The short answer
There is no objectively “best” drone company in New Orleans, and every company that ranks for that phrase is asserting the title about itself. That is not a useful answer for a producer with a shoot date.
What is verifiable is a company’s record. Four numbers and one list settle almost every hiring decision:
- How many years it has worked scripted sets — not how many years it has owned drones
- Its aviation liability limit, and whether that limit is standing or bought for your job
- Whether it can staff Local 600 union and non-union, so the answer does not change mid-prep
- Whether FAA and film-permit work happens in-house or gets pushed back to your production
- Which productions it has actually flown, named
CineDrones has worked sets since 2013, carries $5 million in aviation liability plus workers compensation, supplies both Local 600 union and non-union crews, handles FAA authorization and coordinates local film permitting in-house, and holds aerial or on-camera drone credits on more than forty productions. We work New Orleans as one of ten markets, and the full aerial toolkit that operates out of Los Angeles is available here.
Ask every company on your list for the same five things. The ones that answer in specifics are the ones to call back.
What New Orleans specifically demands
New Orleans is the friendliest major market in the country for aerial work — one city authority, a free drone permit, and the only state drone statute in the United States with an explicit exemption for filming. The catch is a French Quarter rule that constrains the hardware rather than the paperwork.
One authority, and the drone permit is free
Film New Orleans handles it. Drone filming is issued under the B-roll Permit category, which also covers student films and city-wide b-roll, and drone permits carry no charge. Requirements: FAA-certified operators only, submission of the operator’s FAA licence and the drone’s FAA registration, non-modeler registration, and Part 107 compliance. Location permits by contrast run $375 plus tax for up to seven blocks over 1–7 days, or $500 for 8–30 days. Insurance is $1M general liability naming the City of New Orleans as additional insured.
Louisiana exempts filming by statute
La. R.S. 14:337 prohibits drone surveillance of targeted facilities and operations over the state capitol grounds, the governor’s mansion, military installations, jails and prisons — and then states that the section does not apply to unmanned aircraft systems used for motion picture, television or similar production where the filming is authorized by the property owner. Louisiana is the only one of the ten markets we work with a filming-specific statutory carve-out. The condition is the property owner’s authorization, so that is prep work.
The French Quarter caps the size of the aircraft
Drones in the French Quarter should not exceed three feet in diameter. That is a hardware constraint, not a paperwork one, and it needs to reach the aerial department at prep rather than at permit stage — it can rule out a heavy-lift package and settle the shot design before anyone gets to the location.
The Quarter constrains the ground unit too
Vehicles and trucks 36 ft or larger are strictly prohibited in the French Quarter. Maximum two blocks for equipment and trucks and two blocks clearing for the shot, with a minimum of six blocks between permitted parking locations when more than one production is working.
Lead times are short and tiered
5 or fewer shoot days: 4 business days before shooting. 6 or more: 6 business days. Special cases — car chases, pyrotechnics, explosives, extensive exterior work — a minimum of 5 days. Extended parking of 5 days or more needs Film Office approval 7 working days before prep.
The airspace
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International is Class B with a tiered structure — surface to 7,000 ft MSL within a seven-mile radius, then shelves with floors at 600, 1,000 and 2,000 ft. MSY sits roughly eleven miles west of downtown, so the French Quarter and CBD are under an outer shelf rather than the surface area. Do not assume Class G downtown: the specific floor and the corresponding facility-map ceiling get checked for the location and the date. New Orleans Lakefront is the second field affecting the city.
Rules change. Treat the above as a briefing for planning conversations rather than legal or regulatory advice, and confirm current requirements with the relevant authorities and your insurer before you shoot.
The checks that apply everywhere
Regardless of market, the same seven questions sort a working aerial department from a pilot with a drone.
- The insurance floor is $5 million, and it should already be in place. Most studio productions will not accept an aerial vendor below it. A company that has to buy up for your shoot is telling you what level it normally works at. Ask for the certificate in prep, and ask whether workers compensation is carried too.
- Part 107 is the entry ticket, not the qualification. Every legal commercial pilot holds one. What separates companies is the hard operations — flying over people under the FAA’s Subpart D categories or a waiver, at night, beyond visual line of sight, and inside controlled airspace.
- Local 600, both ways. Signatory scripted work generally requires the aerial camera position to be filled by an ICG Local 600 member; commercials and non-signatory work usually do not. The failure mode is hiring a company that can only staff one way.
- Permitting done, not delegated. Airspace and ground are two separate approvals from two different bodies. If a vendor sends the paperwork back to your line producer, price that time into the bid.
- Redundancy, because aircraft come down. Ask what happens when the primary aircraft is out of service at 2pm. Ask the same about the pilot.
- Payload range, because the shot picks the aircraft. Heavy-lift for a full-size cinema camera — the Freefly Alta X carries RED and ALEXA Mini. Mid-size stabilised for aerials that intercut with A-camera — the DJI Inspire 3 shooting 8K full-frame on swappable DL-mount lenses, and the Inspire 2 with the Super 35 X7. FPV for continuous moving shots through spaces nothing else fits, carrying anything from a GoPro up to cinema cameras. A company with one aircraft will tell you your shot suits that aircraft.
- Named credits, not logo walls. “We’ve worked with Netflix and HBO” is a claim any company can make after one day of second-unit work. A named production list is checkable.
The long version of each check, written for the Los Angeles market, is here.
The credit list
CineDrones has provided aerial cinematography, on-camera prop drones, stunt drones or aerial lighting on productions including:
Ozark · 9-1-1 · SEAL Team · Jack Ryan · Bosch · Goliath · Castle Rock · Doctor Sleep · NOS4A2 · Mayans M.C. · Modern Family · NCIS: New Orleans · American Horror Story: Cult · Fear the Walking Dead · Station 19 · The Politician · The Resident · Runaways · Raising Dion · Good Trouble · The Gifted · 24: Legacy · American Housewife · The Fix · The First 48 · Hell’s Kitchen · The Grand Tour · Basketball Wives · Shahs of Sunset · Bizaardvark · I Feel Bad · Kevin (Probably) Saves the World · Making It · The Leisure Seeker · Trial by Fire · First and Last · Spartan · TKO · You’re the Worst — and NFL broadcasts.
Two are written up in detail — what the production needed, what it took to fly, and what that demonstrates: 9-1-1, where we brought the look and the aerial design to the show from day one, and Ozark, where the aerials carried feel and drama into the visual language of the series.
When to hire somebody else
We would rather say this in prep than take a booking and disappoint a producer.
- If the job is real estate, weddings or single-operator social content, an aerial department is the wrong purchase. You do not need Local 600 crews and a $5M policy to shoot a listing.
- If the job is inspection, survey or mapping, hire a company that does that work. We fly for camera.
- If the schedule allows no rehearsal for a complex FPV move through a practical location, the honest answer is that the shot should be flown a different way, or the schedule should change.
- If the only thing that matters is the lowest number on the bid, someone will always be cheaper. What we will not do is quote a crew and a safety plan we would not actually staff.
How to run the comparison
Send every company on your shortlist the same message:
Shoot dates, location, and city. What is your standing aviation liability limit? Can you staff Local 600 and non-union? Who files the FAA authorization and who coordinates the film permit? What aircraft would you bring for this shot, and what is the backup? Name five productions you have flown.
The replies sort themselves. Specific answers with numbers and titles come from companies that have done the work.
Frequently asked
Do I need a permit to fly a drone in New Orleans?
Yes, and it is free. Film New Orleans issues drone filming under its B-roll Permit category, which carries no charge. You must use FAA-certified operators and submit the operator’s FAA licence and the drone’s FAA registration, register the aircraft as a non-modeler, and follow Part 107. Insurance is $1 million general liability naming the City of New Orleans as an additional insured. Lead time is 4 business days for shoots of 5 days or fewer, 6 business days for 6 days or more, and a minimum of 5 days for special cases such as car chases or pyrotechnics.
Does Louisiana law allow drone filming?
Yes, explicitly. La. R.S. 14:337 prohibits drone surveillance of targeted facilities and operations over the state capitol grounds, the governor’s mansion, military installations, jails and prisons — but the statute states that it does not apply to unmanned aircraft systems used for motion picture, television or similar production where the filming is authorized by the property owner. Louisiana is the only state among the markets we work in with a filming-specific statutory exemption. The condition is property owner authorization, which is prep work rather than a formality.
Are there drone restrictions in the French Quarter?
Yes, and one of them is unusual: drones in the French Quarter should not exceed three feet in diameter. That is a constraint on the aircraft itself rather than on the paperwork, and it can rule out a heavy-lift package, so it needs to reach the aerial department during prep. The Quarter also prohibits vehicles and trucks 36 ft or larger, limits productions to two blocks for equipment and two blocks clearing for the shot, and requires a minimum of six blocks between permitted parking locations when more than one production is working.
More on this market: drone cinematography in New Orleans · aerial cinematography · FPV drone pilot · Local 600 drone operators
CineDrones is a Hollywood-based aerial cinematography company working in New Orleans and nine other markets nationwide. FAA Part 107 certified, $5M aviation liability, Local 600 union and non-union crews, flying since 2013.
Send us the shot and the dates — 310-905-9195. We will tell you what it takes, and we will tell you if it should be flown a different way.
