The trailer for After the Bite examines a community reeling from a fatal shark attack, previewing the documentary that debuts Wednesday, July 26 (10:00-11:30 p.M. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. The documentary is directed and produced by Ivy Meeropol, who previously helmed HBO’s The Story of Roy Cohn. Her latest feature examines conflict in a Cape Cod Beach community, which has become one of the world’s white shark hotspots.
Check out the After the Bite trailer below:
What To Know About After the Bite
“A 2018 fatal shark attack on a boogie boarder in the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts rocked visitors and residents in the idyllic summer community of Cape Cod, forcing them to respond to the encroachment of apex predators,” according to the official synopsis. “With the numbers of sharks increasing every year, AFTER THE BITE explores the far-reaching repercussions for this beach community when rapid changes in the natural world begin to clash with a cherished way of life.”
It continues: “Great white sharks have dominated headlines in recent years, as their deadly interactions with people have increased in the waters stretching from Maine to the Cape and Islands. Those charged with protecting the public have been forced to address the risk of serious injuries with stop-the-bleed kits mounted at public access beaches, warning billboards, the use of shark-tracking apps, spotter planes, and new training programs and protocols for lifeguards.”
“AFTER THE BITE is a deep dive into how one coastal community is renegotiating their relationship with our rapidly changing environment. The changes are numerous: warmer waters, species interacting where they never had before, along with the rapidly increasing numbers of the shark’s favorite prey, the North Atlantic gray seal, whose population has rebounded since seals were protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
Described as “a portrait of an interconnected community of people and wildlife,” the documentary “features a range of voices from different sides of these issues and considers the larger question of how far humans can push nature before it bites back.”
Featured participants include “the lifeguards, conservationists, fishermen, journalists, paramedics, town residents, activists, and scientists who are impacted by the issues and are working to find solutions, including seal scientist Lisa Sette from the Center of Costal Studies; Dr. Greg Skomal and Meg Winton of the Atlantic White Shark Conservatory, which tags and tracks sharks off the coast of Cape Cod and estimates that 800 individual white sharks were in the waters off Cape Cod from 2015-2018; New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson; and Crocker Snow, a long-time island owner whose uninhabited island in Nantucket Sound is the largest breeding ground for seals in the western North Atlantic, among others.”
After the Bite is presented by HBO Documentaries. It’s A Reversal Films Production in association with Red 50 Inc. produced by Xan Parker and Meeropol and executive produced by Whitney Dow, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Tina Nguyen.
