Chad Copeland

Chad Copeland was born in a small town, Pocatello, Idaho about 150 miles north of Salt Lake City, Utah. He is the son of Gary Copeland, a college professor, and Terri (Jackson), who worked in insurance. Growing up, he lived near an airport which later inspired him to become a licensed pilot. He was also a competitive rock climber and avid adventure seeker. Copeland was one of the first people innovating in the drone industry having started in his Seattle garage in 2007. Within a few years, he had caught the attention of National Geographic and was sent on his first assignment to China where he used his self built drone to photograph a story for the first time in history. In 2014/2015, Microsoft asked him to help re-brand the company with "People of Action" images that now exist on over 5.8 billion computers and devices around the world. By 2018, he had spent over a year producing and filming the film "Space Needle" which saw success in film festivals. He has acted, produced, directed and filmed and is an activist for clean oceans.