Our Creative Process
It all starts with our equipment, which leads into set safety. Our years of experience with flying cameras means we have the experience to properly coordinate with gear that we have now built into our pre-shoot checklist to ensure that everything goes smoothly on shoot day.
1
Equipment
We only fly the highest quality drones available, using custom tuning and software settings to ensure the highest quality footage.
2
Pre-Production
Flight route planning, city coordination and safety briefings are all part of our in-depth pre-production process, which we have developed over the years working on set.
3
On Set
We've worked with some of the biggest names in media, including Disney, Intel, and Tesla You can rest assured that our team will be more than capable of performing under the pressures of shoot day.
4
Post-production
From stabilization of footage and color grading to our in-house editing, we have you covered from all angles.
THE EQUIPMENT
7 Inch
Le Pigeon
Carrying a BMPCC 6K and topping speeds of 85mph, this is our fastest cinema camera in the fleet. We took apart a full size BMPCC in order to reduce weight and the the result is a drone that handles like a dream and gets us the flight time we need to capture the shot.
5 Inch
Le Puffin
The Pigeon's younger brother, this drone allows us to safely fly indoors and close to talent while still producing cinema quality frames. Flight time is around 3-4 minutes.
5 Inch
Racing Drone
Our fastest drones in the fleet, the racing drones are perfect for high speed pursuits on the race track. We used these drones to film our latest commercial with Zoox at Thunderhill Race Track.
2.5 Inch
Cinewhoop
When cinema grade image quality is not needed, we like to fly our naked GoPro Hero 11's on our cinewhoop platforms. These little drones are super versatile and safe to fly around people and indoors. We use this drone for most of our real estate shoots, as it allows us to fly both outdoors and in. This little drone can fly through some very small openings, which results in some impossible looking shots.
13 Inch
DJI Inspire 2
Our team of pilots is experienced in Dual Operation with platforms like the DJI Inspire 2. We have captured footage for major clients on this platform like Disney and Tesla. It's a very versatile drone with speeds up to 50mph and the ability to swap lenses gives many options for the look and feel of the shot.
MEET THE SPACE MONKEY TEAM
Reza Kurniawan
Founder // Director of PhotographyCo-founder, Reza Kurniawan, possess a wide range of skills that have synergized to culminate in what we like to call Space Monkey Films. His expertise spans from chemistry and biotechnology, to top manufacturing drone technician and flight testing at Skydio in California, the leading company in the world for fully autonomous anti-collision drones. He has combined his expertise in multiple fields to accomplish goals in the rising realm of FPV drone cinematography. In addition to taking podium and winning at freestyle competitions, he is also the co-founder of the Bay Area Quad Squad, the local organization for FPV drone freestyle, and also wields a passion for teaching, training pilots both novice and veteran alike.Email:
Reza@spacemonkeyfilms.us
Colby Curtola
Founder // ProducerCo-founder of Space Monkey Films, Colby Curtola, has a deep rooted history in drone racing and commercial drone tech in the Bay Area. He founded the first drone racing league in the area and pioneered the sport over the years to grow drone racing to an global phenomenon. In 2019, he developed the World's largest professional racing drone for DR1 and built a fleet of 15 large scale racing drones for an internationally televised race series. Colby, known as SFPV in the drone community, has also appeared on the professional racing leagues DR1, DRL and DCL as a pilot. He brings to the table years of experience working in the industrial drone space for groundbreaking companies like Matternet, who are re-shaping the landscape of hospital to lab transportation. More recently, he has transitioned into professional filming where his true passion lies. In 2020, he decided to join forces with another local powerhouse in the FPV scene, InspireFPV, to create the leading FPV drone operation in the Bay Area. Together, their goal is to become the gold standard for drone cinematography in the Bay and beyond. Always pushing the limits of what's possible is what keeps him excited to be a part of this emerging technology.Position:
Founder