Watch Underwater Filmmaker Valerie Taylor In Trailer For PLAYING WITH SHARKS – Premieres on Disney Plus Friday, July 23

“There is a creature alive today which has survived millions of years of evolution…without change, without passion, without logic. It lives to kill. A mindless eating machine, it will attack and devour anything. Try to imagine meeting the Devil…with JAWS.” – JAWS trailer

Ron and Valerie Taylor are the only names that come to mind when you think of the real shark footage in Steven Spielberg’s Summer Blockbuster JAWS. The film was released on an unsuspecting public June 1975 and the horrifying images of the film instilled fear into beachgoers that summer along with the phrase “See it before you go swimming.” The Taylors were synonymous with real shark footage and worked on other ocean themed movies such as ORCA, JAWS 2, and THE BLUE LAGOON.

Valerie’s late husband Ron’s cinematography and exquisite compositions have certainly stood the test of time. From the birth of scuba with colorful retro bikinis and weight belts to the do-it-yourself Australian attitude inherent in how the Taylors worked, audiences will delight in unheard-of behind-the-scenes stories making the “Jaws” blockbuster and the early footage of Spielberg and his iconic film. What is dramatic is the subsequent U-turn that Valerie, her husband Ron and “Jaws” author Peter Benchley took to redeeming sharks’ “PR problem.”

Valerie repeatedly put herself on the front line to prove sharks were not out to get humans, including the astonishing idea of making herself shark bait and changing scientific understanding in the process. Valerie’s culpability in the devastating fallout from “Jaws” for the creatures she so admired means we cheer her on in trying to atone for her involvement. It is little wonder her efforts become the first shark conservation in the world and a model for so many.

Today, Disney+ revealed the official trailer and poster for “Playing with Sharks” from National Geographic Documentary Films.  A true pioneer in both underwater filmmaking and shark research, Valerie Taylor is a living legend and icon in the underwater world whose life’s work has become the basis for much of what we know about sharks today. Through remarkable underwater archival footage, along with interviews with Valerie herself, “Playing with Sharks,” from twice Emmy®-nominated director Sally Aitken, follows this daring ocean explorer’s trajectory from champion spearfisher to passionate shark protector. From the birth of cage diving to “Jaws” hysteria to the dawn of cageless shark diving, Valerie became a trailblazing advocate for the ocean’s most maligned and misunderstood creatures.

The documentary, which is a part of National Geographic’s Sharkfest slate, premieres on Disney+ on Friday, July 23.

“Playing with Sharks” is created and produced by Bettina Dalton, WildBear Entertainment, and written and directed by Sally Aitken. It is executive produced by Alan Erson for WildBear; Anna Godas and Oli Harbottle for TDog; and Paul Wiegard for Madman Entertainment. A WildBear Entertainment production, with principal production investment and development support from Screen Australia, it is developed and financed with the assistance of Screen NSW.