Steven Soderbergh brengt app Production 02074 uit ter ere van 51 jaar Jaws

Regisseur zet decennia studie om in een interactief digitaal eerbetoon aan Spielbergs baanbrekende film, waarbij alle opbrengsten ten goede komen aan dierenwelzijn.

Steven Soderbergh timed the release of his new app Production 02074 to land exactly 51 years after the theatrical debut of Jaws. The project compiles production stills, Spielberg's original log entries, and Soderbergh's own scene-by-scene commentary on why the 1975 thriller remains unmatched.

App Brings Daily Production Details to Life

Users scroll through images captured across all 143 shooting days. Dialogue from the film often plays in viewers' heads as the photos advance. Spielberg supplied fresh context for several sequences, many of which had not appeared in prior accounts of the troubled production.

The app sells for $24.99, and every dollar goes to an animal charity. Soderbergh covered the full development cost himself after deciding a traditional book would price out the aspiring filmmakers he most wanted to reach.

From Lecture Notes to Interactive Format

Soderbergh traces the idea to his father, a professor focused on education. Early lectures on directing evolved into a deeper analysis of Jaws after he read a granular Taschen volume on The Shining. He realized readers would benefit from seeing the exact shots described in the logs rather than reading about them in isolation.

There was a lot of discussion about how to do this and what I decided was if it was a book book put out by a university press, it would cost twice that. This is 51 years of study and experience, so that’s 50 cents a year. Look at it that way. It’s a film school and an app.

— Steven Soderbergh, Deadline interview

Character Work Stands Out Amid Technical Mayhem

Soderbergh highlights scenes that deliver exposition without feeling artificial, including two exchanges with Mayor Vaughn and the dinner-table conversation between Brody and his son. He notes that Spielberg maintained sharp focus on character even while the mechanical shark repeatedly failed.

Spielberg Provided Context and an Epilogue

Spielberg reviewed the app and contributed an epilogue written during press for his own film Disclosure Day. He described revisiting the shoot as strangely cathartic and expressed pride in his younger self for enduring the obstacles.

Lessons on Will, Expectation Management, and Finishing

The project underscores the psychological demands of long, uncertain productions. Soderbergh stresses that mental toughness and the ability to keep a crew united matter as much as technical skill. He also advises filmmakers to keep working until the project is contractually due rather than stopping at the first sign of completion.

Soderbergh has no immediate plans to apply the same method to other films. He hopes others will adapt the format for titles that shaped their own careers.