Abu Dhabi to launch incentives to lure movie makers

twofour54, the media and creative industries hub, and its Abu Dhabi Film Commission unit is set to launch the region's first incentive scheme to lure international film makers to the UAE capital. The scheme comes as it looks to accelerate Abu Dhabi as the first choice for movie producers needing location, production and post-production services. The scheme, which was announced at the Cannes Film Festival, will be operational from September 1, the company said in a statement on Sunday. The incentive, in the form of a rebate of up to 30 percent of spend in Abu Dhabi, will be available for feature films, TV, documentary, advertising and music video production, it added. The qualifying spend relates to goods and services sourced from Abu Dhabi and for relevant expenditure on location or studio filming and post-production. It will also cover costs relating to the contracting of any UAE registered crew and services for activities in Abu Dhabi. Temporary accommodation costs in Abu Dhabi, as well as airline tickets and freight booked on Etihad Airways, will also qualify for the rebate. The incentive scheme is back up by state of the art facilities, twofour54 said, including 10 fully-HD studios, 23 post-production suites and the region's only Baselight colour grading facility. Recent productions shot with twofour54 including the summer blockbuster The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz for Universal, as well as big budget Bollywood production, Oru Maru Bhoomi Khatha, and the BBC's Wild Arabia. "Our new incentive scheme is unique in the MENA region and focussed on attracting international and regional productions to Abu Dhabi," explained Wayne Borg, deputy CEO and chief operating officer of twofour54. "This initiative reflects the culmination of our efforts to put in place all the key ingredients to reinforce our position as the regional hub and first choice, go-to place for producers. "We expect to accelerate production activity and in doing so fulfil our objective to further fuel the development of the regional media industry by providing the opportunity for Arab filmmakers, crew and production support companies to work alongside their international counterparts."