An aerial shot either tells the audience something the ground cannot, or it is a postcard the editor eventually cuts.
Shooting aerials in LA means shooting a city audiences have seen ten thousand times. The Hollywood sign, the downtown skyline and the PCH are all exhausted as establishing shots, which puts the work on finding the angle or the move that has not been used — and on matching whatever your A camera is doing so the cut does not announce itself.
We work with directors and DPs the way any other camera department does — in prep, on the shot list, and on set as part of the plan rather than a novelty parked to one side. That means matching the look of your A camera, hitting the same marks take after take, and knowing which moves read on screen and which just show off the aircraft.
Los Angeles is one of the hardest places in the country to fly legally. The basin sits under LAX Class B, and inside that footprint you are also threading Burbank, Van Nuys, Santa Monica, Long Beach and Hawthorne. Most of the city a production actually wants to shoot sits in controlled airspace with low or zero-foot LAANC ceilings, which means authorization is a planning problem, not a formality.
This is the deepest crew market in the world and the one with the least patience for a unit that slows the day down. Paramount, Warner Bros. Burbank, Universal, Sony Culver City and every major streamer run production here, and they all have a drone vendor already. The way in is being the crew that lands the shot without becoming the reason lunch moved.
We shoot the Hollywood sign, downtown, the coastline from Malibu to Palos Verdes, and the studio lots — and we travel. CineDrones works nationwide, so if your production is basing in Los Angeles and shooting somewhere else entirely, that is a normal week for us.
AERIAL CINEMATOGRAPHY — OTHER MARKETS: Albuquerque Atlanta Austin Chicago Las Vegas 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. From inspections to mapping, even drone deliveries—CineDrones does it all. 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!