Dubai has never been a city to make excuses, preferring to always push the boundaries to new heights and overcome whatever obstacles might be in the way. A prime example is Dubai Studio City, which just a few years ago looked like little more than a collection of buildings on the edge of the desert.
Naysayers said that Dubai would struggle to develop a viable film and TV production industry, especially given that Abu Dhabi, just 150km to the south, was already making serious inroads in the industry with twofour54.
In this light, it’s great to see just what Dubai Studio City and Dubai Film & TV Commission has achieved to date. As you will see from our interview with Jamal Al Sharif, MD of Studio City and chairman of DFTC, the facilities at Studio City are world-class and are attracting producers from across the region and around the world for all the right reasons, but most notably quality and ease of doing business.
The scale of the studios is particularly impressive, with three soundstages ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 sq ft. While Studio City also has plenty of boutique studios catering for smaller productions, it has until now lacked facilities in the mid-range.
But this is set to change. Sharif told Digital Studio that by August, he expects two new studios of 10,000 sq ft to be in operation. These studios should fill a niche and hopefully bring yet more productions to Dubai.
It’s also important to note that Sharif does not see Dubai as being in competition with Abu Dhabi for film and TV production, but rather he views the facilities and services on offer in the two cities as complementary.
This makes a lot of sense. Indeed, filmmakers want diversity and flexibility. The chances are that if an international producer has invested in bringing cast and crew to the UAE, they will want to consider shooting on both cities. Furthermore, having two centres for production gives the UAE greater clout when competing on the international stage.
And on the subject of international production, in this issue you can check out highlights from NAB Show, the world’s biggest production and broadcast event, which took place in Las Vegas in April. Whether or not you had chance to attend, you can read some of the top news from the show on page 58 of the May issue of Digital Studio.
Next month the attention of the industry will switch to Singapore for Broadcast Asia. Are you attending the show? If so, please let us know your plans and we look forward to seeing you there!
Reaching new horizons
Dubai has never been a city to make excuses, preferring to always push...
Dubai has never been a city to make excuses, preferring to always push the boundaries to new heights and overcome whatever obstacles might be in the way. A prime example is Dubai Studio City, which just a few years ago looked like little more than a collection of buildings on the edge of the desert.
Naysayers said that Dubai would struggle to develop a viable film and TV production industry, especially given that Abu Dhabi, just 150km to the south, was already making serious inroads in the industry with twofour54.
In this light, it’s great to see just what Dubai Studio City and Dubai Film & TV Commission has achieved to date. As you will see from our interview with Jamal Al Sharif, MD of Studio City and chairman of DFTC, the facilities at Studio City are world-class and are attracting producers from across the region and around the world for all the right reasons, but most notably quality and ease of doing business.
The scale of the studios is particularly impressive, with three soundstages ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 sq ft. While Studio City also has plenty of boutique studios catering for smaller productions, it has until now lacked facilities in the mid-range.
But this is set to change. Sharif told Digital Studio that by August, he expects two new studios of 10,000 sq ft to be in operation. These studios should fill a niche and hopefully bring yet more productions to Dubai.
It’s also important to note that Sharif does not see Dubai as being in competition with Abu Dhabi for film and TV production, but rather he views the facilities and services on offer in the two cities as complementary.
This makes a lot of sense. Indeed, filmmakers want diversity and flexibility. The chances are that if an international producer has invested in bringing cast and crew to the UAE, they will want to consider shooting on both cities. Furthermore, having two centres for production gives the UAE greater clout when competing on the international stage.
And on the subject of international production, in this issue you can check out highlights from NAB Show, the world’s biggest production and broadcast event, which took place in Las Vegas in April. Whether or not you had chance to attend, you can read some of the top news from the show on page 58 of the May issue of Digital Studio.
Next month the attention of the industry will switch to Singapore for Broadcast Asia. Are you attending the show? If so, please let us know your plans and we look forward to seeing you there!
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