Close by, but not local, and why that helps
We do not have an office in Dubai. Our studio is in Punjab and our core crew travels to shoot on location. The UAE is one of the easiest markets for us to reach, and the time difference is small enough that the working day almost matches yours. What you gain is one team that stays with the work: the director and producer who plan the shoot run the set, and the editors who finish it were in the room when it was planned.
We arrange travel, scheduling, location access and permits for each shoot, and book local support where needed. Briefing and review happen remotely, and every cut sits on one review link for your team to comment on.
The categories that lead in Dubai
Dubai’s premium economy runs on a few categories that live or die by their imagery. Developers and brokers selling homes, towers and waterfront villas need film that sells a life, not a floor plan, which is the heart of our luxury real estate work. Hotels, resorts and beach clubs need content that makes a guest book, and our hotels and resorts practice is built for that. Jewellery and watch retailers, supercar dealers, fine dining and beauty brands complete the picture, all competing for the same affluent, well-travelled audience.
The look of the city
Dubai offers contrasts that few cities can match within an hour’s drive: glass towers and the skyline at dusk, marinas and private beaches, the older lanes and creekside textures of the historic districts, polished malls and hotel interiors, and the open desert with dunes that change colour through the day. Neighbouring emirates add mountains, quieter coastlines and heritage architecture.
Light is strong and high for much of the day, so we schedule exteriors for the early morning and the long golden hour before sunset, and move inside when the sun is overhead. The cooler months, broadly from late autumn to spring, are the main season for outdoor shoots. In the peak of summer, heat and humidity make long exterior days hard on people and equipment, so we plan interiors, night work and short windows at either end of the day.
Timing
- Season and daylight window for exteriors
- Interior plan for midday
- Prayer times and local working hours considered in the schedule
Access
- Location permissions and permits
- Property, hotel or venue sign-off
- Drone use cleared where relevant
People
- Casting that reflects a multicultural audience
- Talent releases and usage rights
- Wardrobe suited to location and culture
Delivery
- Arabic and English versions where needed
- Vertical and wide formats
- Stills captured on the same set
How UAE audiences watch
The audience is international, mobile-first and used to luxury. Instagram carries most brand discovery, with TikTok and YouTube close behind, and WhatsApp is where real estate enquiries often end up. Many campaigns run in both English and Arabic, and casting has to reflect a population drawn from all over the world. For property and hospitality in particular, short vertical tours and lifestyle clips do much of the selling before anyone visits in person.
Planning a Dubai shoot
It starts with a remote brief and a scoped plan. Pre-production covers casting, location access and permissions, a daylight-aware schedule and a shot list built around every format you need, so one well-planned shoot day can become a month of content. Our crew flies in for the shoot, and first edits typically arrive about two to three weeks from brief. Our guide to luxury real estate video goes deeper on property shoots in particular.
Studio work from Punjab
For jewellery, watches, fragrance and beauty, shipping products to our Punjab studio is often faster and more controlled than a location shoot. We shoot macro detail, tabletop film and campaign stills under lighting we fully control, and deliver on the same review link. Brands producing month after month usually pair this with a monthly retainer and a fixed delivery calendar.