Drone show proposal: booking steps and cost

How do you book a custom drone show?

Every show we fly goes through the same five steps. The order matters: the story comes before the drones, and the permit sets the calendar.

1. Your brief. You tell us the event: what it is, where, roughly when, and in one sentence what the sky should do. Within a business day you get a proposal with a drone count, a show length and what we would do with it. No obligation.
2. The concept. We start with what you want people to feel, not with how many drones you can afford. Together we build the storyboard: a narrative arc with a beginning, a turn and an ending.
3. The simulation and video render. We prototype in simulation and iterate with you. The storyboard becomes a video render that shows every frame as it will appear in the sky, and you give feedback on it before anything launches.
4. The airspace approval. A drone show is an aviation operation. We apply for the approval for the exact site, date and time window. Near an airport or in controlled airspace that takes an exemption and more lead time. The site gets a survey and a safety zone the audience does not enter.
5. Show night. Show drones fly in wind up to 25 mph (40 km/h) and cope with a few drops of rain, but not with a storm. The pilot makes the call on the night, and where the programme allows, we plan a back-up slot.

How long does it take? For a known site, count on about a month from brief to show. New airspace, a city centre or a design that needs several rounds takes longer. The permit, not the animation, usually sets the clock, so tell us early.

How much does a custom drone show cost?

Our shows start at $50,000; most land between $100,000 and $200,000. Beyond that there is no fixed price list. Four things set the number:

• Number of drones. The biggest lever. Every drone is a flying pixel: more drones means sharper shapes and readable logos. Most shows fall between 100 and 1,000+ drones.
• Show length. From about three minutes up to twelve; battery capacity sets the ceiling. A five-minute show with a beginning, a turn and an ending lands harder than ten minutes of shapes.
• Location and permits. Open airspace over a lake or a park is straightforward; a city centre or an airport corridor is not. Permits, travel, freight and the days our crew is on site are all part of the number.
• Animation complexity. A logo reveal and a story with characters and transitions are not the same job.

The full breakdown is on our drone show cost page. Not sure about the drone count? Read how many drones a drone show needs.

What to put in your drone show request

A precise proposal starts with a precise brief. You do not need an exact date or an exact budget. These answers are enough:

• The event. A brand launch, a festival or concert, a city event, a wedding or private celebration, an art or cultural event.
• The place. City and country, and the venue if you have one.
• The month. Roughly is fine; "next year" is an answer too.
• What the sky should do. One sentence: reveal the new car at the end of the keynote, open the festival's last night.
• The audience. How many people will watch. As a rule of thumb, under 1,000 people need 100 to 200 drones, and up to 10,000 people 200 to 400.
• A budget band. Optional, but it helps us answer precisely.

If a drone show will not make impact at your event, we say so. And if your idea needs a different kind of show, our partners at Sky Elements fly every kind of show at every scale and are the best in the world at it. Comparing drone show companies? Here is how to choose a drone show company.

A drone show for a marriage proposal

Some people searching for a drone show proposal are planning a different kind of proposal. We fly private shows, and a marriage proposal is a private show. The same rules apply as for any other: the price band above, the four factors, and our minimum of 100 drones, because below that shapes stop reading from a distance. For weddings and birthdays we have flown around 200 drones for about 150 guests, seen from close by.

Private shows stay private: we never publish names or images without consent. Send us the venue and the date, choose "Wedding or private" in the proposal form, and we check the airspace before you plan the moment around it. More in drone shows for weddings.

Get your drone show proposal

Five short answers, one minute. Within a business day you hear from us whether a drone show will make impact, roughly how many drones it takes, and the story we would tell. Get a proposal, or if you would rather talk first, talk to a human.