Why ‘The Jaws Log’ is a Film Book You Need to Read

One of the best film books ever written is ‘The Jaws Log,’ about the troubled production of Steven Spielberg’s iconic blockbuster.

Photo by Marcelo Cidrack at Unsplash

I received my BA in Film Production from Loyola Marymount University back in 2007, and while my focus in the last few years has turned to writing fiction, I still take great joy in reading books about film — actor and director biographies, how-to filmmaking books, tales of disastrous productions, etc.

I love them all, and one text that’s been on my shelf for awhile that I was thrilled to finally read was Carl Gottlieb’s famous 1975 book, The Jaws Log, which tells of the problematic production of Steven Spielberg’s mega-blockbusters.

I had been wanting to check this book out for awhile not only because Jaws is one of my favorite movies ever, but because I’ve heard stories about the production from various sources but never in a big, well-researched book that goes into every last detail, from Peter Benchley writing the book to the summer release of the finished film.

This book took me on a wild, entertaining ride for the last week and I am so happy I had a chance to check it out. It gave me a newfound appreciation for Spielberg’s classic, and it showed in clear detail…