From September until November 2020 In the midst of the pandemic, I was invited to Malta to work on probably one of the few independent films shooting in Europe when the rest of the world waited. Why was this a film that was possible to make when the rest of the world was in lockdown? Because it was set almost entirely at sea. Not just shot in tanks but on the open ocean with all the potential perils and pitfalls that could obstruct bringing a project like this in on time and on schedule. Conventionally films like this would be made on water stages to be able to control such hazards as the weather and currents and protection of cast crew and equipment. I was dubious and thought it would be very difficult to achieve. It wasn’t. That was chiefly down to the phenomenal team at DK Nautical Malta led by Dymar, Karsten and their phenomenal diving crew led by Abigail Borg of DiveMed Malta.

They protected us, cared for us and went way beyond the call of duty daily before during and after the standard crew shoot day ensuring our UnitBase/Camera ship and floating set was always ready. This also wasn’t any ordinary film at sea, it was shark horror with tricky VFX work which relied on precision and patience to achieve creating a “real threat”.

I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend this team and company to anyone who was to shoot in Malta and needed to know they would be in caring, safe and experienced hands. A team that often offered up solutions when the experienced film crew scratched their heads in how to achieve sequences. A team who constantly knew when to stop us and get us out of the water with calm precision when currents or passing sea traffic wakes could have endangered us. A team that made everything feel easy when it could have been a disaster.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity and pleasure to work with them and sincerely hope to again.