Spaces are available for a full day masterclass held at Sandstorm Studio in Yas Creative Hub in Abu Dhabi.
The Creative Media Authority (CMA) has announced an exclusive two-day masterclass taking place on November 1 and 2, offering aspiring and professional filmmakers an opportunity to learn from top Hollywood experts. Organised by Creative Lab and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission, the event will delve deep into the world of film production, covering creative and physical production, production design and film finance and budgeting.
The masterclasses will be led by Legendary Entertainment’s senior executives Herb Gains, Executive Vice President of Physical Production and Sam Kozhaya, Executive Vice President of Operations and Corporate Development, alongside Oscar-winning production designer Patrice Vermette. The trio, who have collaborated on Denis Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy, will share their first-hand experiences from working on major Hollywood productions including Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Enola Holmes, Sicario, Arrival and A Minecraft Movie.
Sessions will explore the creative collaboration between set design and physical production, the producer’s role in bringing films to life, and how projects move from concept to greenlight. Each day-long masterclass will be held at Sandstorm Studio in Yas Creative Hub, Abu Dhabi, beginning at 10 a.m. and including refreshments. Attendance is limited to 100 participants per day, with registration available via the CMA website.
Mohamed Dobay, Acting Director General of Creative Media Authority, said: “As part of our continued efforts to develop the industry we have once again collaborated with a trio of Hollywood’s extremely established industry experts to bring a masterclass of this calibre and specialty to Abu Dhabi. As the custodian of the creative industries of Abu Dhabi, we look for our production partnerships to stretch as far as possible for the benefit of our creative ecosystem and we look forward to two days of in-depth industry insights from some of the most experienced minds there is from Legendary Entertainment and the Hollywood creative community.”
Herb Gains Executive Vice President, Physical Production, added: “I look forward to discussing the complexity of filmmaking with the Abu Dhabi creative community, including how we brought the world of Dune to life in the Liwa Desert.”
Abu Dhabi was recently confirmed as a principal filming location for the next instalment in Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction saga Dune. The third chapter returns to Abu Dhabi’s picturesque Liwa desert with its cinematic towering sand dunes and golden expansive horizon as the mythical planet of Arrakis, continuing the sweeping saga of Paul Atreides.
With Creative Media Authority Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Film Commission providing essential logistical support, and ImageNation serving as production partner, the film will be a continuation of the Academy Award-winning franchise from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures and will benefit from the cashback rebate offered by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission.
Abu Dhabi has served as the backdrop for more than 180 major film and television productions through the introduction of the cashback rebate, including F1 The Movie, Mission: Impossible, Star Wars, Fast and Furious, Sonic the Hedgehog, Netflix’s 6 Underground and War Machine which is a reflection of the emirate’s diverse locations, talent pool and filmmaking incentives.
