PyrotecnicoFX, part of the Live Events house of brands, is an industry-leading special effects provider and innovator, offering the full range of special effects possibilities from pyro to streamers, from fireworks to now drones. They have always excelled at expanding what everyone believes is possible; as they say, ‘turning the unexpected into the unforgettable.’ For touring, sports, festivals, events, and openings, PyrotecnicoFX now brings to the wealth of services they offer drone shows, as they call them, ‘Drone Sky Stories’. Using Nova Sky Stories drones to create aerial lighting displays means PyrotecnicoFX is offering technology that has been tested on a global scale during events such as the Tokyo Olympics and the Super Bowl Halftime Show. And, as with all the Live Events’ brands, PyrotecnicoFX ensures that their Drone Sky Stories are done with the utmost attention to detail, with them noting “we don’t just attend to those details—we live and breathe them, ensuring your show’s success and safety.”
ROCCO VITALE
Executive Vice President of Special FX
We made the decision in 2022 that drones were something we wanted to start offering to our customers. For us, it was all about consistency in our special effects companies, and all our brands essentially, we wanted to make sure that we were putting forth the best technology, the most cutting-edge technology, and the best content design to tell the story our clients want told. For the drones, we felt the best way to do that was to partner with Nova Sky Stories, who we believe has the best drone technology in the world. They’re our technology partner in the drone business for what we call Drone Sky Stories, otherwise known as drone light shows.
As this is newer to many of our clients there are some things for them to ask and consider if they want a drone show. From an operational standpoint, you need to have the space required to do it, and you cannot have people underneath them. So, there are site considerations required. The footprint of the drones themselves is not very big, but when you get them up into the sky, there’s an area that needs to be cleared of people. We work with our clients about where they are going to put them for safety and maximum visibility. Another thing to consider, again this is client-driven, is the content, the story the drones will tell. Also, people don’t only see it from only an entertaining show standpoint; there is often a sponsorship element as well. It’s a big billboard in a lot of ways and companies will sponsor the drone shows. An example is this past Labor Day weekend we did a big 600 drone show for the Kansas City Royals. It was an awesome show and at the end of it their sponsor, who paid for it, was able to get their logo in the sky. It was a great event and good example of the many uses and the value added to doing a drone show.
At Live Events, of which PyrotecnicoFX is a brand, we build events by providing a real 360 solution for people—lights, sound, video, pyro, fireworks, lasers, and now, drones—all under one roof. From a customer standpoint, that’s advantageous to them and it’s always in our mindset to make things easier for our customers. Clients have a lot going on so if we can provide a 360 solution to them, that greatly decreases the number of things they have to worry about because they know we will take care of all the details. They don’t have to coordinate all the different providers for every element. Live Events provides it all together and coordinates all those details.
Reliable and Safe
The Drone Sky Stories fit perfectly with all our other services, and by working with us for a 360 solution it means we bring reliability and safety across the board. Reliability and safety were a big part of why we chose to use Nova Sky Stories as our technology partner for the drones. Customers can be assured that they are getting the most technologically advanced drones in the world with top-notch safety mechanisms and procedures built in. It always comes down to safety, reliability, and offering the cutting-edge at PyrotecnicoFX. Nova’s systems are different than what you typically see in the drone market space, and we are confident that they are better; they are the world-class standard. And, of course, we work with our clients to make sure that the content is stunning. We want to continue to innovate and push the boundaries of creativity. We have long done that with our special effects elements and with our fireworks, so we know how to bring that creativity to the Drone Sky Stories. We look at the drone shows, not as competitive to our other offerings, but as complimentary to them. It’s another service that we provide our clients; giving them the most choice of how they want to tell a story. There are bands and artists, events professionals, festivals, and sports teams, all getting their pyro, special effects, and lasers from us, now if they ask about drones we can handle that as well. It’s another service they can trust us to provide and that again makes it easier for our customers.
We are super excited about the potential for Drone Sky Stories. We feel that our long history and experience in fireworks, pyro, and special effects gives us an understanding of how to create an incredible experience and a great show. The drones complement those other effects and they work well together. For sports, festivals, concerts, events, openings, whatever our clients want to say and do, we can put different things together for them. Combining fireworks and drones can offer a great added value that may tell a story in a way that makes our customers’ shows even better. The possibilities are endless for large events like stadium tours and festivals, the clients’ imagination and vision lead the way. I think that it is cool to consider that essentially one thing, the drone, is a little device that has an LED light on it which a computer tells it to flutter up into the air to an exact point in the sky and they’re so precise. And then the other thing, the firework, just tumbles into the air and you don’t know exactly what it’s going to do, it’s random. We think that when you combine those two things, something that’s technologically precise and something that’s beautifully random, it really creates something special.
