Digital Domain Media Group has created effects for more than 90 films including Transformers. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Digital Domain Media Group has created effects for more than 90 films including Transformers. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Business

Hi-tech jobs in balance as Digital Domain files for bankruptcy

As many as 500 jobs proposed for Abu Dhabi hang in the balance after Digital Domain Media Group files for bankruptcy protection in the US.

Ben Flanagan

September 23, 2012

As many as 500 hi-tech film industry jobs for Abu Dhabi are in doubt after Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG), an Oscar-winning US special effects company planning to set up in the capital, filed for bankruptcy protection.
The company, founded by the Titanic director James Cameron, said in May it was setting up a studio at the twofour54 media zone in Abu Dhabi. But that hangs in the balance after DDMG, which has created effects for more than 90 films including Transformers and Tron: Legacy, this month filed for Chapter 11 protection with just US$50,000 (Dh183,645) left in the bank, weighed down by debt and unable to meet its payroll obligations. The company, founded in 1993, had planned to employ more than 500 people in Abu Dhabi.
An executive with knowledge of the situation said it was still possible Digital Domain would set up a base in the UAE - but said it depended on the outcome of the court proceedings in the United States. "It's down to what comes out of the Chapter 11 process," said the executive, who did not wish to be named.
DDMG said in May it would begin producing visual effects and animation from Abu Dhabi at the beginning of next year.
It laid out plans to occupy a 14,000 square metre animation, visual effects and motion-capture studio, which was expected to be operational by the end of 2015.
The studios were due to be accompanied by a Digital Domain Institute media school, which was set to launch at the beginning of 2014 and have a focus on training UAE nationals and other Arabs.
DDMG said in May the "studio and school are funded by $100 million in grants from the Abu Dhabi Government". The status of those grant payments is not clear.
Julie Miller, a spokeswoman for Digital Domain, said she was unable to provide information on whether the company still intended to pursue the Abu Dhabi venture.
"We don't have any further information on the status of that plan," she said.
A spokesman for twofour54 declined to comment.
bflanagan@thenational.ae

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Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

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Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

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Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

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Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.

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On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.

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