<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Watching Tom Cruise drive off a cliff is a stunt etched in Hollywood history. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was real, it took months of training, and it was filmed by Melbourne's XM2.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We make the impossible possible," quipped chief executive Stephen Oh from the company's headquarters, hidden in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/barcelona-closes-cruise-ship-terminals-to-cut-tourist-numbers/8f032d3a-0417-468d-86bb-da3dd21f0e19" target="_blank"><strong><span>Barcelona to close two cruise ship terminals to curb tourism</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was controlling the camera that tracked Cruise off the cliff.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The environment was very difficult - the pressure was immense," Oh said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was millions and millions of dollars for a 20-something-second clip and there was a chance that we could only do that once."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/the-aussie-drone-technology-helping-make-some-of-hollywoods-biggest-blockbusters/996ba2ec-2ec8-414d-a08e-4c837e4aa6ca" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They ended up filming it six times. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>XM2 o-founder Aidan Kelly was piloting the drone itself. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We took quite a while to build up to that shot," admits Kelly, who trained with Cruise at a quarry in the UK before attempting the stunt in Norway.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"As Tom got more comfortable with the drone and as I got more comfortable with what Tom was doing, there was this iteration as we rehearsed and figured out the exact angels and speed we wanted to do it at.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It just came together slowly into this one shot which is one of the biggest stunts in film history.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was awesome to be a part of it."  </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When </span><a href="http://9news.com.au"><span>9news.com.au</span></a><span> visited XM2, Kelly was gearing up to film the next </span><em><span>Spider-Man</span></em><span> film. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/malcolm-jamal-warner-the-cosby-show-theo-actor-dies-in-drowning-accident-costa-rica/07f92793-6de1-4ead-b4d4-8b6f28757b58" target="_blank"><strong><span>The Cosby Show actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner dies in drowning accident</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It adds to the company's growing resume of blockbusters, including </span><em><span>Jurassic World</span></em><span>, </span><em><span>John Wick</span></em><span> and </span><em><span>The Fall Guys</span></em><span>, which shut down Sydney Harbour Bridge for a full day. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was in the back of a ute controlling the drone, flying at 60-70km/h, weaving through traffic," Kelly said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We were weaving through traffic, weaving left and right … we flew up inside the bridge and then back down the other side. It was super intense."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's one of the highlights of my career."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Oh and Kelly and their co-founder Luke Annells met flying hobby helicopters. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They started XM2 in 2011 to build a drone that could carry a 25 kilogram camera.  </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They quickly found work with David Attenborough and on Kate Winslet's </span><em><span>The Dress Maker</span></em><span>, but it wasn't enough when the director of </span><em><span>Pirates of the Caribbean 5</span></em><span> came knocking. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He said we want something bigger and better and I said that's not possible," Oh said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"[For the camera he wanted], that drone will need to carry about 40 kilos and he said, well, if you can't fly it, don't worry about it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We put our heads together and developed exactly what he wanted very quickly, the world's first 40-kilo drone.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was supposed to be for three weeks, but they loved it so much that we ended up staying for six months."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/father-arrested-in-new-york-in-death-of-9yearold-daughter-he-had-reported-missing/3a5e72fd-e43b-4c24-9885-2ee1426d0aa0" target="_blank"><strong><span>Father arrested in New York in death of nine-year-old daughter he had reported missing</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Since then, the company has expanded to Los Angeles and London, and designed stability rigs for everything from cars to motorbikes and even horses for the Michelle Payne movie, </span><em><span>Ride Like a Girl</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That technology caught the eye of Ridley Scott and drew support from the Victorian government's creative industries minister, Colin Brooks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Full credit to this company, they are so innovative and so agile," Brooks said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It doesn't seem like there's a challenge that they won't take on."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Soon that challenge will extend well beyond Hollywood. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company is developing tethered drones that can fly for weeks to restore network signals in areas devastated by natural disasters. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>XM2 is also working on a prototype that can feed native animals, stranded without food, for Parks Victoria.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Oh believes "this is Melbourne technology, that's going to save lives around the world". </span></div></div>