Core77

Those Smartphone Action Grips Used in the iPhone Snowball Fight Video Came from a Kickstarter Campaign

Inventor Vadym Chalenko turned his 3D printer into a thriving company

By Rain Noe - December 3, 2019

in Digital Fabrication | Design Business

After watching the behind-the-scenes for the David-Leitch-directed "Snowbrawl" action short, I scrubbed through it to get a better look at that camera rig. The iPhone 11 Pro Leitch is using is ensconced within this sort of cage:

Thank you, freeze-frame. I looked it up and learned that the BeastGrip Pro, as it's called, is the direct result of a Kickstarter campaign. In 2013 Chicago-based inventor Vadym Chalenko, armed with a 3D printer, pumped out the original BeastGrip:

He was seeking $25,000, and netted nearly $40,000. That was enough to help him get BeastGrip off the ground as a company. In 2015 he launched another Kickstarter, this time for his improved BeastGrip Pro, and this was an all-out smash. Seeking $50,000, they netted a whopping $265,897.

In 2017 Chalenko turned to Kickstarter again, designing this depth-of-field adapter with an anamorphic lens:

That one garnered a respectable $155,052 on an $80,000 goal.

Today BeastGrip the company is thriving, and still based in Illinois. The BeastGrip Pro used in the Apple commercial starts at $112, and you can check out their expanded product lineup here.

o

Favorite This
Q
2

Comment

Comments

Rodrigo Lauret

4 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Seeing such profitable ventures based on "improving" the art of film shooting, it's easy to explain why they only upgrade the cameras on new phones..

!Report as spam
Bradley Johnson

4 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

Equally, if not more interesting is the DOF MK2 Adapter on their site (and seen above) which allows you to pair your phone with a traditional SLR Canon lens!

!Report as spam