Dubai Studio City Smoothes Way for Paris Hilton Reality Show in Dubai

Dubai Studio City (DSC), the dedicated film production cluster and a member of TECOM Investments, announced today that it has smoothed the way for a season of Paris Hilton’s My New BFF to be shot on-location in Dubai in the coming month.

DSC facilitated the government approvals and locations approval through the Dubai Studio City’s Location Approval Services (LAS) department, as well as arranging sponsorship for show.

Viola Communications has been engaged to handle day-to-day production of the show, which is based on a format that has proven successful in both the US and the UK. In this version Paris will visit Dubai and invites potential best friends to compete in tests of loyalty, endurance and girl politics to find her perfect Best Friend Forever (BFF).

Jamal Al Sharif, Executive Director, Dubai Studio City, said: “A secure operational environment, remarkably attractive locales, incomparable logistical advantages and an expanding local talent base have made Dubai the preferred destination for film and television production.

“The decision to film the latest installment of Paris Hilton’s reality show in Dubai is a testament to our success in establishing Dubai as a preeminent and unique location for television production by facilitating the creation and development of an environment and world-class infrastructure to foster the growth of the television, film and music industries in the region.”

(LAS) department is the exclusive authority for issuing all shooting approvals in Dubai, LAS industry data collected over the past three years shows a strong and growing demand for production services., The department achieved a 33 percent growth from 2007 to 2008, receiving 1100 applications in 2008.

Mary Ghobrial, Project consultant, Viola Communications said: “TECOM Investments has been extremely supportive since the beginning of the project. The Dubai Studio City team has been instrumental in acquiring government approvals as well as the locations approval. They also greatly assisted us in finding sponsors for the programme Dubai is now a very attractive destination for the film industry.”

Spread over an area of 22 million sq ft, Dubai Studio City has 14 fully equipped sound stages, a 3.5 million sq ft back lot for outdoor shooting, commercial offices, pre-built studios, a business centre and post-production studios. The first phase of the development includes three sound stages – one 15,000 sq ft unit and two units of 25,000 sq ft each.

Dubai Festival City Welcomes Paris Hilton And Offers Shoppers A Chance To Win Tickets To Exclusive VIP After-Party

Dubai, Festival City is all geared up to host Paris Hilton in Dubai, during her reality show "Best Friends Forever" for its UAE debut, and offer 2 lucky fans the opportunity to celebrate with Paris Hilton in style, at an exclusive VIP Finale party to be held at Four Season Golf Club during the first days of July 2009.

Dubai Festival City will celebrate its backing of the hit show by offering shoppers who spend a minimum of AED 1000/- at any Festival Centre store to be eligible to win free Paris Hilton merchandise from her very own store based in the Centre and a chance to be entered for the grand prize of 2 tickets to "Paris Hilton’s new BFF-Dubai" VIP Finale party. The raffle draw will be held daily from June 11th to 30th 2009 and updates on the lucky winners can be found on www.dubaifestivalcity.com . Paris is in Dubai to film her BFF reality television show, whose auditions have been held at Dubai Festival City over the last week and seen a huge turnout of potential contestants. Her presence in the Gulf and filming of the reality show also coincides with the launch of her flagship store at Festival City.

Opting to stay on-site for three weeks, at the award winning complex’s InterContinental Dubai Festival City Hotel, the international socialite and heiress to one of the largest fortunes in the world, will also be shopping at the 450 + retail outlets at Festival Centre and showing contestants around the mall. Filming of the show will take place at the mall to showcase the vibrancy and glamour of East meets West through Festival Centre’s old souk charm, waterfront pavilions and modern retail outlets. Having received numerous national and international award, including the prestigious “Retail Destination of the Year” at the Retail ME Awards 2008, it is no surprise that Dubai Festival City has become the quintessential “retail resort” and venue of choice for many celebrities and A-listers on their visits to Dubai.

As a premier waterfront urban community Dubai Festival City offers a shopping mecca, with over 2.9 million sq feet of retail area, 8 world renowned hotels, over 3 km of waterfront cornice and 2 themed waterfront pavilions which house over 450 shops and 25 international flagship shores. In addition to being a major tourist destination, they are also fast becoming the leading residential and commercial address within Dubai.