July 4th + Drones + Fireworks = An Experience Unlike Any Other!
When Brian Geck was a freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington, he met Preston Ward, an upperclassman who drove the same car as him. Brian and Preston immediately became friends when they learned that they shared more hobbies than just cars. Both were interested in up-and-coming technology and shared a love for animating Christmas light shows.
After both had graduated, they stayed in touch and built upon their experience animating Christmas light displays together. They opened a side hustle fireworks job. It wasn’t long until they were winning awards throughout Texas for their fireworks displays. “From there,” Preston said, “it was a natural transition to drone light shows, which combined my love of technology with Brian’s love of animation.” Playing off each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Preston and Brian have had a blast running one of the top drone entertainment companies in the world, Sky Elements Drone Shows.
After the first drone light show in 2012 by the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz, Austria, the art form has been steadily growing in popularity. What started as a novel way to grab attention soon became a full-fledged dramatic experience, replacing standard firework shows. Now, drone light shows have become the go-to nighttime aerial entertainment experience. These meticulously choreographed drone shows awe audiences and have been setting world records, four of which are held by Sky Elements.
On July 3, 2023, Sky Elements earned their first Guinness World Record for the Largest Aerial Sentence Formed by Drones. Using 796 drones, Sky Elements animated the sentence “Happy 4th of July 2023” in North Richland Hills, Texas. A few months later, they earned another record for the Largest Aerial Image of a Flag Using Drones when they flew 1,592 drones in the shape of an American flag over Orlando, Florida on November 15, 2023. Then, on December 17, 2023, back in North Richland Hills, Texas, Sky Elements set another two Guinness World Records. The first was for the Most Emojis Animated with Drones in 3 Minutes. Sky Elements depicted 24 different emojis alongside an accurately animated drone counter to tally each emoji. The second record was for the Largest Aerial Display of a Fictional Character, for which Sky Elements used 1,499 drones to create a moving, three-dimensional Nutcracker.
2023 was clearly a busy year for the crew at Sky Elements, but it was just the beginning. After presenting 40 different drone light shows over the 2023 4th of July weekend, one of the biggest questions Sky Elements received was whether drones would completely replace firework shows. In the creative minds of the Sky Elements crew, they knew there had to be a way of combining the two art forms. Many companies had begun flying drones in conjunction with firework displays as an added element. Sky Elements was determined to take it one step further.
On May 20, 2024, after a 26-month process getting approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Sky Elements did a test run of a one-of-a-kind drone show: drones with fireworks attached to them. In the video description of the test posted on their YouTube page, it proudly says, “Pyro drone shows have made it to America! Sky Elements is the first US-based drone light show company to receive FAA approval to attach fireworks to drones. Drone light shows, as we know them, will never be the same! 300 drones took flight over our test field to create a spectacle never seen in the United States.” The drones animated the image of a majestic bald eagle. As it spread its “wings,” fireworks streamed off some of the “wing feathers”. This test run was in preparation for a live performance that took place this past 4th of July in Irving, Texas.
And if the world hadn’t yet heard about Sky Elements, that all changed when they had an audition on America’s Got Talent. On the show, they performed an intricate space-themed drone show complete with ambient lights, music, and storytelling. The show culminated with an image of judge Simon Cowell’s face on the mask of an astronaut followed by the AGT logo. The judges were blown away. Simon Cowell even enacted a new rule allowing all the judges to have a second Golden Buzzer for the season when he hit the Golden Buzzer for the second time for Sky Elements. What Simon had to say about the show before hitting the buzzer perfectly sums up what it’s like to watch a drone light show. “It was really patriotic,” Simon said, “and I think the way you told the story, your use of music, whether you’re 3 years old or 100 years old, I think you are going to absolutely love that audition. To every one of you, I want to say bravo.”
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