Oscar-winning Dune team to host masterclasses in Abu Dhabi in November

Leading Hollywood filmmakers behind the Dune franchise will host masterclasses in Abu Dhabi in November, offering insights into the art and logistics of big-budget film production.

The Creative Media Authority has announced two full-day sessions on November 1 and 2 at Sandstorm Studio in Yas Creative Hub, organised in collaboration with Creative Lab and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission.

The workshops will be led by Dune’s Oscar-winning production designer Patrice Vermette, alongside Legendary Entertainment executives Herb Gains, executive vice president of physical production, and Sam Kozhaya, executive vice president of operations and corporate development.

Topics will range from creative and physical production to film finance and budgeting, with sessions exploring how set design and production intersect, the role of a producer, and how large-scale films are greenlit. Each masterclass will accommodate 100 participants, beginning at 10am.

Director Denis Villeneuve, seen here with actress Rebecca Ferguson, is returning to Abu Dhabi to film Dune: Part Three. AP

Mohamed Dobay, acting director general of the Creative Media Authority, said the initiative was part of continuing efforts to strengthen the local screen sector. “As the custodian of Abu Dhabi’s creative industries, we look for our production partnerships to stretch as far as possible for the benefit of our creative ecosystem,” he said.

Gains said he looked forward to “discussing the complexity of filmmaking with the Abu Dhabi creative community, including how we brought the world of Dune to life in the Liwa Desert”.

Abu Dhabi is a principal filming location for the upcoming third instalment of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science-fiction saga. The new chapter will again transform Liwa’s vast golden dunes into the planet of Arrakis, with production support from the CMA, Abu Dhabi Film Commission and ImageNation.

More than 180 international productions have filmed in the emirate, from Mission: Impossible and Star Wars to F1 The Movie and Fast & Furious, attracted by Abu Dhabi’s 30 per cent cashback rebate and diverse landscapes.

Registration for the masterclasses is now open through the CMA website.

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