Startup’s robotic platform could make complex camerawork more democratic.
Entrepreneurs
Jeff Alholm, Coty Beasley, Chad Clayton, Ed Kleban, J. Gregg Whittaker
Company Information
CandyCam
1800 Baltimore Ave., Suite 520
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 343-8181
www.gocandycam.com
Type of Business
Robotic multimedia equipment
Year Founded 2012
Thanks to digital cameras, it’s easier and cheaper than ever for the average person to make videos that look like a million dollars. Editing software, which used to cost thousands upon thousands of dollars, can now be toted around on the average laptop. With YouTube and other services, aspiring filmmakers can share their work without going through a major distributor.
There’s still one area where the big guys have an edge, though. To get a really complex shot—the kind where the camera hangs 100 feet over a crowd or flies up a stairwell—a director usually needs to hire a crew and rent cranes, tracks and other expensive equipment.
CandyCam, a local startup, wants to change that. The company has developed the SkyHook, a robotic camera platform that can deliver amazing shots at a much lower cost.
“This is a great way for people to get shots that they wouldn’t be able to under any other price point,” said Coty Beasley, the company’s chief design officer.
The SkyHook hangs over a film set, suspended from eight cables. A series of motors moves the platform up, down, backward and forward, while the camera itself can be rotated by a gimbal. And those movements can be precisely plotted through SkyHook’s interface.
“You can control it manually, but then you also have the ability, since it’s a robotic camera, to map out that flight plan,” Beasley said.
Most of this fall has been given over to beta testing. CandyCam is working with as many local videographers as possible to make sure the SkyHook performs the way it needs to in real-life situations.
“We’re working very hard to get that ease of use,” Beasley said.
SkyHook promises to be revolutionary for its industry, but locating money for CandyCam has been a challenge. It has been hard to find local investors who are familiar with the sector, Beasley said. The company is planning to raise $1 million through a Series A round.
CandyCam is scheduled to sell two versions of Skyhook to start. SkyHook Cinema will be for filmmakers and will sell for $13,000. It should debut sometime in 2014.
SkyHook Sport, meanwhile, can be used to film sporting events. It’ll have more security features, so no one can hack into the camera, which might be feeding live video to broadcast. And because it’ll have to cover greater distances more quickly, SkyHook Sport’s motors will be different. The Sport version will cost around $18,000.
“All in all, we’ve got a lot of products to be released in the line,” Beasley said.
