Film fixing in Abu Dhabi from the twofour54 Yas Creative Hub campus
Abu Dhabi is where Blazing Sand Studios is registered, and it is where our headquarters sits: twofour54 Yas Creative Hub on Yas Island. Film fixing in the capital is a local service from that campus, not a remote coordination exercise. We help visiting productions with locations, filming and content approvals, local crew and on-the-ground production management in Abu Dhabi, and we help eligible projects understand the UAE rebate of up to 35% of UAE spend. The company is founded in 2019 and registered with the Creative Media Authority in Abu Dhabi as GID Global Media Production. Paris Norriss, CEO and Executive Producer, built the company here as an Abu Dhabi-registered, Dubai-based production house — with the main Dubai office at Upside Living 2507, Business Bay, and the Abu Dhabi HQ on the twofour54 campus.
How this page differs from the UAE fixing hub
Our film fixing page is the nationwide offer: the Emirates as a whole, from coasts and cities to desert and mountain locations. This page is for producers whose shoot is centred on Abu Dhabi, or whose first production question is how to work from the capital. The UAE filming permits page goes deeper on approvals alone. Use this page when you need the wider fixer package — locations, crew, logistics and permit support — with Abu Dhabi as the base.
We will not invent studio partners to make the campus sound larger than it is. We operate from twofour54 Yas Creative Hub. That is our headquarters address. It is not a claim of exclusive facilities, unnamed co-productions, or partnerships we have not verified.
What Abu Dhabi fixing typically includes
- Location scouting and access planning across the emirate, matching the treatment rather than a generic landmarks list
- Filming and content approval support through our CMA registration as GID Global Media Production
- Local crew and production coordination for visiting directors and producers
- Scheduling that respects lead times for approvals, call sheets and location conditions
- Production administration through the shoot, so the visiting team is not inventing a local office on the fly
- Help understanding the UAE rebate of up to 35% of eligible UAE spend, without treating eligibility as a guarantee
Abu Dhabi briefs vary widely: a documentary built around cultural sites, a commercial that needs controlled interiors and clean exteriors, a series that splits days between the city and the wider emirate, or a hybrid job that pairs live-action plates with later AI video production. The fixer’s job is to make those differences visible in the plan, not to force every project into the same template.
Why a CMA-registered company on the twofour54 campus matters
Visiting productions often need a local entity that already understands how approvals, insurance and call-sheet reality fit together. Because we produce our own adventure and destination television — including Guy in Dubai, Guy in the Sky and the feature documentary 39 Days to Paradise — we talk about access as filmmakers. Shows from our slate have been distributed in 123 countries, including work carried by Amazon Prime, Apple TV and OSN. That does not mean every visiting commercial becomes a series. It does mean the people handling your Abu Dhabi days have delivered finished programmes, not only logistics spreadsheets.
The campus location is practical. Producers coming into Abu Dhabi can brief, review and problem-solve with a team that is already based at twofour54 Yas Creative Hub, then continue through our Dubai office when the schedule also needs Business Bay. For productions that stay entirely in the capital, the Abu Dhabi headquarters is the working base.
Rebate conversations without theatre
Eligible productions filming in the UAE can qualify for a rebate of up to 35% of total UAE spend. We help productions understand what that involves on the ground: the approvals a project needs, the records of spend that later questions will ask for, and the difference between a creative wish and a file that can be reviewed. We will not promise that a particular project will receive the rebate, or quote a guaranteed figure before the project itself has been assessed.
If rebate is part of the reason you chose Abu Dhabi, say so in the first conversation. It changes how locations, suppliers and permit records should be organised. Leaving that conversation until wrap is how productions lose time they cannot get back.
Who this Abu Dhabi page is for
- International producers whose UAE shoot is based in Abu Dhabi
- Brands and agencies that need capital-city locations with a local fixer attached
- Documentary and destination teams whose access questions are specific, not generic
- Incoming productions that already have a director but need local crew, permits and production management
- Producers who may later want the same company to handle production or post production
Commercial clients we can name elsewhere on this site include Rebel Entertainment, Tadbeer and Rotana Hotels. We will not add invented Abu Dhabi clients to dress up this page. If a project is a fit, the conversation should start with your treatment and dates, not with a list of logos.
How an Abu Dhabi fixing engagement typically runs
- Treatment review. What you want to film, where you think it happens, and which parts of that plan are already confirmed.
- Access and approvals plan. Locations, likely permit needs and a realistic lead time.
- Crew and logistics. Local team, transport, communications and the daily working pattern.
- Shoot support. On-the-ground production management while cameras are turning.
- Records. Paperwork and spend notes organised for wrap, delivery and any rebate review.
- Optional next steps. Finishing in our post team, or a conversation about distribution if the title needs one.
Preparing an Abu Dhabi fixing brief
Write down the story, not only the city name. Which sequences must be in Abu Dhabi, and which could move if a location is unavailable? Note specialist needs early: aerial work, underwater, vehicles, night shoots, children, or scenes involving members of the public. Each of those changes lead time and the approvals conversation.
Provide a draft schedule and a single producing contact who can make decisions. Share insurance status and the legal name of the producing entity. If you already have preferred locations, say whether those are confirmed with owners or still a reference image from a recce video. Distinguish must-have scenes from sequences that can be redesigned. That honesty lets us tell you where the plan is strong and where it is exposed.
If the production will also shoot in Dubai or elsewhere in the Emirates, say so. The nationwide fixing offer and this Abu Dhabi page can sit together; the point is to assign a base and a lead so the visiting team is not coordinating two unofficial offices. Our Business Bay team remains available when the call sheet crosses emirates. The headquarters for this service, and the registration that sits behind it, are in Abu Dhabi.
We will not invent a faster path than the approvals actually require. We will not claim partnerships with other studios on the campus. We will prepare an Abu Dhabi shoot so that what appears in the treatment can be attempted on the days you have, with the documents you need in hand.
[Start a project →] with a treatment and intended dates, even if the location list is still in draft.
FAQ
Do you have an office in Abu Dhabi?
Yes. Our headquarters is at twofour54 Yas Creative Hub, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. We are registered with the Creative Media Authority as GID Global Media Production.
How is this different from your main film fixing page?
The main fixing page covers the UAE as a whole. This page is for productions based in Abu Dhabi and working from our twofour54 campus headquarters.
Do you partner with other studios at twofour54?
We operate our own headquarters on the twofour54 Yas Creative Hub campus. We do not claim studio partnerships that have not been verified.
Can you help with the UAE rebate of up to 35%?
Yes, as guidance. Eligible productions may access a rebate of up to 35% of UAE spend. We help you understand the process; we do not guarantee the outcome.
Can you also handle filming permits?
Yes. Permit and content-approval support is part of fixing, and it is covered in more detail on our UAE filming permits page.
Do you only fix, or can you produce as well?
Both. We are a full production company and can continue from fixing into production and post when the brief requires it.