ABOUT OUR SEATTLE WORK
Seattle Drone Videography for Arenas, Stadiums and Festivals
Air Views Media flew drones inside Climate Pledge Arena to film content at Paramore's show in August 2023, and that kind of indoor work is what we bring to Seattle: arena concerts, stadium nights, festivals and live broadcasts. We're based in Augusta, GA, and Seattle is one of the cities our crews serve on a nationwide schedule. The Pacific Northwest is a long way from Georgia, and that's normal for us. We fly live aerial broadcast, stadium video-board feeds, concerts and festivals, FPV cinematography and one-take micro-drone fly-through tours, and we plan the FAA airspace and the city permit as part of every booking. Send us the venue and the date, whether it's an arena show at Seattle Center, a match in the SoDo stadium district or a festival weekend, and we'll plan the airspace, the permit and the crew. See every city we fly.
Paramore at Climate Pledge Arena
Our Seattle credit is Paramore's show at Climate Pledge Arena in August 2023, the Seattle stop on the band's This Is Why tour. We flew drones inside the arena to film content at the show. The arena sits under the original 1962 roof at Seattle Center, rebuilt around a much bigger bowl, so there's a lot of air above a big crowd.
Flying a concert indoors is its own discipline. There's no GPS to lean on, the lighting rig and video walls change by the second, and the crowd is right there. On indoor shows, we plan routes with the production and the venue and fly small drones built for close indoor work.
It's the same indoor approach behind our live FPV feed inside the Sphere in Las Vegas and our in-stadium flights at Truist Park for the Braves.
Airspace and permits in Seattle
Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) has Class B airspace over most of the city, and Boeing Field (BFI) sits just south of downtown, a few miles from Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park. Outdoor flights need FAA authorization for the exact site and altitude.
A Seattle Master Film Permit is needed when a drone takes off or lands on city property, including streets, sidewalks and parks, or when the shoot needs traffic or pedestrian control. The Film Office asks for 5 to 10 business days for drone work. Climate Pledge Arena, the Space Needle, Pike Place Market and the waterfront piers are arranged with the venue or property owner, and Lumen Field and Husky Stadium fall under the FAA's standing stadium restriction during NFL and major college football games.
How we staff a Seattle show
An arena night gets a pilot and a visual observer for each drone, small indoor drones built to fly near people, and, if the show is live, the feed cabled to the truck or control room so the director can cut to it like any other camera. Stadiums and festivals add over-crowd FPV drones for close passes, a cinema drone for the wide shots and, if you want it, a content team shooting in parallel for social and recap edits. More on concert and festival drones and stadium video-board feeds.
Waivers and broadcast setup
Air Views Media is run by Clark Lupton, an FAA Part 107 certified pilot since 2017. Our FAA Part 107 remote pilots operate under FAA waivers for flight over people (§107.39), over moving vehicles (107.145), multiple aircraft (§107.35), beyond visual line of sight (§107.31), operation from a moving vehicle (§107.25) and operating limitations (§107.51). For live shows, our setup puts a COFDM camera transmitter on a micro FPV drone carrying a PROTON 4K FLEX camera, so the truck can shade it (iris, color, exposure) through Cyanview like any other camera, with feeds cabled into the truck. See our FPV live broadcast setup and FAA waiver consulting.
Seattle drone questions
Have you flown in Seattle?
Yes. We flew indoor drone content at Paramore's show at Climate Pledge Arena in August 2023.
Can you fly a drone inside Climate Pledge Arena?
Yes. We flew indoor drone content there at Paramore's show. Indoor arena flights are planned with the venue's operations team and the production, using small drones built for indoor work near people.
Do I need a permit to fly a drone in Seattle?
If the drone takes off or lands on city property, such as a street, sidewalk or park, or the shoot needs traffic control, you need a Seattle Master Film Permit. Allow 5 to 10 business days. Outdoor flights also need FAA airspace authorization because of SEA and Boeing Field.
Can you fly at Lumen Field or T-Mobile Park?
Inside the venue, flights are planned with the team and the venue. Outside, Lumen Field carries the FAA's stadium restriction on NFL game days, and both ballparks sit close to Boeing Field, so FAA approval comes first.
Can you fly in Seattle parks?
Recreational drones aren't allowed in Seattle parks. Commercial filming in a park goes through the Film Office's Master Film Permit.
Are you based in Seattle?
No. We're based in Augusta, GA, with a second location in Lynchburg, VA, and we travel to Seattle for arena shows, broadcasts, festivals and productions.
Related pages: San Francisco · Los Angeles · Las Vegas · Sphere case study · All locations
Call 706-284-8364, email clark@airviewsmedia.com or request a quote.