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The entrepreneurial spirit struck Mike Knockenhauer, CEO of V/SPEED, at a young age. When he was 11, he started his first lawn care business. The Creighton Prep alumni continued this business until he sold it when he went to college at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
In 2016, Knockenhauer started a charter plane company with his cousin, Greg Wilson, with the goal of creating a large network of small turboprops for charter missions. They soon realized that they needed to make film for mission statements and fundraising. So, they built a system with a Russian Fighter Trainer Aircraft, and noticed the high caliber of creative work they could film from that aircraft. In 2018, Knockenhauer and Wilson quit their jobs to focus full time on V/SPEED.
“Mike had the aviation and technical background. I had the photography background. We spent about two years researching and building our first camera jet. We’re a tight crew and trust each other, and care about each other,” said Wilson, director of photography at V/SPEED.
Knockenhauer concurred, saying, “Through our network in filmmaking, the folks who created the original ‘Planet Earth’ heard about our camera jet project. ‘Planet Earth’ was groundbreaking for bringing Hollywood-level helicopter aerials to a nature documentary. They hoped our jet could bring another revolution to the genre, and we did. We fly smooth and cover vast distances relative to a helicopter. This enables us to speed up the playback several fold, which is where the magic happens. It’s a genuinely new form of hyperlapse.”
He continued, “We strive to entertain, educate, and inspire. It’s been inspiring to see people react to our films. The reality that people are part of history is tough to understand, because we think that one person can’t make a change. So, we’re trying to include the anthropological part of our role in nature, and that we are all animals, too.”
Building that camera, crew, and business led to great opportunities, including the chance to work on some notable documentaries.
“(National Geographic’s) ‘America the Beautiful’ film was commissioned, and we were added to that project before COVID. With the closure of the national parks, we had a neat opportunity to film without people in them. It was a once in forever opportunity. We were the only aircraft that was allowed to fly below the rim of the Grand Canyon. We flew to 10 national parks in seven days. The whole project filmed 1.5 years and came out July 4, 2023,” Knockenhauer said.“So much of what’s important in our industry is to have a fresh look. Delivering exciting new perspectives that can inspire has been rewarding,” Knockenhauer said.
The V/SPEED pilots are all highly decorated. The COO is a Top Gun graduate. Their weather forecaster is the best in the world at what they do.
“We’ve gotten to film NASA launches. The places that we have gone and seen are pretty wild,” Knockenhauer said.
Knockenhauer credits his wife, Shelby, for much of the success of V/SPEED. She is a founding partner, overseeing back-office operations and production management.
“Shelby has been there for every step of the way, including going on some flights. Doing a lot of the un-fun stuff. She is the unsung hero,” Knockenhauer added.
“What we do is special because of the people and the way that we integrate everything. I enjoy being able to show people the way the world looks. I’ve been amazed by the reactions that we get when people take in the film,” Knockenhauer said.
“We work to capture the most profound imagery that we can. The end goal is to put the camera in the right spot,” Wilson said.
“If we can leave someone transfixed with the shot, from a filmmaking standpoint, that’s my biggest goal. We want them to be so overwhelmed by what they are seeing that the camera work isn’t even thought of,” Knockenhauer added.
V/SPEED was nominated for an Emmy Award for best nature documentary and best cinematography in nature at the Jackson Wild Film Festival.
According to Knockenhauer, Wilson has been indispensable. “We created this vision together. Greg lives by the rule that if your photos aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough,” Knockenhauer said.
“The company has evolved from needing to show what we can do to getting to make new programs based on that. We’re making our own work. No one has ever done this. The first phase is showing what’s possible. The next phase is creating whole shows built around our capabilities,” Knockenhauer said.
Knockenhauer encourages aspiring filmmakers to lean into what makes them unique and to tell a story no one else can.
“It’s fun to tell people that we are from Omaha, Nebraska. We brought a midwestern work ethic to an industry that doesn’t get a lot of it. It’s fun to see film executives and people like Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, react to the work of a film company from Omaha,” Knockenhauer said.
Visit wearevspeed.com for more information.
This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
