Video production in Chattanooga, TN

Founders, venues, and the riverfront: what Chattanooga puts on camera

Most of what Chattanooga asks a videographer for comes from the offices downtown or from the visitor trade on the river. Startups and tech companies around the Innovation District downtown want founder interviews, an about video for the website, and recruiting pieces that make an engineer choose a Chattanooga office over a remote job. The larger corporate offices downtown need leadership messages and internal training their staff will actually sit through.

Tourism and events make up the rest. Attractions, hotels, and restaurants on the North Shore and the Southside need footage of the river and the ridges that sells a visit, and conference organizers want a recap people will share. Couples book ceremonies in the Bluff View Art District, at venues at the foot of Lookout Mountain, and in the old terminal building at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, and I plan wedding films around whichever one they pick, confirming camera spots with the venue before the date.

Flying a drone in Chattanooga

Aerials over Chattanooga answer to three sets of rules, and I check all three before a date is set. Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport puts much of the city on the FAA airspace map, so Austin, an FAA Part 107 Certified Remote Pilot, looks up your exact address and requests authorization wherever it is required. The National Park Service does not allow drones in Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, which includes ground on Lookout Mountain, and private venues need the owner's permission. Once those are settled, the bend of the Tennessee River and the Walnut Street Bridge make strong aerial footage.

The Georgia side of the metro, from Rossville to Fort Oglethorpe to the top of Lookout Mountain, rides on the same trip as a downtown shoot, a little over an hour from my Rome base. Which Chattanooga addresses the day has to reach, and in what order, gets settled on a video call, and the drive up happens once, for the filming itself.