Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent After becoming a prime Middle East hub for Hollywood and Bollywood productions Abu Dhabi is raising its rebate on film and TV productions and is at the Mipcom TV market looking to lure more business to the United Arab Emirates capital and the surrounding area.
The Abu Dhabi Film Commission has announced they are upping their existing 30% rebate to more than 35% of qualified below-the-line spend starting in January 2025.
The move is a first step of a broader “enhancement across all of the the creative industry verticals” in the Emirates capital, said in a statement Mohamed Dobay – acting director general of Abu Dhabi’s Creative Media Authority (CMA) that oversees the film commission – “to ensure an even more attractive offering for as thriving industry,” he added.
Khalid Khouri, director of industry development at CMA, in an interview, told Variety that Abu Dhabi’s previously announced world class studio facility named twofour54 Studios which comprises soundstages, an exterior water tank, and six versatile standing sets, will be “hopefully be ready within a year.” Meanwhile, they are “looking at building our crew base,” he said, noting that there are more than 1,000 freelancers that are licensed by the CMA to work in production.
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