 Got my slate board here. Got a brand new Inspire 2 sitting in front of me. And wanted to talk a little bit about where the industry is heading with regard to commercial and industrial use with drones here, not just in Hawaii, but also nationwide and around the world. There are a number of great people that are actually out doing some amazing work here in the film industry here in Hawaii, and also in LA. One of the guys that I think has been an inspiration to a lot of folks is Mike Fortin of CineDrones. He started flying drones, doing commercial work a few years ago under the initial 3-3-3 process. And he was one that was a staunch advocate of doing things the right way. And working with the FAA, trying to introduce drones into movies and having a process by which to do this. In the past few years, he now has become one of the most sought out individuals to do projects, or TV shows, movies, commercials with drones in Hollywood. And I really applaud the efforts that he has done. Another great guy here locally, Kelopinto, Skies of Limit, currently working on the Inhumans Project. Yeah, big budget project, multi-films that are going to be done here in Hawaiian TV show that's going to be done. And another true professional who was really passionate about utilizing drones in movies and getting the shots that you just can't get any other way. One of the items that's sitting right next to me here is a new DJI Inspire 2. What makes this particular drone kind of unique is its ability to record in 5.2K. Yeah, that's right, more than 4K, more than your current TV can currently display. But a 5.2K raw video in a couple different formats that make editing really amazing opportunities for the editors for a film. It's on par better than some other cameras that are out there that are currently in use. And it just gives you a different perspective on how you capture the scenes and stuff. It's nice to see some of the technology that's leaning in this direction and making this more affordable. It's making the ability to do, like I said, TV commercials, TV shows, movies, give you an aspect and a view that you just have never really seen before. And sometimes you have no idea that it was actually captured by a drone. And that's really what I think directors want to. They don't want people to say, oh, that's a drone shot. And I know a lot of folks that see stuff on TV, YouTube, and stuff, you kind of occasionally catch that. And it's like, ah, that was a drone. You'd rather just it not be the focus of what you're actually viewing. You just want a spectacular shot that you've maybe never seen before. The industry itself has moved to embrace the utilization of drones. And here in Hawaii, with the number of film projects that come to the state, I think we'll start to see more and more of that. Recently, you had the release of the movie King Kong. It was a multimillion dollar infusion of basically revenue to the state of Hawaii for people to work on that film that provided tax revenue here to the state, currently humans project, and other films. And I think you're going to start to see more and more of this as commonplace in a lot of things that are going on. And another great cinematographer, Eric Sturman, just recently returned from Vietnam using this particular drone, filming inside the largest cave system, largest caves in the world in Vietnam. It was part of a National Geographic Project a couple years ago, and then he was asked to come out and use this particular drone to film inside the caves. It's going to be spectacular when that's seen. We also had sold some equipment to a company that was hired by the federal government to do a project to show the Northern Hawaiian Islands, Midway, and other locations in IMAX and also using this particular drone to record it for posterity, I guess, and also to share it with the rest of the world. So there's a lot of good that can come out of using this technology for, like I said, TV, movie, and film documentary, and be able to get some of those shots that you just would not get really any other way. The school system here in Hawaii, one of the things that we're kind of big on is to encourage STEM education. We've been trying our best to support a number of different programs here in the state. And it is really a passion for us. And we see an opportunity to where utilization of drones, more so in TV film production, leads to job opportunities for the youth of Hawaii. So the importance of tying our STEM programs and the things that kids are doing in math, science, engineering type technologies, and tying them back to the drones and showing them how they're used in the long run may expose them to some other great job opportunities that we're hoping to see here in the state over the next few years. My partner, George Purdy, has been very active over on Lanai, Maui, and Malakai. And it's really great to see how kids have taken to some of this technology. One of the other areas that we wanted to speak upon today, too, on the commercial side, but also on industrial use, you're starting to see a number of new products come on the market that are more specific for industrial use by cinematography. So obviously in the cinematography realm, you want something that is very high resolution capability, very dynamic ability to record video in different formats that are perfect for editors. And then on the industrial side, really what people have been looking for is capability in zoom type capability for some cameras to be able to do inspections at standoff, infrared, FLIR type camera systems, and then also with the added flight time, water resistance. And so there's some new series of drones that are actually coming on the market. Specific towards that, previously you'd seen in the industrial side where you were using for, say, power line inspections or inspections of power plants. Maybe you were doing archaeological research, other areas and stuff that you would see usually hobbyist type drones that were utilized in that fashion kind of an ad hoc. Hey, it works, it flies, I'll get what I can with it. So you're starting to see more purpose-built products, I guess, on the market. And those will be something you'll see more of here in 2017. But one of the things that we get back to the film aspect again, here in Hawaii, we just have a tremendous opportunity. I would hope that as viewers of this show, when you have the opportunity to speak to your legislators that you mentioned to them that Hawaii is a finite economy. This is an area where the drone industry, you could say, is an industry that's growing, that is able to produce jobs, able to produce revenue, able to produce tax revenue, and high-paying jobs, too, that can give, like I said, our youth an opportunity in the future. So as part of our mission and as part of working with Ted Ralston, who has just been such a staunch advocate of education and tying all of this together, we see this as, like I said, future opportunity. We do have a number of companies that right now currently will bring personnel from the mainland to be able to fly for some of these projects that have happened in the past. We'd like to see that turn around to where there is a large number of people here locally to pick from, with the equipment, with the, you know, have flown on different projects, and that production teams can actually pick from, or some of the folks here locally can partner up to work on some of these large projects. And that's another way that Hawaii is quite different, where a lot of folks that work currently in this industry, a lot of us know each other, and we work together quite frequently to kind of make it happen, to get things done for one another. And it's really spectacular. So we want to see that continue, that aloha spirit in this industry, and we'd like to, like I said, see this opportunity continue to grow. So when you see your legislators, when you're out at some of these different meetings, or you're taking the time to write them and stuff, say, hey, you know, there's a new industry in town, and I'm kind of interested, and I think you should support it. Some of the legislative actions that Ted has been working, and we've been helping to support, along with others, we want to see some of the current attempts at drone legislation just be crafted in a manner that is more conducive to the use of drones for a lot of the projects that we just talked about, and some of the commercial and industrial rounds. And with your support, we can see that happen. So we're working towards that. We're working to tie all these things in together. So there's an educational aspect flowing through the colleges also for research, design, development, and then local opportunity. But we also need a legislative environment that is very conducive to not only commercial industrial use, but also as a sport and a hobby, that we have some common sense rules that work for everybody in place. And that's something I think that is going to be happening as the year moves ahead, and we work into crafting some legislation hopefully for next year's legislative session. Another area that we're starting to see some big change, a number of great stories, was also in the police and fire departments. So over the past few years, police and fire departments have been able to do what's called like a public coa. They basically write out a plan. They would send it to the FAA and say, hey, this is how we're going to fly drones. And this is what we're going to do. And the FAA basically would just bless that off and allow them to begin their programs to do so. The utilization of drones and a number of police and fire stations on the mainland, we've seen a huge number of search and rescue events that have ended very well, where people have been found, runaways have been found out in the forest. It's also been used to track down suspects after crimes. So there's a lot of opportunity right there, too, where this type of technology can actually be beneficial in saving lives and also be a bit of a preventative measure, too. So once again, on the industrial side, we have Ocean Safety, who's worked very heavily here in the islands to protect locals and tourists with their lifeguards, monitoring that they have at the beaches here in Hawaii. And once again, something else we've seen worldwide start to happen is the utilization of drones in an industrial sense for monitoring for sharks. So we see proactive monitoring as another option for this type of technology, then instead of being reactive after someone's actually been bitten by a shark. So there's a number of applications I think that people just aren't fully aware of as they think of what drones just take pictures, drones just shoot video. Scientific monitoring, our whale population out here is just continuing to grow every year with humpback whales. Being able to monitor the whales from the air as to numbers, size, movement, action beneath the water and see what they're actually doing is another area where scientists can use them in an industrial fashion that is providing them a new avenue to research where aircraft costs maybe were currently a bit prohibitive. And I was waiting to hear from the booth there from Missouri and okay, that's what it was. Hey, so we're taking a quick commercial break. We'll come back. I'll finish up and talking on a few other things. If you have anything, you can tweet it into us. Try to answer any of your questions. I'll see you can and we'll try to answer any of those questions that come up online. But I'm Mike Elliott, filling in for Ted Ralston and where the drone leads. Hi, I'm Tim Apachella. I'm the host for Moving Hawaii Forward. And the show is dedicated to transportation and traffic issues in Oahu. We are all frustrated by sitting in our cars in bumper to bumper traffic. And this show is dedicated to talking with folks that not only we can define the problem, but we hopefully can come to the table with some solutions. So I invite you to join me every Tuesday at 12 noon. Let's move Hawaii forward. Hello, and Aloha. My name is Raya Salter, and I am the host of Power of Hawaii, where Hawaii comes together to figure out how we're going to work towards a clean and renewable energy future. We have exciting conversations with all kinds of stakeholders, everyone who needs to come together to talk about renewable energy, be they engineers, advocates, lawyers, utility executives, musicians or artists to see how we can come together to make a renewable future. Tuesdays at 1 p.m. Hey, I'm Mike Elliott, filling in for Ted Ralston this Friday, Pioneer Plaza, downtown Honolulu, where the drone leads. I've just been chatting a little bit, like I said, talking commercial industrial use here in Hawaiian, a little bit on legislative issues and stuff affecting the industry as a whole. Really looking forward to, like I said, getting some additional community support. If you ever have any questions on what these things can and cannot do, feel free to contact us at Drone Services Y. We are always available, looking forward to helping the community as a whole try to understand this technology, how it's being used, and we're very much supportive of the efforts of HPD working with the FAA and addressing any type of misuse that takes place and stuff here in Hawaii and addressing your concerns, and we'd love to work with any of you in any of the community groups that have any of concerns, so please feel free to contact us at any time. Like I said, I was talking with regard to use in cinematography and this commercial and industrial utilization here in Hawaii. Just about two weeks ago, one of the films that's being done was shot just right outside this building utilizing a drone and they'll be back out here this following weekend. They're going to be also out shooting some stuff out towards Kalaioloa towards the end of the month, so once again, you know, getting that type of technology out there, using it in movies and stuff just gives you a really awesome perspective on a lot of things and a lot of times you're watching some of these TV shows and you just have no idea that a drone was being used and, you know, it just gives the directors a different perspective and also the folks that are doing editing, you know, it just gives them a different view on getting some of these shots and stuff and we really, really do want to see a lot more of this happen here in the state of Hawaii. If you have any questions on any of this type of equipment or if you're interested in pursuing a type of career in aerial cinematography, I'd be glad to put you in touch with some other people that are working in this business, in this industry here in Hawaii, Jonah Shaw, New Sky Perspectives, George Russell, who is an incredible cinematographer in his own right, and Eric Sturman has been doing great work on the North Shore for a number of years. Mr. Surf Video, I mean, he shoots some amazing stuff. It's unbelievable. Kelly Pinto, like I said, with New Sky Perspective, with Sky's a Limit, and like I said, if you really want to go in the big leagues and stuff, check out some of the work that Mike Fortin has done with CineDrones and his business over the past few years. He's also working on a new Bosh series on Amazon, so he's been doing a lot of drone aerials for that. He's done a number of Amazon series stuff recently, so it's pretty cool stuff and you just don't quite realize it. That's what it is. Okay, hello. Hey, we've got a caller on the line. It's Mike Elliott. Go ahead. Hi there. I hear you saying that people aren't wanting to see that drones are actually being used for aerial footage. Now, they used to be very proud to show that helicopter's shot aerial footage, so why wouldn't we want to know that drones are being used? Can you please tell me about that? It's not that a drone was used. It's just that you don't want that to distract from what you're looking at. Drones are used quite frequently. It's just that there are certain moves and maneuvers that if a drone is flown improperly or cameras operated improperly, you're going to look at it and you're going to say, oh, that's a drone shot. It's just how it's flown. You just don't want it to distract from the overall scene and how it's captured. You want to just kind of leave that open-ended. You don't want that to be the focus of the person that's watching the film, the TV show, and realize that, oh, that's a drone shot based on the type of maneuvers that basically were done for the drone itself. Okay, yeah. So University of Hawaii, one of the things that Ted Ralston is working very hard with the university is some coordination with some of the various drone programs that are there. There's the engineering side. There's also a lot of the different departments that are actually doing out there doing research and trying to coordinate some of this. And then also what you'll start to see, I think over the years, is a bit more of a curriculum that is drone-centric. We're starting to see some interest in some of the local schools to formulate some, whether it's some after-school programs working through STEM or even some of the private schools who are interested in actually formulating a drone curriculum, which would basically tie a lot of these things in and show some of these kids that there is a future path, I think, into this industry. And we're looking forward to the opportunity that can be provided. Like I said, the state legislators should be very excited about the potential revenue from this type of additional work that would be involved in film and hiring local talent to be able to do it. So we look forward to continuing those discussions through follow-on legislative sessions and hopefully getting some headway with regard to the permitting process that we've been dealing with with the state and city county and come up with a system that works for everybody to allow ease of utilization and safety being the primary concern. A lot of film is often shot close set, so if you come downtown Honolulu, they're shooting Hawaii 5.0 or some other film or anywhere, usually it's close set. It's blocked off. There's no traffic access, no pedestrian access. And part of that using drones, that's a safety issue. So the folks that are on set, they're aware that these craft are being used to shoot certain scenes, and that's part of the risk assessment that's being, as part of the overall process for their utilization. So safety's paramount any time you're using any of this technology. If we have folks that are out just flying drones for fun, we ask that you always kind of use that as your initial starting point. Think about where you're flying, think about who's around, think about whether equipment conditions, because professionals that are out there doing this, and I said when I was out with Kella Pinto a couple weeks ago, just seeing how his team was and putting everything together just prior to taking one simple flight shows you that it's very well thought out, it's very methodical, and safety is really the key concern in operating this equipment. No different than you would see in someone who was operating a helicopter or a fixed wing aircraft in shooting aerial cinematography for film also. So that level of safety and expertise is there, it exists, and it's being continually matured and improved with a number of great companies that are out there shooting, not just here in Hawaii, but back in LA and worldwide. So we're looking forward to continuing that opportunity here in the state. And when Ted's back on the show, we'll talk about that, I'll get Kella Pinto out here, and maybe we can even Skype in Mike Fortin in a future afternoon if he's not too busy there in Hollywood. So I look forward to any other calls that you may have, and like I said, if you ever have any questions, you can contact us at Drone Services Hawaii. I'm glad to help with you with any of your issues or needs or concerns. And yeah, so, yeah, a quick plug for us at drone-services-hawaii.com. I've been in business for a little over two and a half years. We're trying to serve the local community here and provide some capability that meets the needs of not just hobbyist sport, but also professional industrial use also. And really appreciate the opportunities that we've had in working with a number of great people here in the state. And look forward to the next drone racing season that's coming up. Aloha FPV. Check that out on Facebook if you're interested in drone racing. Mike Conlow, one of the guys that works with us, is leading that up and is doing one hell of a job. He's also going to be flying at UH, I think at the stadium this Saturday as part of an event that University of Hawaii is sponsoring. And he'll be out there flying some race drones and stuff for folks to check out. So we just want to kind of showcase some of that technology and that talent. And Mike Kalma, Aloha FPV, that's the place to check that out for the future. All right. I really appreciate this opportunity from Ted Ralston and the entire team here at ThinkTac Hawaii. We look forward to just helping the community here. So honestly and sincerely, if you do have questions, please feel free to contact us at any time. We'd love to work with you. Answer any of your questions, concerns. And if you're looking for any gear, we'd love to help anybody out that's out there. Until next time. And Ted has me on again, either the host or as a guest. I'm Mike Elliott, signing off from Pioneer Plaza downtown Honolulu on this St. Patrick's Day Friday. So it's time to grab a Guinness.