Problem
Three vendors, three call sheets
Camera boat, drone team, underwater crew — each with a separate coordinator, a separate day rate, and their own idea of on-time.
Introducing the Chameleon 3 — Code Name "Basilisk"
Cinema-Grade
Marine Production.
The most versatile and advanced production vessel in film and television — engineered for precision, executed in excellence. Based in Miami. Available worldwide.
USCG-licensed captainFAA Part 107 pilotsCommercial marine and production liability insured — COIs on requestEN · ES · PT crew
The Problem
The water day is the day everything goes wrong.
Wind shifts. Radios stop talking. Your DIT is squinting into a laptop on a folding chair. The picture boat is late. The drone team is on a different vessel with a different call time. Every marine production hides the same math: three boats, five vendors, and a color-critical suite that pretends the sun does not exist.
Problem
DIT roulette in direct sun
Color decisions get made squinting at a laptop under a pop-up canopy. Numbers land in the grade that never should have left set.
Problem
Weather kills the day
The window closes. You still eat the day rate. You still burn the location permit. You still owe the studio a delivery date.
Why We Built the Basilisk
One vessel. One department. Every camera role at sea.
We spent years working marine production the old way — chartering picture boats, trailering drone units, hiring a separate underwater team. Every water day cost more, took longer, and put color-critical work in the wrong environment.
So we built the Chameleon 3, code-named the Basilisk: a Multipurpose Production Vessel with a stabilized Ultraarm crane, a Motocrane remote head, Wave Central RF across every camera in the fleet, and the industry’s only on-water climate-controlled DIT Dark Room. Camera arm, drone control, underwater command — one hull, reconfigured between setups.
One Vessel · Three Modes
Reconfigure on the water.
The Only One on the Water
An air-conditioned DIT dark room. On the boat.
Most marine productions put your colorist in the sun. We put ours in a fully climate-controlled blackout suite with Cyanview live grading and LH Video VTR — the same environment you’d have in a post house, moving at 30 knots.
See the Dark Room- Climate-controlled
- Blackout interior
The Grand Slam Offer
The Water Day, Handled.
One vessel. One invoice. One team. Everything you need to shoot on water, engineered into a single Multipurpose Production Vessel — the Basilisk.
What’s Included
- Full Basilisk Vessel Package — twin 250hp Yamahas, captained crew, fueled and staged
- Camera Arm Boat rig with Ultraarm jib + Motocrane stabilized head, ready to shoot
- On-board climate-controlled DIT Dark Room with Cyanview live grading and LH Video VTR
- Wave Central long-range wireless video across every camera in your fleet
- Optional integrated aerial + underwater unit — drones, submersibles, diver comms — synced to the boat
- Miami-based captain and technicians who know Biscayne Bay, Government Cut, and the Keys cold
The Flat Water Guarantee
If our captain determines your scheduled shoot window is unsafe or unshootable due to weather or sea state, we reschedule at no additional day rate. You do not eat a wasted water day because the ocean did not cooperate.
There is one Basilisk. Booking windows close months out during Miami’s peak commercial season (November through April). Lock your dates early.
Tell us about your shootEquipment Partners
The gear we run.
Equipment partners. The rigs and systems the Basilisk is built around.
Ultraarm / Extreme Jibs
Crane & Jib Arms
Motocrane
Stabilized Camera Heads
Wave Central
Wireless Video RF
Cyanview
Live Coloring & Grading
LH Video Services
VTR Services
Behind the Scenes
Real shoots, real rigs, real water.
FAQ
What people ask us most
What is a Multipurpose Production Vessel (MPV)?+
A Multipurpose Production Vessel is a purpose-engineered marine platform that reconfigures between filmmaking roles — camera arm boat, drone control, underwater command — on a single hull. The Basilisk is the first MPV built for film and television, replacing three separate boat rentals with one integrated system.
Where is Terrific Watercraft Films based, and where can you shoot?+
We are based in Miami, Florida. The Basilisk operates daily out of Biscayne Bay, Miami Beach, Government Cut, Port of Miami, and the Florida Keys. For features and series, we trailer the entire MPV ecosystem to any coastline in North America and mobilize internationally on request.
How is the Basilisk different from a standard camera boat rental?+
A standard camera boat gives you a hull and an operator. The Basilisk arrives with a stabilized Ultraarm crane, a Motocrane remote head, Wave Central wireless video, a Cyanview live-grading station, an LH Video VTR rack, and a climate-controlled DIT Dark Room built into the vessel. It is a floating production department, not a boat with a camera on it.
How do I book the Basilisk for a shoot?+
Send us your shoot dates, location, and creative brief through our contact form, or call +1 (786) 286-5894. Our production team responds within 24 hours with availability, a tailored package, and a captain-led scout if the shoot is in South Florida.
Explore the Site
Every page a production department needs.
Book the Basilisk
Tell us about your shoot.
Send dates, location, and a brief. Our production team responds within 24 hours with availability, a tailored package, and a captain-led scout if you’re shooting in South Florida.