Unique take on Emirates is 'gold mine' for filmmakers

The Gold Mine Films production company makes corporate films with a human side, as well as capturing the UAE hidden from travel guides.

Danish Mumtaz, founder of The Gold Mine Films, resolved to do something different from the work coming out of the region.

DUBAI // Danish Mumtaz and Manasvi Gosalia say their passion for the UAE - with all its multiple facets - is shown through the films they make.

Armed with a camera, their team heads out to Deira and other areas hidden from typical brochures about the Emirates. They start filming people, places and the unusual and interesting spots the country has to offer.

The pair like the freedom to create something from scratch and UAE institutions have taken to the concept and rewarded their company, The Gold Mine Films, with production contracts.

"We work with governments, they always want to tell stories. We just finished a film for the Health Authority for Abu Dhabi and we [also did a film] for the Abu Dhabi Justice Department," Mr Mumtaz, a Pakistani, said.

"The idea is: It's a story that's compelling and that fascinates us. I've lived here for 30 years so this is home for me," he said.

The Gold Mine Films is a production house that specialises in corporate films and documentaries that tell stories about the region with a local perspective. Founded two years ago, the company promotes the Middle East and shows a side of the region unknown to most of the world.

"I lived in the US for a while and realised that the only kind of cinema/film coming out of the region was stereotypical and clichéd," Mr Mumtaz, 31, said.

"We wanted to change that. We've got 400 million people living within the region and we all have the same values so we work on projects that [show] that," he added.

As the founding investor of the company, Mr Gosalia believes The Gold Mine Films is unique to the UAE.

"Unlike most of the other companies which try their hands at almost anything, [we] work only on our niche and [we] excel in it," he said.

Mr Gosalia, originally from India, also started Dejavu, a production and post-production company specialising in television commercials, visual effects, 3D and 2D animation. He has 11 years of experience in the industry, and comes from a post-production background.

Although the men did not have a lot of start-up capital - Dh220,000 - they have produced 30 films in the past two years and began generating a profit just five months after they set up their business, which is based in Dubai Studio City.

"We were lucky to have an agency in Saudi Arabia as soon as we started working, giving us two films of US$100,000 (Dh367,000) each. It's rare and that's why we succeeded," Mr Mumtaz said.

The company is now setting its sights on Abu Dhabi as it aims to appeal to a wider audience.

"We are currently working on a TV show pitching to Abu Dhabi and a couple of other stations. It's a really big production for us," Mr Mumtaz said.

"We even managed to convince an A-list director to come from Hollywood to the region and make a documentary with us."