Location Agreements

Here is how this works in practice. We draft and negotiate location agreements that give shoots secure, clearly defined access to UAE filming sites. Our team prepares contracts with private property owners, developers, hotels and institutions, setting out fees, shooting dates, permitted activities, insurance needs, liability allocation and restoration obligations. Many high-profile UAE locations are managed by single body-level owners, so we negotiate directly with the bodies controlling sites such as the Museum of the Future, the Louvre Abu Dhabi or developments on the Palm Jumeirah, and we set up location agreements alongside the emirate-level permits issued by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission and the Dubai Film and TV Commission.

Agreements are denominated in dirhams. The work happens where the AED's peg to the US dollar at roughly 3.67 keeps fees predictable. We make sure each contract reflects UAE cultural sensitivity, specific for heritage sites and religious locations.

Here is the short of it. Well-structured location agreements protect shoots of each kind shooting in the UAE. The country's range of filming environments, the heritage textures of the Al Fahidi historic district in old Dubai, the cultural institutions of Saadiyat Island, the dune seas of the Liwa Desert and the mountain landscapes of Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah, each carries different ownership, access and conservation needs.

Here is the breakdown. Major shoots such as 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' and 'Furious 7' secured layered agreements for landmark access. While 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' and both 'Dune' films contracted wide desert-area access deep in the Empty Quarter. We expect the obligations each site imposes, build in clear damage and cancellation provisions, and keep an auditable record of each agreement so the production's access is legally certain from prep through wrap.