In 1994, French inventor and co-founder of Airstar, Pierre Chabert, created the Airstar -- a lighting unit that met the many challenges faced by photographers on film, television and commercial productions.

Chabert’s spherically shaped lighting balloon had the ability to shed 360-degrees of high-wattage, shadow-free light without any glare. The unit, inflated with helium or air, was able to be suspended in locations in which no other light fixture could reach safely. In 1996, Airstar broke new ground when it was commissioned to light the nighttime shots of James Cameron’s Titanic in Rosarita Beach, Mexico. As the Titanic appeared to sink, several of Airstar’s large lighting spheres withstood high winds as they floated 150 feet above the scene, providing moonlight. The same effect was accomplished for the Pirates of Caribbean when Airstar was the sole source of lighting during the film’s mostly nighttime shoots. In 2003, Chabert was awarded the highest complement in film – the Academy Award for Technical Achievement for the introduction of balloons with internal light sources to provide lighting for the motion picture industry.