Former NWRC student soars to new heights

Local drone pilot soars to new heights after winning Best Drone Photography and Videography Business at the NI Enterprise Awards 2023. The recipient was Tony Carlin, Creative Director of Cinematic Sky.

Tony specialises in drone filming for TV & Film, something he has been doing for the last decade.

Tony’s aerial work has been a regular fixture on NI televisions including one of the country’s most beloved and most watched Tv shows, UTV’s Mahon’s Way for which Tony (through his company Cinematic Sky) is the principle drone pilot.

Other programmes, documentaries and movies he has worked on have been shown across the world on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky.

“This was a brilliant surprise,” said Tony. “I recently celebrated 10 years of flying drones commercially so this award is a great way to mark the occassion.

"I'm very passionate about what I do, I love capturing the beauty of the world from above so it was really exciting to hear I’d won the award for best NI drone business.  I hope we can push on even further in 2024.

A former media student at the North West Regional College, Tony went on to obtain a degree in Media Production in Sunderland University and later started his own company, Cinematic Sky.

Based in Derry but working across Ireland and the wider UK, Tony and his team have been busier than most this last year with his flight logs showing he flew more than 98.6% of all drone pilots worldwide. 

“My drone automatically logs the amount of hours i fly and I have to admit I was pretty shocked when it sent me the stats at the end of the year and told me I was in the top 1.4% of all DJI drone pilots worldwide for flight time!  Especially considering the weather here in the North West where you’re lucky if you can fly most weeks between the rain and wind!

"Weather aside I love this part of the world, it’s a droners’ dream, between the lush countryside, rugged mountains and epic coastlines, we have it all.”

The SME, Northern Irish Enterprise Awards 2023 celebrates the success of some of Northern Ireland’s best businesses.  Awards Coordinator Melissa Bramall commented on the success of this year’s programme and its winners.

“It’s always a pleasure to take part in hosting our awards programmes. It’s a chance to see how people find their niche, enrich their industries, and, of course, help others to thrive.

"With their dedication, expertise, and dynamic teamwork, our winners have proven themselves as major players in their sectors. I wish them all the best as they continue to alter the corporate landscape across Northern Ireland – and afar.”

You can check out Cinematic Sky and the work that Tony does at www.cinematicsky.co.uk. He’s also active on instagram, find him @cinematic_sky.