V.I. Divers Ltd. was founded by Gilliam in 1973 in St. Croix as a dive resort that not only catered to recreational divers but also scientific divers. The company (and others that followed) also had a filming and studio support division that provided location services for boats, diving, equipment, helicopter & aircraft, stunt persons, and local logistics for Hollywood movies, television series, documentaries, and tourism promotions. Film work from 1971 to the present included movies such as "Pleasure Island", "The Deep", "The Island of Dr. Moreau", "The Man Without A Face", "Dreams of Gold", "Going Overboard", "The Island", "Having A Ball", "Abyss", "The Dive", "Message In A Bottle", "Head Above Water", as well as television productions such as "Miami Vice", "Greatest American Hero", "ABC Sports", "Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau", "HBO", "Showtime", "Discovery Channel", "National Geographic Explorer", "Travel Channel", "Cinemax", "Today", "NBC's live broadcasts of the 1983 America's Cup Races", "Encore Productions", "BBC", and "The Playboy Channel". In 1977, Gilliam served as the founder and president of AMF Yacht Charters Ltd. providing luxury motor yacht charters on vessels up to 380 feet in length. Both companies were sold in 1985 and after a short break, Gilliam resumed his work with the formation of cruise ship lines as the Vice President, chief executive officer (CEO) and Director of Ship Operations for Ocean Quest International in 1988. He served as Senior officer aboard their 550-ft., 28,000 ton flagship Ocean Spirit. This was the world's largest sport diving operation in history. Gilliam also began conducting research on dive computer safety during this time and remained with Ocean Quest until the company was sold to Sea Escape Cruise Lines in the fall of 1990.
Bret Gilliam Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family
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