Underwater Video Services
Community Service in Cape Town

Professional diving services for breakwater inspections, underwater structural surveys.Company founded in 1990 by Charles Maxwell who won an Emmy Award for hosork with the BBC in 2002. Underwater video filming for television.

Charles began his career in underwater filming in 1987 while assisting Swiss filmmaker, Gerald Favre with his production Le Souffle du Dragon, a story about the discovery and exploration of the world's largest underground lake in Namibia. Since then he has worked with many production companies worldwide. Working with the sea can be frustrating and sometimes dangerous but mostly rewarding. It is not all about tropical islands and warm water and sometimes involves spending many cold hours underwater often on your own. While Charles specializes in documentary films about sharks, whales, dolphins and the Cape fur seals that are abundant in the cold water near Cape Town where he lives, he spends a lot of time along the coast between Cape Town and Mozambique. Charles Maxwell founded Underwater Video Services in 1989 to offer a much needed professional underwater video service to local and foreign production companies. Charles will personally assist you with your marine production needs, both in and out of the water. By having the filming team based in South Africa, an efficient and cost effective schedule can be drawn up to cover the ever-changing environment. By being based in South Africa, we can assist with budget preparation, equipment sourcing, permits and other logistical issues efficiently, thereby cutting costs. The kelp forests, that dominate the western shore of the Bay, support their own unique and complex ecosystems. Andrea’s work on mantas was to be the focus of this documentary. Previously, a French team was in Tofo working on the same production but they were unlucky with both sea conditions and manta sightings. The cold and often clear, nutrient rich waters that upwell from around 200-300 m depth in turn fuel high rates of phytoplankton growth, and sustain the productive Benguela ecosystem. Here a pointed rock protrudes through the thick kelp to the surface. This is a great place to dive with sevengill sharks as they cruise through the kelp forest. This impressive sandstone headland, sculptured by the sea over millions of years, represents the theoretical boundary between the cold Atlantic and temperate Indian Oceans. CAPE Town-based underwater cinematographer, Charles Maxwell, has worked on numerous marine documentaries over the past 21 years, including the Emmy Award winning episode of The Blue Planet, Seas of Life; Planet Earth: Shallow Seas; and Air Jaws, which captured spectacular footage of great white sharks breaching in False Bay. With more than 40 years of diving experience, he is the first port of call for clients from the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Mythbusters when it comes to marine wildlife on the South African coastline. Charles surfaced for a chat about his underwater adventures.