The largest sound stages in the region to open in September

Jamal Al Sharif, Chairman of Dubai Film and TV Commission and Managing Director of Dubai Studio City and Dubai Media City confirmed today that the region’s largest sound stages will be open for production from September 1. Spread over an area of 50,000sqft. the facility will primarily host film projects but will also be open to  TV productions. The space has already been booked for a TV show which begins production in September.

“The new sound stages will be fully engaged from September with the shooting of a very large TV production which will be shot on green screen to recreate another country. We have leased out the facility for 103 days and this will be followed by a film shoot for 95 days. Both these are big projects and will be shot completely in Dubai,” said Jamal Al Sharif on teh sidelines of MBC’s private launch of the first sound stage.  

Built with a budget of 300-400million Dirhams the three sound stages boast of the latest state-of-the-art key kits for production as well as post. The first of the three sound stages, leased to MBC group by Dubai Studio City for a period of five years, is spread over an area of 25,000sqft and features a green screen and Stargate technology. The contract covers the filming of four dramas every year by MBC. One drama series has been completed and is already on air; a second shoot will begin from September on the green screen.

Al Sharif also revealed some interesting figures relating to the upcoming film and TV projects to be shot fully in Dubai. He mentioned that at least 15 new projects are in the pipeline, which will be shot completely in Dubai. Out of these six are television series and rest of them are films. The films include a mix of Indian, American and local projects. The TV projects comprise a Turkish series in addition to Arabic ones. The total spend on productions in the Emirate was close to AED 60 million this year which is set to grow further in the coming months.