By anyone’s estimation, the rise of Dubai as a film and TV production hub has been impressive. While some industry commentators were sceptical about the emirate’s early attempts to establish itself as a fully functioning production hub, Dubai has, through a consistent and diligent approach, won producers over and proved the sceptics wrong.
Perhaps the most tangible indicator of the health of Dubai’s production industry is rapid development of Dubai Studio City, which in less than two years has opened three soundstages and a vast water tank, as well as numerous boutique studios, office space and support services.
Furthermore, Dubai-based broadcaster MBC Group, which partnered with Studio City to develop the soundstage studios, created a joint venture called Stargate Middle East with California-based Stargate Studios last year. The joint venture has a studio with a green room in Studio City complemented by high end virtual studio software.
More impressive still is the fact that these facilities are in almost constant use. “Everything’s good, we’ve been busy. The studios have been busy,” says Jamal Al Sharif, managing director of Dubai Studio City and chairman of Dubai Film and TV Commission.
“When we started the sound stages it was a massive project. Many key industry developers in the region thought it might be a crazy idea to put up so many soundstages in this area, especially as Dubai had not much history in filmmaking or even TV production except a few TV series once or twice a year. But then people didn’t realise that what we are putting together here is a new generation of studios and equipment, it’s a quality set up that we are basing in Dubai.”
The scale and quality of the studios is something that Sharif is keen to stress. Indeed, he points out that the type of infrastructure deployed at Dubai Studio City is a cut above the kind of studios built in other countries in the MENA region in the past few decades.
“With due respect to the region you could see a lot of studios but when was the last time you heard of other countries building studios like this – not in our age! The last studios built in the Middle East or North Africa were probably made 30 years ago and whatever came later were just warehouses converted.
“So the soundstages were built to take the industry on to the next level of quality of production and even viewership, because viewers today are demanding to see a better picture.
“So bringing in Stargate and MBC – and us being involved – was an important initiative that we have taken because we wanted to tell the world, or at least the rest of the region, that it is possible to do production from Dubai.”
Sharif says that, as part of the deal with MBC, about five TV series were produced at the studios in just one year, which “played a big role” in the development of the industry in general.
The green screens have also proved popular, with a growing number of producers eager to test out the concept. One major production that relied heavily on virtual studio technology at the Stargate Middle East facility was the historical drama Saraya Abedin. The studio was transformed, using the latest CGI, into an Egyptian palace for the production.
As with the rest of the facilities, the significant cost of the green screen and virtual studio technology will be compensated by the volume of productions taking place, according to Sharif.
Over the course of its existence, Dubai Studio City has attracted its share of famous productions, most notably Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol, which was released back in 2011. In terms of big name productions on the horizon, Sharif confirms that Studio City has been in talks regarding some significant productions.
“We have been negotiating this past one year and a half with a few film and TV series, and yes we have a few things in the pipeline. We are in discussions and it is aimed for 2015,” he says.
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However, due to disclosure agreements it is often not possible to name or reveal details of the productions, he added.
Last year, the studios were particularly busy with local and Arabic content production, including Saraya Al Bait, Al Hob Fe Al Arbeen, Qabl Al Awan and Weash Rajjak. And 2015 looks set to be equally busy. “We have just finished Saraya Al Bait Season 2, and they are booking it for Season 3 now. We have two TV shows by a Lebanese production company, so we have already booked a studio and we have a few TV series for Ramadan in the pipeline to be shot on location in Dubai.”
While Studio City is well equipped with 18 boutique studios of between 1,000 and 3,000 sq ft, and with its soundstages (which range from 15,000 to 25,000 sq ft), it has noticeably lacked in the middle ground. However, this is set to change.
“We are converting two of the warehouses we have to studios, so we are adding two additional studios by August this year,” Sharif told Digital Studio. “These are two additional studios at 10,000 sq ft. We didn’t have anything in the middle so we started to lose that to other countries. Therefore our fast track model was to convert the warehouses and it went out on tender in March.”
While the studios are most visible aspect of Studio City, Sharif points out that it offers a lot more on top. In fact, it aims to cater for everything that a producer could require in a bid to lure filmmakers and help develop the emirate into a thriving hub.
To attract international productions, or merely talent from abroad, Studio City assists filmmakers by arranging special multi-entry visas. These are particularly important where productions require cast and crew to leave and re-enter the country for certain shoots.
“We introduced a new visa system that allows freelancers to come to Dubai and work on various projects and at the same time have multiple entry allowance, so most of the crew who were working here were allowed to come in on multiple entry. They didn’t have to leave and then come back on a new visa,” Sharif says.
“That made it easier for the producers and also for the directors to have these key members in Dubai and then when they needed, to go to Egypt to shoot another team. They would fly them out there and come back within 10-12 hours.”
In the past year, Studio City has helped MBC with more than 250 visas. The scheme has been particularly useful in the wake of Stargate Middle East which has seen numerous film professionals from the US visit the emirate to train others how to operate the various systems.
Once in Studio City, filmmakers can also gain access other important services such as legal advice, production companies, consultants and even non-film related facilities such as catering and accommodation. Sharif and his team made the process of finding relevant contacts less onerous by producing the Media Production Guide, an A-Z book of contacts.
“We printed out 12,000 copies of the 2014 guide and we ran out in February, in less than 12 months,” Sharif says. “We have now printed another 5,000 copies of the 2014 edition.
“Arriving here it is a one stop shop, even if you want to licence your company you can do it here, everything can be done here. The film permit office will give you a film permit within three. It’s a simple process – that has been key in Studio City.”
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Moving up
By bringing high quality productions to Dubai, Jamal Al Sharif is also optimistic that Studio City can play an important role in inspiring and training the next generation of filmmakers. He says that there have already been numerous notable successes.
“In this past four years we were able to identify six strong producers in Dubai who started four years ago by being helpers in different projects. These people now have either got their freelance licence or they have got their own company here, and they are not necessarily locals: They are residents of the UAE; they are Jordanians, Syrians and also Emiratis.”
The professionals that Sharif refers to started out performing tasks on set such as helpers, carrying things and fixing things.
Content Consumption
It is not just production that is growing in Dubai. Consumption of films is also rising rapidly and the UAE now has the largest number of cinemas in the Middle East, a trend that is expected to continue. “The expectation is that by 2018, there will be 7-10% growth in terms of distribution of films,” Jamal Al Sharif says.
“The demand is growing in the Middle East, not just the UAE,” he says. “The biggest consumer market today in terms of film distribution is UAE in the Gulf and then of course Egypt. The biggest consumers of movies are Saudis.”
Sharif sees significant changes taking place in the way films are viewed, particularly with online viewing. “The UAE today is the number one country in MENA for fibre optic penetration. Per person there are about three or four mobiles.”
“In the next five years you will find the attitude of viewers will change. Cinemas will become faster at distributing and different ways of distributing will change the attitude of the viewer.”
