As Creative Director at SkyGlow Drone Productions, I designed and programmed more than 50 shows for theme parks, Fortune 500 companies, major brands, municipalities, and large-scale live events.
Each one started with the client’s vision. I developed the concept, storyboarded the show, and produced a custom soundtrack, then built detailed previsualizations so everyone could see the show before it flew and every flight path stayed safe and FAA-compliant.
From there I animated the 2D and 3D formations and programmed the show, optimizing flight paths for safety, efficiency, and visual impact, and syncing every moment precisely to the music. Many shows also brought in architectural and area lighting, networked audio, pyrotechnics, and other systems to create one cohesive production.
Featured show
Lighting the C-Street Bridge
- 1902built over the railyard
- 562 ftof historic steel truss
- 124 yrsbefore its first lights
- ETC Mosaicbridge lighting control
Springfield’s Jefferson Avenue Footbridge has carried people over the railyard by historic Commercial Street since 1902. After nearly a decade closed for restoration, it came back with architectural lighting for the first time in its 124-year history.
Before the bridge reopened, it debuted those lights with a drone show for the city’s Route 66 celebration, and it was a privilege to be the first to program them. It was one of my most challenging and most rewarding shows, and one of those rare projects where many of my skill sets collided: I designed the entire show and mixed its soundtrack, then programmed the drones and sequenced the bridge lighting to match, patching into the bridge’s ETC Mosaic system so the drones and the bridge performed as one show.
Every transition, reveal, and color palette was coordinated between the drones and the bridge. It’s a level of integration between drones and architectural lighting I haven’t seen outside of semi-permanent show runs at major theme parks. Lining it all up took weeks of programming, and I’m still really happy with how the show flowed from start to finish.
