Jim Rodnunsky, Cablecam Inventor, Passes Away

Academy Award winner Jim Rodnunsky, the inventor and founder of Los Angeles-based Cablecam, passed away Friday at the age of 54.  He succumbed after fighting a three-year battle with brain cancer. Rodnunsky was a visionary behind the Cablecam aerial camera systems used for shooting feature films and sporting events.

Photo Courtesy of Los Angeles Times

Rodnunsky changed the way people watch televised sports, including college and professional football in the U.S. and soccer and rugby in Europe. He was a pioneer, inventor, and innovator who pushed the envelope in many ways, starting with the early days of flying manned rigs down ski slopes. His Cablecam systems were also used in such major motion pictures as Terminator 2, Spiderman, Van Helsing, Troy, Poseidon, and Wanted.

Rodnunsky founded Cablecam in 1985 and earned three Academy Awards and six Emmys throughout his successful career. His entrepreneurial spirit, brilliant mind, and work ethic contributed to the advance of aerial-camera technology on a global scale. Cablecam and its affiliate Skycam now provide coverage of approximately 200 events per year. Rodnunsky leaves behind his wife, Lisa, and children Tia, Daniel, and Ally.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Heschel Day School – Jim Rodnunsky Memorial Fund, 17701 Devonshire St., Northridge, CA 91325. (818) 368-5781.