working in dubai?

christian hennermann · July 1, 2007

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone out there could tell me about the filmindustry in dubai.

maybe someone has worked or even lived in dubai for a little while and is willing to share his/her experience with me.

i was wondering what the conditions are like....payment, qualification of crew members(standard), do they have crew agencies, are they in need of people,when is their season, are the majority (internat.) commercials,is it growing just like any ohter sector in the country, maybe a contact of a dop/ac etc in duubai...what ever you can tell me about dubai as a filmcountry is interesting to me!

thanx so far!

Tony Brown · July 2, 2007

Not the best place in the world.... massive building site full of ex pats telling you how wonderful it is. (PM me for list of 'interesting' places). Personally I dont get the place at all, Hotels are resort type air con palaces each the same as the next, locations are difficult beacuase if it isn't man made its scruffy and waiting for something man made to be dumped onto it.

Cars all have speed warning beepers set t0 70mph and they seem to all insist on driving between 68 - 72 so the thing is constantly beeping....sounds a stupid thing to mention but you wait.......

Gear and crew I've encountered are ok though. Mostly South Africans, a few Germans..... I worked with a local Producer / PM / DoP (its that sort of place) called Anthony..... something(sorry Anthony - I'm rubbish with information retention). Nice guy, I'll find his det6ails for you when I get home