We scout and manage locations in Dubai: streets, desert, beaches, hotels, offices, studios and private villas. You receive photographs from the angle you will shoot, access and parking notes, a named contact at the location, and a backup if the first site falls through a week before the shoot.
What a scout pack contains
- Photographs from your planned camera positions, at the time of day you will shoot.
- What sits just outside the frame: signage, construction, a flight path, a mosque with a call to prayer.
- Access for trucks and crew, parking, power, toilets and shade.
- Who owns the site and what permission they need: a location letter, a no-objection certificate or a public filming permit.
- A backup location with the same notes.
Standing in for other cities
The Dubai Film and TV Commission notes that neighbourhoods here can stand in for other cities. A street that reads as European may still sit inside a private community with its own security and rules. We check access as carefully as the look, because a beautiful street you cannot close is not a location.
Desert, beach and heat
Desert days need four-wheel-drive access, water, shade and an early call; beaches and parks often sit with a specific authority or operator. From late spring to early autumn the heat decides the schedule, so outdoor work tends to run early morning and late afternoon.
Managing the location on the day
Scouting is half the job. On the day, a location manager keeps the owner's rules, protects floors and neighbours, handles parking and hands the site back as it was found. That is how a location says yes a second time.
Questions
- Do you lock locations for us?
- We scout, recommend, negotiate and manage. The owner still has the final yes, and we get it in writing before the shoot.
- Can Dubai stand in for another city?
- Often, if the script and the street agree. The official commission notes Dubai locations can double for other cities, but local permission still applies to every one of them.
- Do private locations need a filming permit?
- A private owner's written consent is needed, and a professional shoot usually still goes through the Dubai Film and TV Commission. Read filming permit Dubai for what the file holds.
- How far ahead should we scout?
- As early as the dates are real. Permits and owner approvals take time, and the best backup locations are the ones found before they are needed.
Ready when you are.