Supersonic History Made

Photo of Fredo Jones, Handheld Camera Operator taken by Chris Calnin, Director of Photography 

Breaking Barriers: 

La Storia Earns Spot in History Books as One of The First Production Companies to Document a Civilian Aircraft Flying Supersonic

Mojave, CA – January 29, 2025

History was made yesterday as Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 soared past the speed of sound on its first supersonic flight. And behind the mission, capturing every groundbreaking moment was a talented team from La Storia Productions — who alongside event partners Subtractive, VisionAerospace, and ATAC, are now the only companies on the planet who can brag about successfully documenting the first mission of a civilian aircraft breaking the sound barrier.  If that accomplishment wasn't enough, the production partners accomplished this feat while streaming to a LIVE audience of in-person guests and thousands more online.

Equipped with 18 cameras positioned on the ground and tower at California’s Mojave Air & Space Port and in the air, the partners blended precision filmmaking and photography with real-time storytelling, ensuring that every thunderous moment—from takeoff to Mach 1.1 to a safe touchdown back at home base—was felt up close by live audiences worldwide. And this incredible moment has been viewed by more than 15 million people in just the first 48 hours across various platforms.

La Storia Productions, who has been serving as a key creative partner for Boom Supersonic, has been producing 3D animation as well as photo and video marketing campaigns for the brand since 2022. 

On the ground, the La Storia team oversaw 10 cameras including four Sony Burano 8K cinema cameras equipped with Canon 50-1000 lenses on the runway, a Sony- FX6 full frame cinema camera with Angenieux EZ-2 zoom lenses to safely follow the action at the hangar, Nikon Z8 & Z9 still photography cameras and two DJI Inspire 3 drones flown by Aloft Media and captured some truly incredible, never-before-seen shots of the process throughout the event. 

To capture footage from the air, the team collaborated with two companies who specialize in aviation content:

• VisionAerospace, an aviation-focused production company that has developed a new product in partnership with KiHoMac, which safely mounts four RED Raptor 8k cameras into a modified travel POD that was originally designed for the F35. The Mojave X5 - a Mach 1+ Pod was then mounted underneath a Mirage F1 chase plane to capture in-air content of XB-1 in close formation. 

• ​ATAC, a tactical airborne training organization who flew the Mirage F1 chase plane, piloted by AJ “Face” McFarland and documenting XB-1's mission outfitted it with GoPros, Apple iPhones and a RED Raptor-X handheld by Christopher Vasquez of VisionAerospace to capture additional in-air footage while flying in close formation with the other two aircraft. 

To bring it all home and share the story with millions around the world - the SME’s at Subtractive, a California-based production and livestream company known for their livestream services for a  certain known space entity, were brought in to oversee the hosted LIVE show and livestream.

The team knew wireless connections to La Storia’s cameras on the runway capturing the pivotal moments of take off and landing weren’t going to be an option with some cameras positioned nearly a mile down the runway at Mojave Air and Space Port. So Boom and the three production partners used a combination of fiber, wireless and Starlink with encoders to bring the action to viewers in real time. 

The quality of the content captured live for this event was arguably a defining moment for the industry, even noticed to the chagrin of YouTube commenters who alluded to the production being "fake" and using pre-shot footage because it looked “too good” to be live. When asked to comment on this specifically, Co-founder of La Storia Productions and Director of the La Storia team at the event RC Walker, said, “honestly, that’s the best compliment we could all receive on this production and a huge testament to the A-team we had on this project.  And reiterates that even under immense pressure, deafening jet engines, four different aircraft (including a drone) safely flying in close formation together and four different companies working together for the very first time on the day we went live; the expertise and experience of the people involved in this project and the overall trust Boom continues to place in us."

WATCH THE FULL LIVESTREAM BELOW 

        BEHIND THE SCENES

CREW CREDITS 

Client: Boom Supersonic

Sr. Producer, Creative Production, Marketing & Events (Boom): Kaden Colby

Video Production: La Storia Productions

Director (La Storia): RC Walker

Director of Photography (La Storia): Chris Calnin 

Executive Producer: Molly McKinney Walker

Photographer: Brandon Lim

1st AC: Max Green

Photo Camera Assistant: Darren Martin 

Handheld Camera Operator: Fredo Jones

Camera Operator: Chris Macdonald

Camera Operator: Michael Cardenas

Drone Pilot: Dillon Stucky

Drone Op: Wyatt Humphreys

Project Manager: Rebecca Schwager

Head of Post Production: Chris Svoboda

DIT: Jacqui Carriere