Abu Dhabi in talks with Hollywood’s biggest film producers to bring movies to capital

Los Angeles // Hollywood's biggest film producers are locked in talks with the UAE Government over new filming opportunities in Abu Dhabi, the emirate's Media Zone Authority twofour54 has said.
Twofour54, which has been set up to develop media and entertainment content in the region, said it was talking to film giants including Fox, Sony and Disney about bringing their productions to the capital, said Noura Al Kaabi, the chief executive of twofour54 and a member of the Federal National Council.
The free zone authority is hoping that the introduction of Etihad's daily direct flights to Los Angeles will encourage more Hollywood filmmakers to shoot in the capital, where the Abu Dhabi Government offers enticing incentives including a rebate of up to 30 per cent for all filming costs in the emirate.
"We are talking to Universal, we're talking to Fox, we're talking to Sony Pictures. We're talking to Disney. We're talking to other small players as well," Ms Al Kaabi said before a gala dinner to promote the new service, which launched last week.
"Movies came to Abu Dhabi before inaugurating the Etihad flight to LA and that's due to us announcing the rebate scheme. The majority of the studio producers from New York to London come all the way to Abu Dhabi [before the new service], but right now I think it will drive a lot of business back to Abu Dhabi. It's really important for us to have such flights. It's how we utilise our Emirati airline to support us in what we are doing."
Over the past year Abu Dhabi has been chosen for filming by the long-anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII, the paranormal thriller Deliver Us From Evil from Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious 7 and the Bollywood feature film Bang Bang from Fox Star Studios.
Ms Al Kaabi declined to say how much of a rebate the authority had given to the Star Wars producers to film in AbuDhabi. "It was 30 per cent of the Abu Dhabi filming budget. The majority of the film was luckily filmed in Pine Wood studios [in the UK]."
She said that the authority was exploring ways to preserve the two Star Wars sets built in Abu Dhabi in a museum in the capital – probably on Saadiyat Island.
"We are storing them until we curate them with the support of our friends in the Cultural District," she said. "We haven't finalised the location, but it is likely to be Saadiyat."
However, she added that all productions wishing to film in Abu Dhabi would have to abide by twofour54's strict code of content, which includes avoiding nudity, sex, politics or the harming of any religion.
"If a film says it is set in Abu Dhabi and it has, say, a sex scene [that is filmed in another location] we don't want the whole film," Ms Al Kaabi said. "From what we do in the country and how our foreign policy is should dictate what content is being filmed in Abu Dhabi or in the region. The framework is clear. It's how you look at the whole context. Any film that is filmed in Abu Dhabi, we read all the scripts."
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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