You are not hiring a drone. You are hiring the person flying it, the person pulling focus off it, and the paperwork that lets it leave the ground.
Chicago operators earn their rate in November. Wind off the lake, cold that halves your battery endurance, and downtown canyon effects that behave nothing like open-field flying. A unit that has only flown this city in summer will tell you the shot is possible and then not get it.
A CineDrones operator arrives as a unit, not a hobbyist with a case. FAA Part 107 certificated pilot, dedicated camera operator on the gimbal where the shot calls for it, visual observer, and the authorizations filed before the call sheet locks. We have worked on sets since 2013, which mostly means we know when not to fly — when the AD is behind, when the light is about to go, when the shot is better served by staying out of the way.
The Chicago Film Office handles City permitting, and lakefront and park locations carry their own approvals through the Park District. Aerial work downtown routinely requires coordination beyond the base film permit.
Chicago crews are experienced at working through weather that would stop a shoot elsewhere, and productions here budget for it. The city's stage space and long-running series slate mean a stable, professional crew base rather than a boom-and-bust one.
We shoot the Loop, the lakefront, the river, and the neighborhoods — and we travel. CineDrones works nationwide, so if your production is basing in Chicago and shooting somewhere else entirely, that is a normal week for us.
Cinema-payload multirotors, FPV airframes, and the smaller aircraft that fit where the big ones cannot.
Our aerial units have worked on Ozark, Jack Ryan, Bosch, Mayans M.C., SEAL Team, NCIS: New Orleans, Fear the Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Modern Family, 9-1-1, Goliath, The Resident, Raising Dion, Castle Rock, Doctor Sleep and Chef's Table, for Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO, Hulu, Showtime, Sony, CBS, AMC, MTV and Bravo. See the work →
For a straightforward day, a week is usually enough. For anything inside controlled airspace or needing a waiver, give us two to three weeks — the authorization is the long pole, not the crew. Short-notice calls are worth making anyway; we hold availability for exactly that.
Yes, both. We file the airspace authorization and we work with your locations department on the permit side. What we will not do is show up and hope, which is the failure mode that costs productions a day.
We give you a straight go or no-go rather than an optimistic maybe. Wind limits and visibility minimums are aircraft specifications, not preferences, and a unit that flies outside them is risking your production, not just our aircraft.
DRONE OPERATOR — OTHER MARKETS: Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami New Orleans New York Salt Lake City
Get ready to elevate your production to new heights with CineDrones! Operating in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Albuquerque, Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans, we bring the power of cutting-edge drone technology to every project. Whether you're capturing breathtaking aerial footage, thrilling FPV shots, or immersive drone-based virtual reality, our expert teams of FAA-certified pilots, aerial camera pros, and drone techs have you covered. Fully compliant with Part 107 regulations and protected by a $5M aviation liability policy, we guarantee precision, safety, and creativity. Plus, with Local 600 union and non-union crews available, we’re ready to deliver jaw-dropping results wherever you need them!