We were lucky to catch up with Kai Kevin Goh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kai Kevin, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Even though live in San Diego, most of my jobs shooting come from LA. I’ve driven up to LA in the daytime, do a 8-12 hour shoot, and then drive back down. There was even one time after a consecutive 5-day overnight shoot that I was driving home so tired, I fell asleep at the wheel and veered off the road.

After that, I decided that it would be worth it have some sort of work base in LA. So after months of searching with my friend Fong from college, we finally found a place in Alhambra and just signed the lease.

Because of this big move away from home, I decided I wanted to make a goodbye letter to the city I was born and raised in.

If you search “drone tour” + the name of any city you can think of, you’ll find a good amount of videos come up. However, a couple months ago I searched the internet, and could not find a single FPV drone tour of San Diego out there.

“That’s weird, I hope someone does it soon.” was my first reaction to learning this. It seemed like a big responsibility to make the first ever FPV tour of San Diego, so I honestly was pretty averse to the idea at first. What people should I feature? What locations should I include, which were I allowed to include? Do I even have what it takes?

But when the time finally came that I was leaving for Alhambra, and there was still no San Diego FPV drone tour, it felt like the idea was calling me. “Sure, it’s a big responsibility, but I’ve lived here all my life, so I have that at least, right?”

So I spent a week planning out locations, shots, transitions, people and more. To my surprise, a lot of my friends were down to help, and very generous. One of my best friends, Nico, co-owns a coffee/plant shop called Quiet Storm, and they were down to let me fly my drone through their cafe and feature it as a part of the whole video experience.

After 2 days of shooting, I spent a week and a half between jobs editing and tuning it to be as impactful as possible. It originally was just going to be a visual tour that begins and ends with the sights of San Diego, like most drone tours, but I later decided that I wanted it to be more personal. So the beginning and end now starts with a monologue, and a short cinematic sequence explaining the story behind the video.

Since I finally released it, friends, family, and strangers have said so many nice things after watching the video. I got messages from people who had left the city, and felt so connected to the video being able to see it again in a different light. It was so rewarding because it was 100% a passion project, doing and creating something that meant so much to me and others who call this city home.

Here is the link if you’d like to watch it yourself! Tell them Canvas Rebel brought ya ;) https://youtu.be/1th36yAsZVg

Kai Kevin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Born in San Diego, I started breaking in 2011 after being invited to my high school’s breaking club. I quickly linked the values I admired so much in the comics and anime I consumed to the potential growth that dancing, training and battling offered.

After attending school for film and serving as president of my university’s breaking club, I now often work with dance media outlet Stance Elements (@stanceelements), capturing breaking and dance around the world.

Combining my specialization — FPV drone piloting — with my previous experience of dancing and video production, I’m able to produce visuals that push the boundaries of life, visuals that would have previously only been achievable in media like anime and 3D animation.

In 2019, I started my own production company, Vertigoh Vision, with a mission to help our viewers see the world in beautiful, empowering new ways. We aim to transmit the values of growth, connection, and respect through stories not unlike those that inspired me to start in the first place.

After 10+ years of production, I’m honored to have been trusted to do creative work for companies like Nissan, Adidas, Tag Heuer, and many more. I believe that “Productivity + Fun = the Best Time one can have.”

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Tim Ferriss, Author of “The 4- Hour Workweek” and podcast host of “The Tim Ferriss Show”

If it weren’t for my friend Jonathan, who introduced me to The Tim Ferriss Show in 2017, I would not be nearly as driven and prepared as I am today. The podcast interviews the world’s top performers in every category. If you can think of who is the best at something, chances are they’ve been on the show. I love how in depth, grounded, and actionable each episode is, and I listen to it whenever I get the chance.

Highly recommend giving it a listen, I guarantee it’ll change your life. https://open.spotify.com/show/5qSUyCrk9KR69lEiXbjwXM

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Throughout all of school, I was never really exceptional at anything. Sucked at sports, okay grades, and often felt like I wasn’t enough.

I think it was anime like “Naruto” that first introduced me to “the underdog,” the character that doesn’t really have anything going for them, yet they continue to persist. They persist, and fall, and get back up, and grow, until they get so good that they find their place.

I learned to embrace being the underdog. If I wasn’t naturally gifted, I could grind my way up. As a student, dancer, filmmaker– if I wasn’t good yet I would keep trying until I got better. Over the last few years, I’ve been working hard because I felt driven– driven for respect, for money, for helping my family and friends — but my mission still feels like it’s evolving.

It can’t just be about me. It’s about what I do to give to the world around me. So while my drive comes from my desire to reach my calling, my MISSION is to help others see the world in beautiful new ways, and show them that they are, indeed, enough.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vertigoh.vision/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaivertigoh/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vertigoh.vision/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigoh/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/kaivertigoh

Image Credits
Jae Alyson Calanog