A Brooklyn company is looking to become a major player in the multibillion-dollar drone industry. It designs and manufactures drones used for aerial photography - including movie shoots. NY1's Michael Herzenberg filed the following report.
The port of Brooklyn was once a gritty manufacturing hub. Now, new companies are moving in, combining technology and design in innovative ways.
One startup literally is taking off. Founded by two NYU film students, Aerobo develops and builds drones, from engineering to production.
You can hold the smallest in your hand. The largest weighs 55 pounds and can cost as much as $200,000.
But you won't be able to get your hands on the controls. These are commercial drones made for aerial photography. Only an FAA licensed pilot can operate them.
"You really can't make any mistakes," said a pilot flying one of the drones.
The three-year-old company flies the drones for clients, using them to inspect buildings, gather footage for news broadcasts and even film movie scenes.
It's easy to see the advantage to drones. They have complete mobility, they're not stuck on a tripod and they can give you a bird’s eye view of anything under the 400 feet of altitude allowed by law.
"Today, we're legally allowed to fly where three years ago, the FAA hadn't passed any legislation," said Jon Ollwerther, chief marketing officer for Aerobo.
Ollwerther says the FAA's decision to begin allowing certain commercial uses for drones helped the company achieve lift off. It's gone from two employees to 10.
"As far as I know, we are the only people who are designing, engineering and who are building drones in New York City," he said.
Their location is a bit of a hassle. They have to travel to Calvert Vaux Park off the Belt Parkway for testing. But they say locating Aerobo here makes perfect sense.
"This is the spiritual home and hq many of the large networks, and every movie studio has representative in New York as well,"
They say they film wherever the work takes them. The next few months has them flying high on a half dozen network TV shows and two blockbuster films.