinematic legacy of sharks on film and the world’s undying fascination.
Scarlata had this to say about the project: “The movie Jaws had a massive impact on me becoming a filmmaker, and it began my lifelong fascination with sharks. … I love these films, and with each one I watch, my love grows more vital for the species, and my heart breaks more over the horrors they go through in everyday life, from overfishing to shark finning. This documentary is the ultimate love letter to the shark movie genre, filmmakers who work hard to make these films, and to the misunderstood species themselves.“
Sharksploitation includes interviews with Roger Corman (who recently produced the likes of Sharktopus and Dinoshark), Piranha director Joe Dante, Jaws 1-3 writer Carl Gottlieb, 47 Meters Down and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged director Johannes Roberts, and Jaws: The Revenge cast member Mario Van Peebles. Scarlata and his collaborators also secured an interview with marine and environmental conservation advocate Wendy Benchley, the widow of Jaws author Peter Benchley.
This documentary is a “must-watch” for me. What did you think of the Sharksploitation trailer? Will you be watching the documentary on Shudder? Let us know by leaving a comment below.