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Dallas–Fort Worth · Aerial production

Built forthe frame.

We're a production team that flies — cinematic aerials backed by 30+ years of film, broadcast, and live production experience.

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Brands & teams we’ve flown for

Texas Rangers
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden
Dude Perfect
SMU
Baylor University
Golf Ranch

01 / Portfolio

Selected Work

From game day to the final cut.
A look at Black Star in the air.

Black Star UAV drone in flight beside the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas

Black Star in motion.

2025 Showreel
Texas Rangers game-day aerial production video

Made for game day.

Texas Rangers / Live sports
Explore the Rangers case study

02 / What we do

Aerial &
Ground production

Live broadcast, FPV, cinematic aerials, and ground coverage for your next production.

01 / On air

Live broadcast

Aerial coverage built around your show. We coordinate with your production team, plan the flights, and work to the pace of your live event.

  • Broadcast Integration
  • Live Sports
  • Live Events
Talk broadcast
02 / In motion

FPV cinematics

Close, flowing camera movement through venues and spaces. A different perspective, with the route and the shot planned together.

  • Venue Fly-Throughs
  • Branded Content
  • Ops Over People
Plan an FPV shoot
03 / Above it

Cinematic aerials

Establishing shots, reveals, and tracking moves that serve the story. A production-minded aerial unit for your next shoot.

  • Commercial Production
  • Film and Television
  • Content Production
Bring us on set
04 / On the ground

Ground production

Camera work and content with the same eye for the frame. Pair ground coverage with aerials for a consistent look from start to finish.

  • Branded video
  • Documentary
  • Social
Scope your production
Black Star UAV co-founders Mike Botkin and Cory Doggett operating on location at sunset
Mike Botkin & Cory Doggett · Co-founders
$20MFully insured
Drone coverage
30+Years combined
Production experience
Part 107FAA certified
Drone pilots
Texas basedMcKinney
Dallas–Fort Worth

Section 03 — About

A production
team that
flies.

Black Star UAV was built by two people who were already deep in the game before drones changed everything. Mike Botkin and Cory Doggett came up through broadcast, live production, commercial shoots, and documentary work — building the kind of experience that doesn't come from a YouTube tutorial.

When the aerial side of production matured, they were ready. Not because they bought a drone — but because they already knew how to make a great shot. FAA Part 107 certified, with credits spanning esports, major brands, live events, and cinematic work, they formed Black Star UAV in North Texas to do one thing well: give production teams and brands a serious aerial partner they can actually count on.

On location. Between takes. Behind the scenes.

Follow @blackstaruav

Section 04 — Contact

LET'S GET
A SCOPE
TOGETHER.

Tell us about your project. We'll come back with a clear scope and an honest conversation about what it takes to do it right.

McKinney, TX · Dallas–Fort Worth
blackstaruav@gmail.com

We respond within 24–48 hours. No automated replies. You'll hear from Mike or Cory directly.

  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Work
  4. /
  5. Texas Rangers

Case Study / Texas Rangers · Home Opening Weekend · Globe Life Field, Arlington TX

THREE GAMES.
ONE SOLD-OUT
WEEKEND.

Two drone crews, three sold-out games, and a broadcast schedule with no room for a missed cue. Our team ran live in-stadium and exterior aerial coverage for the Texas Rangers' Home Opening Weekend. FPV operations over people and Inspire 3 exterior drone coverage, feeding real broadcast moments in front of 40,000+ fans a game.

Texas Rangers Baseball Club
Globe Life Field (Sold Out)
April 3–5, 2026
Inspire 3 & FPV Ops Over People

The Assignment

The Texas Rangers needed live aerial coverage for Home Opening Weekend: three consecutive sold-out games at Globe Life Field, with camera angles feeding directly into the in-stadium show. It was a two-crew job built around two distinct flight styles: a stable, cinematic exterior pass, and an FPV crew flying low and fast over the fans inside the stadium, going where a traditional camera never could.

The footage had two jobs: go live in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,000+ fans a game, and get banked as clean, unedited content the club could use for the rest of the season. Both had to hold up the first time. There was no re-shoot window on a sold-out home opener.

THE CHALLENGE

Flying over a sold-out stadium during a live MLB broadcast meant securing FAA TFR waivers ahead of time, then holding to tight flight windows across three straight game days. Every pass was planned before the crew ever stepped on site.

Black Star UAV crew preparing FPV aircraft at their Globe Life Field production station
Opening Weekend // FPV crew preparation
Black Star UAV pilot overlooking the field during stadium preparations
FPV pilot wearing goggles and monitoring the aircraft from the production position
Black Star UAV pilot operating an FPV aircraft with goggles and a communications headset

THE OUTCOME

The aerial coverage wasn't built for a single highlight. Across three consecutive sold-out games at Globe Life Field, the Rangers had a live aerial camera system that could feed directly into the in-stadium production while also creating a library of cinematic drone and FPV footage for future content.

That meant every flight had value beyond the moment it happened. Exterior aerials established the scale of Opening Weekend, while low-altitude FPV coverage inside the stadium gave the production team angles that traditional cameras couldn't easily reach. The same footage could then live beyond game day across social, digital, promotional, and season-long content.

For Black Star UAV, it was exactly the kind of live sports production our operation is designed around: integrating aerial cinematography into an existing broadcast workflow, operating safely inside a complex venue, and delivering repeatable coverage when there is no opportunity for a second take.

Our Approach

Coverage Built for
a Live Broadcast Environment.

EXTERIOR
INSPIRE 3 CINE CREW
Stable, cinematic coverage of the stadium exterior: scale, arrival energy, and establishing shots of a sold-out Globe Life Field.
INTERIOR
FPV OPS OVER PEOPLE
Low-altitude FPV coverage over people inside the stadium brought the show angles a fixed camera position couldn't match. Our flight-ready aircraft were kept below 250 g as part of the requirements for this production's operations over people. Aircraft configuration, flight planning, and applicable airspace authorizations were coordinated as part of the operation.
LIVE
IN-STADIUM BROADCAST INTEGRATION
Both crews fed live camera angles into the show: pregame open, commercial bump in/outs, return-from-break, and postgame.
HANDOFF
FULL RAW FOOTAGE, BANKED
All footage from the three-game weekend delivered as a complete raw package, banked for the club to use in future content and broadcast packages.
Compact FPV aircraft on an orange equipment case during preparation at Globe Life Field
FPV pilot and crew member operating from the stadium production position
Small FPV drone in flight inside Globe Life Field with fans in the stands
FPV Coverage Highlights
Texas Rangers aerial production sizzle reelWatch on YouTube

OPENING WEEKEND // BY THE NUMBERS

CREW ON SITE
6
Aerial, camera + live integration crew
DRONE CREWS
2
FPV interior + cinematic exterior coverage
GAMES COVERED
3
Three consecutive Opening Weekend broadcasts
FANS PER GAME
40K+
Sold-out crowds at Globe Life Field

Need coverage that holds up
at this level?

This is the standard our team brings to every stadium, venue, and live-event shoot. FAA Part 107 certified, pre-planned, and coordinated around your venue and production schedule.

Start a Project Explore Our Work

The people behind Black Star UAV

Production
at Altitude.

Nearly 30 years of combined experience in broadcast, film and commercial production. Aerial and ground camera coverage led by Mike Botkin and Cory Doggett.

Meet the team Discuss a project

Dallas–Fort Worth // Available nationwide

Mike Botkin and Cory Doggett working at the Globe Life Field live production station
Black Star UAV crew preparing FPV equipment at Globe Life Field
Before the broadcast // Crew preparation

Our background

Built around
the production

Our background spans broadcast, commercial production, documentary and esports. We plan camera coverage around the story, schedule and venue, whether the assignment calls for a live aerial feed, FPV or ground cameras.

See the Rangers case study →

The people behind the work

Meet our team

Mike Botkin — Black Star UAV co-founder

Mike Botkin

Co-Founder · Producer · Pilot

Mike has worked in professional production since 2011, across broadcast, commercial and corporate communications, esports and live streaming. As one of Black Star’s pilots, he flies FPV and aerial camera assignments while also handling producing and crew coordination. He is FAA Part 107-certified and brings his production experience to both flight planning and the work on site.

Cory Doggett — Black Star UAV co-founder

Cory Doggett

Co-Founder · Cinematographer · Editor · Pilot

Cory has worked professionally since 2006 across documentary, esports, advertising and digital production. A storyteller, cinematographer and editor, he shapes footage into a finished story through pacing, structure and a strong eye for the frame. He brings that editing experience to every shoot, alongside his work as an FAA Part 107-certified pilot.

Mike and Cory lead each production, adding camera operators, visual observers and specialists to fit the assignment.

Mike using FPV goggles with a small drone prepared on the table
Mike // FPV preparation
Cory monitoring a guarded camera drone in an indoor atrium
Cory // Interior aerial coverage

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LET'S GET
A SCOPE
TOGETHER.

Tell us about your project. We'll come back with a clear scope and an honest conversation about what it takes to do it right.

McKinney, TX · Dallas–Fort Worth
blackstaruav@gmail.com

We respond within 24–48 hours. No automated replies. You'll hear from Mike or Cory directly.

Black Star UAV — 2025 Showreel

Watch on YouTube ↗