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A drone show by Sky Elements Drones at the Alamo in San Antonio shows a cowgirl image in the sky created by hundreds of drones. (Courtesy photo | Sky Elements Drones)
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A North Texas company is booming as its festive holiday drone shows are poised to light up the sky for July Fourth celebrations in 12 states.

Sky Elements Drones, which was based in North Richland Hills for many years before its recent move to Coppell, will conduct 35 shows for Independence Day, including Irving’s Sparks & Stripes celebration at Levy Event Plaza and the Denton celebration at Quakertown Park. Both events will be held the evening of July 3.

On July 4, the company will be in Milam County to celebrate Rockdale’s sesquicentennial celebration, marking the Central Texas city’s 150th birthday with a drone show, as well as a drone performance at the Freedom Rocks Music Fest at Lagoonfest Texas in Texas City. Other July 4 shows include those in Nashville, Tennessee, Napa, California, Tahoe City, California, and Kansas City, Missouri.

“We’re doing 35 shows this week so it is a bit crazy,” Tyler Kubicz, production manager for Sky Elements Drones, told the Fort Worth Report. 

Drone shows, which cost upward of $20,000 each, require hours of planning, programming and other preparations. Employees take a client’s ideas, do mock-ups and animate each drone dot to create 3-D images of nearly anything — flags, rockets, cowboys and more.

Most shows use about 100 to 500 drones, but some require more. Drones can fly up to 60 miles per hour.

Renderings are sent to clients for approval before the files are transformed into flight path files for each drone. The company also handles permits required by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

“There have been months and months of preparation leading up to this,” Kubicz said.

In December 2023, Sky Elements used more than 1,000 drones to set two Guinness World Records during a show at Birdville ISD’s Fine Arts and Athletics Complex stadium in North Richland Hills. The company holds the records for “largest fictional character made with multi-rotors or drones” and “largest aerial image made with multi-rotors or drones” as well as three other world records.

Company officials said they specialize in storytelling in the sky, using illuminated images coupled with music. Each show requires advanced preparation.

Drone shows are quieter and more environmentally friendly than fireworks shows, company leaders said.

“Will drone shows replace fireworks shows? What if I told you they already have?” said Preston Ward, the company’s chief pilot.

At a Santa Monica Pier show last year, 600 drones were used to promote the launch of “The Flash” movie.

“It’s going to be fast-paced, it’s gonna be colorful, it’s gonna be something so iconic you’re gonna remember it forever, which is a lot different than a fireworks show,” Ward said in a promotional video. “A fireworks show everyone’s already seen. There’s 12 different effects for fireworks. You’re seeing the same effects over and over. There’s only so much you can do. With drones, you can do anything you can imagine.”

Ward, a licensed pyrotechnician for 10 years, said he enjoys producing drone shows more than fireworks events — even though Sky Elements started as a fireworks company. 

“I totally have switched to drone shows,” he said. “I haven’t touched fireworks in several years now because drones are so much more fun.”

When Ward first started doing fireworks shows, he had no idea how polarizing they could be. People either hate them or love them, he said. 

“Since we’ve been doing drone shows, I haven’t run into anyone that hates drone shows,” he said. “They all think it’s amazing, more environmentally friendly. They love how it doesn’t impact animals, it doesn’t impact veterans. We get so many thank yous and compliments after a drone show about how much people prefer drone shows over fireworks.”

Drone shows require more time in preproduction than a fireworks show with the Sky Elements animation team spending hundreds of hours on a show.

“Putting together shows takes a little bit longer,” Ward said. “But we pride ourselves on doing something amazing, something cutting edge. We tell stories. We use motion. We really bring our client’s vision to life.”

Kubicz said the company’s transition to drones started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Sky Elements Drones handles about 60% to 70% of the drone shows produced nationwide and recently opened a Hawaii office to help handle the growing business.

Sky Elements Drones just moved to Coppell, where a larger facility with an indoor bay enables them to load trucks in air-conditioned comfort and maintain their massive fleet of about 3,000 drones. Equipment for shows is generally driven to a site because of airline regulations on drone batteries. Two full-time employees are tasked with charging each drone battery in advance of shows.

“The actual number of drones varies by the day,” Kubicz said with a laugh.

Sky Elements Drones, with its roots in fireworks, is now preparing to use drones that can also launch pyrotechnics. The company worked for 26 months to get a waiver from the FAA for “pyro drone shows.”

The company is also hoping for national support, as they earned a Golden Buzzer during a June appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” A crew of employees conducted a drone performance that included a simulated rocket launch and a spaceman with judge Simon Cowell’s face on it before transforming into the AGT logo.

“It was really patriotic,” Cowell told the team after the performance. “And I think the way you told the story, the use of music, whether you’re 3 years old, whether you’re 100 years old, I think you’re absolutely going to love that audition.”

With the Golden Buzzer designation, the Sky Elements team advanced to live shows that will start in September. If the team wins the national competition, it would fund a drone tour to take across the country.

“We’re hoping America votes for us,” Kubicz said.

Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.