Aerial video and drone production
Click Play Films produces licensed aerial video for property, construction, events and brand film, flown by Part 107 certified pilots and cut to a broadcast standard.
Airspace decides the shot, not the drone
Broadcast craft. Licensed pilots. Legal from the first frame.
Most aerial problems are not flying problems. They are permission problems. Commercial drone work in the United States requires a Part 107 certified pilot, and where you are allowed to fly is decided by controlled airspace, altitude ceilings and local restrictions rather than by what would look good. We check airspace before a concept is locked, because discovering a restriction on the shoot day means either an illegal flight or no shot at all.
The other half of the job is that aerials are a component, not a film. A drone shot earns its place when it establishes geography, shows scale, or makes a connection the ground camera cannot. Used as decoration, it reads as filler. We plan aerial coverage as part of the edit rather than as a separate day of nice footage nobody can cut with.
Work featuring our aerial coverage
Property, development, brand and commercial real estate.
Aerial and drone video services
Property and Real Estate
Establishing aerials, approach shots and site context for listings, developments and commercial property.
Construction and Progress
Repeatable aerial documentation flown from consistent positions so progress across months actually compares.
Event Aerials
Scale and atmosphere for festivals, openings and outdoor events, planned around crowd and airspace restrictions.
Brand and Commercial Film
Aerial sequences cut into brand films where the shot carries meaning rather than decorating the opening.
Inspection and Survey Support
High-resolution stills and video of roofs, facades and infrastructure where access from the ground is impractical.
Facility and Campus
Site overviews for manufacturers, universities and institutions that need to show scale and layout quickly.
What the work actually requires
Part 107 Is Not Optional
Commercial drone flight in the US requires an FAA Part 107 certified remote pilot. Anyone flying a paid job without one is exposing you as well as themselves.
Controlled Airspace Needs Authorization
Anywhere near an airport sits in controlled airspace and needs authorization to fly. Approvals are usually quick but they are not instant, and some locations are simply refused.
Some Places Are Closed Outright
Washington DC sits inside a Flight Restricted Zone where commercial drone flight is effectively prohibited. National parks, stadiums during events and many city centres carry their own bans.
Insurance and Permissions
Liability cover for aerial work, plus property owner permission for take-off and landing. Filming over people who have not consented is its own restriction.
Weather Decides the Day
Wind, rain and low light ground a drone regardless of the schedule. Aerial days need a contingency slot, especially where the shot is essential to the edit.
Plan the Cut, Not the Footage
Aerials that were not planned against the edit tend to be unusable: wrong direction of travel, wrong time of day, no matching ground coverage. We plan them as edit components.
What aerial video costs
Most production companies will not put numbers on a page. Here are ours.
Aerial work is usually priced as part of a project rather than on its own. Where it is standalone, cost is driven by flight time, how many locations, and whether airspace authorization is needed.
$3,000 to $10,000
Single site aerial package. One location, one flight day, a licensed pilot and visual observer. Includes airspace checks, edit, color and delivery in the formats you need.
$5,000 to $20,000
Aerial within a full production. Aerial coverage planned and shot alongside ground crew as part of a larger film, which is how most of this work is actually bought.
$10,000 and up
Multi-site or ongoing program. Several locations, or repeat visits over months for construction progress, where consistency between flights is the whole point.
A production partner, not just a pilot
Plenty of operators will fly a drone for you. Fewer will check the airspace before you lock a concept, carry the insurance, plan the aerials against the edit, and tell you early when the shot you want is not legal where you want it. We produce aerial as part of a film rather than as a separate deliverable, with one producer accountable throughout.
Aerial and drone video questions
How much does aerial video cost?
A single-site aerial package typically runs $3,000 to $10,000. Aerial coverage inside a larger production runs $5,000 to $20,000, which is how most clients actually buy it. Multi-site or ongoing programs start around $10,000. Airspace authorization and permits are quoted separately and itemized up front.
Are your drone pilots licensed?
Yes. All commercial flights are flown by FAA Part 107 certified remote pilots, with liability insurance in place. Hiring an uncertified operator for paid work exposes the client as well as the pilot, so it is worth asking any vendor for their certificate.
Do you need permission to fly a drone?
It depends entirely on where. Controlled airspace near airports requires FAA authorization, which is usually granted quickly but not instantly. Some locations are closed outright. We check airspace before a concept is locked rather than on the shoot day.
Can you fly in Washington, DC?
Effectively no. The city sits inside a Flight Restricted Zone extending roughly fifteen miles from Reagan National, and commercial productions are very rarely granted authorization. We plan around it with elevated positions, rooftops and licensed stock. See our Washington DC page for how we handle that market.
What happens if the weather is bad?
The drone does not fly. Wind, rain and low light ground aerial work regardless of the schedule, so we build a contingency slot into any project where the aerial is essential to the edit rather than treating it as a nice extra.
Can you shoot construction progress over time?
Yes, and consistency is the whole point. We fly from recorded positions at the same altitudes and angles so images taken months apart actually compare, which is what makes progress documentation useful to a board or a lender.
Do you provide stills as well as video?
Yes. High-resolution aerial stills are standard alongside video and are often what property, construction and inspection clients need most. Both are captured on the same flight.
Can you film over people or private property?
With restrictions. Flight over people who have not consented is limited, and take-off, landing and overflight of private property need the owner’s permission. We handle those permissions as part of production rather than assuming them.
Is aerial usually sold on its own?
Rarely, and we would usually advise against it. Aerials work when they are planned against an edit, so most of this work is produced as part of a larger film. Standalone aerial packages make sense for property listings, inspections and progress documentation.
Who owns the footage?
You do. You receive the finished deliverables and, on request, the original flight footage and stills. We archive projects so later work can reuse material instead of re-flying and re-permitting a site.
Need the shot from above?
Tell us the location and what the aerial has to do in the edit, and we will check the airspace and come back with an approach and a quote.