Great white shark caught in a fish pond off Nauset Beach, Orleans
Maggie Ciarcia films the moment her cousin Matt Pieciak realizes there is a shark at the end of his fishing rod at Nauset Beach on August 8.
Maggie Ciarcia on Storyful
Whether you’re a shark enthusiast or a concerned local resident who wouldn’t mind never seeing a great white shark in Cape Cod waters again, “Great White Summer” probably has something to say for you.
The 79-minute documentary, directed by Nick Budabin, who lives in Eastham during the summer, with cinematographer Matt Elkind, will be screened at 7 p.m. Monday, August 19, at the Cape Cinema, 35 Hope Lane in Dennis. Tickets are $20 and can be ordered at ticketing.useast.veezi.com.
“The film will look great on the big screen. We believe this is the most honest portrayal of the shark problem that has ever been seen on the Cape,” Budabin said.
Following the screening, key actors will be available for a discussion moderated by Doug Fraser, a Cape Cod surfer and former Cape Cod Times reporter who has written about the ocean and sharks for many years.
“It will be a good opportunity for people to explore the issue,” Budabin said. “There is still tension there… The scientific community feels that quite a lot is already being done (to monitor sharks in real time), and some people still think it is not enough.”
In “Great White Summer,” parents talk about the agony of living in such a beautiful area but being afraid to let their children surf, especially after 26-year-old Arthur Medici was killed off Wellfleet’s Newcomb Hollow Beach in September 2018.
The documentary interviews state shark researcher Greg Skomal, PhD, and highlights the formation of the online group The Cape Cod Ocean Community. Organizer Heather Doyle, who set up a GoFundMe page to purchase real-time shark sensors, appears in the film and will be one of the people at Cape Cinema’s talkback session following the screening.
Is “Great White Summer” a real version of “Jaws”?
“Jaws creates a scenario where a shark hunts humans. Scientists don’t believe that happens and I don’t believe it either,” Budabin said.
He continued, saying, “A better comparison would be the first half of Jaws: The townspeople are stunned. How do we react, do we close the beaches? How does a town adapt to a shark attack?”
Why did Budabin and Elkind decide to produce the documentary about sharks.
Budabin, who works as a showrunner for a reality TV program in New York, said he knew the subject would make for a good documentary when people responded so emotionally to his initial questions. Budabin said he and Elkind made the film for less than $100,000 and then got help from Northern Lights in post-production.
Others involved in the documentary include executive producers David Gioiella and Mark Littman, editor Tyler Christie and composer Mike Cassedy.
Some of the people Cape Cod residents might recognize in the documentary include Jerry Evans, AJ Salerno, Sherry Salerno, Dante Salerno, Heather Doyle, Drew Taylor, Greg Skomal, Megan Winton, Shred Hathorne, Ian Cairns, Nick Muto and Chris Fischer.
How can you see Great White Summer if you can’t make it to the screening at Cape Cinema?
Distribution is handled by Gravitas Ventures. The film is available for pre-order on iTunes for $12.95, according to Budabin, and will be released on September 3. From that date, the film will be available on several streaming platforms, including iTunes, Prime Video, Fandango at home, Google Play, YouTube, Microsoft and Vimeo.
To watch the trailer for the film, visit YouTube.
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