The truth is none of this fancy gear is any good without our amazingly talented team to operate it safely and effectively. Meet your DroneBoy Team!
Since early on, Tom has always had a keen interest in aviation, innovation and robotics, so the drone/UAV world was a perfect fit. He has been piloting drones since 2012 and obtained his certification soon after that. Tom has his multiengine IFR pilot’s license which enables him to fly real airplanes planes as well which gives him a much better understanding of the “big picture” in the skies above. Can’t get the shot with a drone – how about from the plane…? These days Tom is happiest building custom camera rigs in the shop, flying specialty UAVs, and shooting stunning photos and video from high above using whatever technology gets the job done best.
As a former operations, risk and compliance executive in the financial industry, Stefan helps ensure we are meeting our high standards of operational performance and quality while being safe and conforming to regulatory requirements. He is a seasoned photographer (New York Institute of Photography) with many award winning and published images to his credit and is an I.A.T.S.E. 667 Cinematographers Guild member. In addition to being a project specialist, he is also an advanced certified RPAS (drone) pilot and holds a flight reviewer designation, the highest level of RPAS certification offered by Transport Canada.
Matt is a passionate and experienced video producer who always strives to find unique and creative ways to tell a client’s story. Professional aerial cinematography has recently become a growing interest of his, and he brings his technical background in camera operations and post-workflows to the DroneBoy team. Matt has a love of football, fashion, and things that go fast. He’s also unapologetic in his love of Michael Bay movies.
Yan is a professional drone pilot and videographer with 18 years of experience in television broadcasting. He can handle any payload from high-end laser LIDAR systems to ALEXA and RED cinema packages. He is constantly expanding his skills in the growing field of remotely piloted aerial systems and loves to take his passion to the sky. Yan is now hooked on FPV like the rest of us around here!
Bernie one of the top camera operators in the field and a very experienced pilot as well. He is a millennial who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty which is a rare mix. He is a social media expert whose background is a professional dog trainer. If we can ever drag him off the camera controls we hope to get him to help us out with our social media marketing as well.
Robert has been involved in the remote control world from the early 90’s, starting with fixed-wing small planes, then graduating into the jet models. Robert has been involved in the media world since high school, so it was a perfect fit when the UAV drone world took off. A professional photographer for over 10 years and someone with a “great eye”. Drones were a natural fit for Rob and he is a top-rated pilot.
Formerly a aerospace engineer at Airbus Defence and Space, Patrick has been designing, building and flying unmanned aircrafts for cinematic, scientific and industrial purposes since 2012. As our Systems Maintainer, he builds our new aircraft and makes sure our fleet is in top shape for every job. Patrick is originally from Australia, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He is adjusting well to Canadian life – driving on the right side of the road is still a bit of a challenge, but luckily there are no lanes in the sky!
Since his start in 2016, Eric Bell has had an immense passion for quadcopters and FPV. Eric has competed on the national level, and flies freestyle whenever he can. He focuses on smooth, dynamic flying and can achieve the most difficult shots – all while actively participating in the operations of an on-set environment. Eric is project focused, and intent on delivering the most interesting and dynamic drone shots for our clients!
Eric also works as Head of Manufacturing at SkyX – A Long Range UAV company that uses their own proprietary drone solution for pipeline and other asset inspection. He also designs and builds his own FPV rigs – specifically for the needs of the industry. Eric has countless hours in the air and is a true FPV master.
Paul’s forty-year career in aviation began by pumping gas at the Peterborough airport as a kid. He is an “airplane guy” with an eye to the future and that gravitated him quickly to smaller flying machines and DroneBoy. Paul brings his strong background as a professional test pilot, instructor, fleet manager as well as years of aircraft construction, maintenance, engineering and compliance to the DroneBoy Team. Paul likes to fly his personal aircraft for recreation whenever he gets the chance. He is an avid hunter, angler and competitive shooter. He enjoys spending time at home on the farm with his family, which includes his Yellow Lab, Daisy.
After his time in the military Mark went in to the world of I.T. After a decade of working the cooperate world he got pulled in to working in the entrainment industry. Having worked in some of the Largest venues in Canada he brings experience in providing risk assessments for various aspects of entertainment industry and brings those skills to Drone boy to ensure safe and secure flight operations.
Tina is the one with the hardest job of all – compiling ALL those receipts and expenses into something that makes sense and maybe, even a profit from time to time. She writes the cheques and keeps us flying. Wow, and I thought operating a $30,000 multi-rotor camera platform in howling winds at minus 20° Celsius was hard…