Los Angeles is where CineDrones started, and it’s still the market we know best. But it’s also one of the most complicated places in the country to fly a drone on a professional shoot, between LAX and Burbank airspace, dense urban corridors, studio backlots, and a patchwork of city and county permitting rules. Producers who don’t plan ahead lose shoot days to paperwork instead of footage.
Here’s what actually matters when you’re bringing an aerial unit to an LA production.
Airspace is the first constraint, not the last. Large parts of LA sit inside controlled airspace tied to LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Van Nuys, and Santa Monica. Flying inside these zones requires FAA airspace authorization before the shoot, not a waiver requested the week of. CineDrones is FAA Part 107 certified and handles LAANC and manual airspace authorizations as part of pre-production, so your call sheet doesn’t get held up waiting on the FAA.
Permitting runs through multiple agencies, sometimes on the same shoot. A single LA shoot day can touch FilmLA, the city, the county, and a studio lot’s own aviation policy, each with different lead times and insurance requirements. We build permitting into the production timeline from the first call, not after the location is locked.
Union and non-union crews, matched to the job. CineDrones operates with Local 600 union and non-union drone crews, so whether you’re on a signatory studio picture or an independent production, we staff the aerial unit to match your production’s requirements without you having to explain the difference twice.
Insurance that satisfies studio risk departments. We carry a $5M aviation liability policy, which is the baseline most LA studio and network productions require before they’ll clear a drone unit to fly near a set, cast, or crew.
Founded in Los Angeles in 2013, CineDrones has shot for Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Apple, and Sony productions based here, and we’ve built relationships with local permitting offices and location managers that make LA shoots move faster. We handle FPV filming, heavy-lift camera systems, and standard aerial cinematography, backed by full permitting on every job.
If you’re scoping an LA shoot and need an aerial unit that already knows the airspace, the permitting offices, and the studio requirements, get in touch with CineDrones before you lock your schedule.
