Dubai Studio City (DSC), Dubai’s content-production hub, has been growing rapidly over the past few months. Last year, Jamal Al Sharif and his team completed the construction of three huge new sound stage studios – the biggest is an impressive 25,000 square feet – and with all three now occupied on a long-term basis, Al Sharif admits that he is already looking at options to convert existing warehouse space or build new studios from scratch.
Studio One is currently occupied by MBC, which is shooting the 120-episode novella Matrimonia, ready to screen after Ramadan. This is the third series that it has shot in the studio, and it will move straight onto the fourth when it wraps.
Next door in Studio Two is the set for MasterChef Arabia, which has confirmed shooting of a second series. This is the biggest MasterChef set of any of the global MasterChef franchises and represented the first time that men and women were seen working together in a kitchen on Saudi television.
Studio Three, finally, is home to the set for a weekly poetry-based show on Dubai TV's Sama Dubai, which is supported by Sheikh Hamdan's cultural foundation and is broadcast from 7pm to 9pm every Monday in front of a live studio audience.
Local talent
Developing Dubai’s industry is about much more than building studios and hoping people use them – and Al Sharif has plenty more plans to help maintain and improve Dubai’s position as a regional leader for the production industry, starting with making sure there is enough local talent in the city.
“We don’t have hard-and-fast rules about using local talent,” he says. “But we are working towards a system where how much local talent you use will determine how much rebate you’re entitled to. At the moment, we work with soft incentives, trying to focus on private sector companies to help in return for product placement and the publicity that being associated with films generates.”
He adds: "I really want companies that are interested in getting involved to approach me – phone companies, hotels, airlines, everyone. The PR from being involved with some of these projects is amazing, not just from product placement but social media, in schools; it's a huge opportunity, and not only on the huge films such as Mission: Impossible, either."
Dubai rebate
It’s unsurprising that Al Sharif, in his role as chairman of the Dubai Film and TV Commission role, should be looking at a rebate system. The results of the Abu Dhabi rebate seem tangible, but Al Sharif insists that he won’t just be doing the same thing: “We’re working on our own rebate programme, not just following existing ones. It needs to fit for Dubai. I can’t disclose exact numbers yet – it may vary from project to project and we’re still customising it. I have two films currently in the pipeline and I’m tailoring it for each.
“We’re using a model that’s used in other countries. There’s a scoring card. We know how many days you’re shooting, how Dubai will benefit, what the PR plan is – it’s all taken into consideration.”
Al Sharif may soon have a very busy office, as it’s not just private companies he wants to approach him. “We want local talent to approach us, too,” he says. “I want people to come to me and say: ‘Hey I’m a freelancer, I can do that.’ We’re building a database of talent we can work with and we’ll shortly be publishing a directory of all the film professionals and organisations in Dubai.”
Freelance remedy
The issue of freelancers is a pertinent one. Al Sharif has said in the past that he wants to make it easier for freelancers to work in Dubai. In the current climate, with two big Hollywood productions shooting in Abu Dhabi, one production company that we’ve spoken to in Dubai recently commented that they’d basically shut down temporarily as no crew are available.
Al Sharif has some good news on that front. "We've brought in a multiple-entry freelance visa. It lasts for up to one year and it's only available through the Film Commission," he says. "MBC just brought about 100 people in and as it's a freelance visa, the staff can work on other things, too. When they were on a break from the MBC shoot, a lot of the crew helped out on MasterChef."
Al Sharif doesn’t see outside help as a long-term solution, however: “I don’t want to use freelance forever. We want home-grown talent and for local people to learn from the productions coming in. I really think we have enough talented people in the UAE to not have to import skills all the time and I think our database, when it’s complete, will help with this.”
One big film commission?
Does Al Sharif think that some of these challenges could be met by having a single UAE film commission? “That’s a very good question,” he says. “But every emirate has its own vision.
“If you look at the US, every state has its own commission. California has several, New York has two. It’s healthy to have more than one festival and more than one film commission. Remember, it’s not just about attracting films. We want to focus on programmes and seminars, too. Maybe, down the road, we could have one big commission.
“Dubai and Abu Dhabi could pool rebates and shoot in between cities, I’m very open to that and there’s already a close relationship between twofour54 and DSC. We exchange notes on regular basis, but for now, it’s working as it is.”
