Abu Dhabi is stepping up efforts to lure more film and TV shoots to the United Arab Emirates’ capital by enhancing its new rebate which is now set to reach up to 50% of qualified below-the-line spend starting in January 2025.

This promotes the UAE capital as a leading production location… Abu Dhabi’s decade-long reputation as a destination of choice for some of the biggest filmmakers and movie studios on the planet has just received a supercharge with the news that producers will be eligible for a 50 per cent rebate on in-market production and post-production

The uplift has a points-based system where productions scoring between 10 to 14 points gain a 2.5 per cent uplift, in addition to the baseline of 35 per cent, through to a 15 per cent uplift on the baseline for productions scoring 85 points or above.

Abu Dhabi is hoping to attract the best of Hollywood, Bollywood and the Arab world to the emirate via an increased TV and film rebate that could save studios as much as $10 million on each production.

The rebate will also be available for additional production formats, including reality TV, game shows, short films and animations

Film and television productions in Abu Dhabi can receive up to 50 per cent cashback if they meet a newly revealed list of criteria. These include highlighting the UAE’s culture and history within the production and hiring Emiratis in above-the-line cast and crew roles.