How much video production costs in Dubai a 2026 price guide
On our own quoting, video production cost is settled long before anyone opens a camera case, and two decisions set it. The tier of team you put behind the camera chooses the band, and the number of shoot days you plan the work into decides where inside that band you land. Location, edit, music and paperwork all move the number, but they move it inside a band those two decisions have already chosen.
This guide gives you our three team tiers and their indicative bands, so you know roughly what a budget buys before you brief anyone. Then the levers that move a quote inside a tier, using the only numbers we will stand behind, which are our own. Then a way to read two proposals against each other. It also prices the filming permits, which are among the smallest figures here.
Two decisions set the budget
The tier of team behind the camera sets the band. The number of shoot days, and how much work is planned into each one, sets where inside it you land. On our own numbers a second shoot day roughly doubles the total, and batching several videos into a single day saves more than 30 per cent against shooting them separately.
What video production cost in Dubai actually means in 2026
A single headline figure is useful as a reference point and misleading as a budget, because it hides two separate questions. Who is shooting it, and over how many days. A solo operator with a mirrorless camera and a laptop is not selling the same thing as a directed crew with a lighting package and a planned grade. The bands below are Grolez Films' own indicative ranges, drawn from our experience of pricing and running jobs. No figure here describes what another company charges, because we have not surveyed anyone.
The three tiers, and the floor underneath them
These are our own three tiers, and the buyer chooses one before a frame is shot. Pick the wrong one and you either overpay for a quick clip or underspend on a film that has to carry a brand.
Solo videographer
One person shoots and edits, around AED 3,500 for a day plus a straightforward cut. An indicative market cost for that tier. Grolez Films does not sell it.
DOP plus small crew
A director of photography leads the look, with crew for lighting and sound, AED 25,000 to 45,000.
Full production
Multiple shoot days, cast talent, secured locations, often VFX, from AED 100,000 into the several hundred thousands.
The floor: a solo videographer, around AED 3,500 for a day
At the entry tier one person both shoots and cuts. A day of filming plus a straightforward edit costs around AED 3,500 in this market. That is the indicative cost of hiring that tier, not a Grolez Films rate, because Grolez Films does not work at that tier and does not sell it. It is here as the floor everything above it is measured against.
What it buys is one skill set on the day. What it does not buy is direction, a lighting and sound crew, or a separate post stage. So if a videographer at around AED 3,500 covers your brief, hire one. You do not need us.
A director of photography with a small crew, AED 25,000 to 45,000
The middle tier runs AED 25,000 to 45,000. A director of photography, the senior camera role on a crew, owns how the film looks rather than pointing a camera at whatever the light happens to be doing. Lighting and sound are handled by people whose only job that day is lighting and sound. Post-production becomes a planned stage with its own schedule.
Full production, from AED 100,000 upwards
The top tier starts around AED 100,000 and runs into the several hundred thousands. The jump buys scale: multiple shoot days, cast talent, secured locations, often VFX or animation, and a longer post schedule behind all of it.
What each band takes to deliver
Timelines track the size of the job rather than the calendar you would like. On our own numbers a job under AED 20,000 turns around in one to two weeks, AED 25,000 to 50,000 in two to four, and AED 60,000 and above in three to twelve.
What moves the number inside a tier
Watch out
If you are scoping a year of content, plan the whole slate first and then book the days. Two planned days beat five unplanned ones on both cost and coherence.
Tier sets the band. Four levers decide where inside it your quote lands, and three of them are yours to pull before anyone quotes you.
Shoot days are the multiplier
Days are the blunt instrument. On our own numbers, adding a second shoot day roughly doubles the total. That is not a rounding error to be negotiated away afterwards, which is why scope discipline in pre-production saves more than haggling does.
Post-production is about a third of a job
Post is the wrong line to trim at the end. On our own numbers the edit and the grade come to about a third of a job. Colour grading is a separate stage from editing, and when a quote folds it into a vague editing line you cannot tell whether it has been budgeted at all.
Batching is where the saving actually is
Batching several videos into a single shoot day saves more than 30 per cent against shooting them separately, on our own numbers, because the crew, the setup, the location and the travel are paid once and shared across everything captured that day. A planned day yields around five finished videos, depending on the size of each one.
The catch is that batching is won in pre-production. You only get the pieces you planned for.
The items that sit outside the headline number
These items belong somewhere, and a headline number does not always say where. Ask where each sits in the quote rather than assuming: revisions beyond the included rounds, additional language versions, Arabic voice-over among them, music licensing, talent buyouts, aerial work, overtime and rush premiums. They cause trouble only when they surface after the number has been signed off.
How to read a video production quote
If two proposals for the same brief come back a long way apart, both may still be fair. When we quote against another company the gap is usually quality level first, then scope and size, so normalise the scope before comparing totals. Ask for the quote itemised across pre-production, the shoot, post-production, revisions and delivery, with colour grading on its own line, because grading is a distinct craft with a distinct cost and it disappears when it is bundled into editing.
A fair revision policy names the number of rounds included and what an extra one costs, in writing, before the work starts. An open-ended promise is not generosity if nobody has agreed what a round is.
Confirm ownership in writing too. Our own term is that the client owns the finished film, and raw files are supplied on request. What a valid transfer of rights has to state is covered in the Journal's guide to who owns your footage.
The standard rate of VAT in the UAE is five per cent, levied on a taxable supply of goods or services. Confirm whether a range you are quoted is inclusive or exclusive of it.
Good to know
Put two quotes side by side stage for stage rather than total against total, so you are comparing the same work rather than two end figures.
What the filming permits actually cost
Good to know
A large permit line in a quote is worth a question rather than a suspicion. Ask what it covers, because location hire, security and on-the-ground handling are real costs that are not the government fee.
Permits are worth getting right and they are a small line. Here is what the authorities publish.
Dubai
The Dubai Film and TV Commission charges a non-refundable processing fee of AED 520 per application, and one application can cover permit requests for multiple days and multiple locations.
Government location fees are set by Executive Decision No. 50 of 2014 and published as a matrix, with the rows below conditioned on a UAE licensed production company or broadcaster. Corporate videos and footage are charged AED 2,500 for up to seven days, advertisements for TV and online AED 2,500 for up to three days, and aerial filming is listed at zero for up to seven days. News and current events commissioned by a UAE licensed broadcaster is also listed at zero, for up to thirty days. Private locations are charged from zero to a maximum of AED 25,000 per day, varying with production requirements, post-filming clean-up, security and additional services. So the processing fee is fixed and the location fee is not.
The fines are the larger numbers on that page: AED 25,000 for filming without permission, AED 15,000 for filming without the location's permission, AED 25,000 for filming for activities other than those in the permit, and AED 20,000 for other violations, including aerial filming without permission from the concerned parties. The permit is cheap. Skipping it is not.
Abu Dhabi
In Abu Dhabi the permits are issued by the Creative Media Authority, and content approval is required before a ground, aerial or marine filming permit. The Abu Dhabi Film Commission is a division of that authority and its own permits page publishes no fee schedule. Cabinet Resolution No. 41 of 2025, in the Competent Authority's schedule, prices a ground, aerial or maritime filming permit at AED 500 for one day and a series script clearance at AED 500 per script. That figure belongs to the resolution rather than to the Commission.
Keep them in proportion
On a project in the AED 25,000 to 45,000 tier, an AED 520 processing fee and an AED 2,500 government location fee are close to a rounding line. Permits are administration, and administration is not what makes a film expensive. Crew, days and post are. The Journal's guide to the Dubai filming permit covers the process itself.
Regulated work, and what it does not change
Some categories carry rules that shape what may be filmed and what a film may say. Two published examples.
Aesthetic clinics licensed by the Dubai Health Authority work under its standards for medical advertisement content on social media. Those standards require documented consent from any individual appearing in an advertisement, limited to the subject it was requested for and the period it was granted for. Before and after material may only show patients who actually received the treatment, and must carry a disclaimer that the outcome may vary. Expressions such as unique, the best, safest, the only and 100 per cent are prohibited, and there is to be no video filming or live streaming for advertising purposes while a patient is under general anaesthesia, or in procedure rooms, anywhere in a licensed facility. Every one of those clauses is scoped to advertisement content on social media.
Real estate advertising runs through the Dubai Land Department, which issues a Real Estate Ad Permit through its Trakheesi system, and for real estate exhibition permits the Department's terms do not allow Dubai off-plan properties that are not registered with the Escrow Account Department to be showcased.
Here is the part the earlier version of this article got wrong. That compliance work does not cost the client more. On our own pricing a regulated brief costs the same as an unregulated one at the same tier. The consent, the sign-off chain and the claim checking are real work, covered across this Journal, but they are not a premium on your invoice.
Where Grolez Films sits, and what we shoot
Grolez Films works in the directed-crew and full-production tiers, not the solo tier. Across the work on grolez.com that covers commercial video, food video, sports and action video, stop motion animation, social media video, corporate video and interview, web series content, fashion brand video, automotive video, music video, underwater video, documentary production, explainer and educational video, and pet cinematic films.
Luis Grolez, the founder, pitches and reviews every job personally, so the plan you are given comes from the person who reviews it.
Common questions
What does a video actually cost in Dubai?
It depends which tier you buy. A solo videographer who shoots and edits costs around AED 3,500 for a day in this market, a tier Grolez Films does not sell. A director of photography with a small crew runs AED 25,000 to 45,000. A full production starts around AED 100,000. Indicative ranges from our own experience, not a rate card.
How many videos can we get out of one shoot day?
On our own numbers, around five finished videos, depending on the size of each one, and that is a planned day rather than a hopeful one. Batching several pieces into one day saves more than 30 per cent against shooting them separately, because crew, setup, location and travel are paid once.
How much do the permits add to the budget?
Less than the tier and the number of days do. Dubai charges a non-refundable AED 520 processing fee per application, covering several days and locations. Government locations are AED 2,500 for corporate videos and footage for up to seven days, and private locations run from zero to a maximum of AED 25,000 a day. Against a project in the AED 25,000 to 45,000 band that is a small line.
Does a clinic or hotel film cost more because of the rules?
No. On our own pricing a regulated brief costs the same as an unregulated one at the same tier. The compliance work is real, the Dubai Health Authority's social media advertising standards being one published example, but it is not a premium added to your invoice, and an earlier version of this article was wrong to suggest otherwise.
Why do two quotes for the same brief come back so far apart?
Because they may be buying different standards and different scopes. Asked why our own quote differs from another company's, the honest answer is quality level above all, then scope and size. Ask each supplier to itemise pre-production, the shoot, post-production, revisions and delivery, with colour grading on its own line, and confirm whether the totals include VAT.
How long will it take, and who owns it at the end?
On our own numbers a job under AED 20,000 turns around in one to two weeks, AED 25,000 to 50,000 in two to four, and AED 60,000 and above in three to twelve. Our own term is that the client owns the finished film, with raw files on request. Confirm the equivalent in writing with whoever you hire.
What to hold onto, in one pass
Watch out
Every Grolez figure here is an indicative range from our own experience of pricing and running jobs, not a published rate and not a market survey. Scope, tier, location and schedule can each move a real quote outside the band shown here, so confirm any number against a real brief before you commit a budget.
The tier of team sets the band: around AED 3,500 for a solo videographer day in this market, a tier we do not sell, AED 25,000 to 45,000 for a director of photography with a small crew, AED 100,000 upwards for a full production. Days set where inside the band you land, because a second shoot day roughly doubles the total. Batching into one planned day saves more than 30 per cent and yields around five finished videos. Post is about a third of a job and the last place to cut. Delivery runs one to two weeks under AED 20,000, two to four at AED 25,000 to 50,000, three to twelve above AED 60,000. Permits are administration. And a regulated brief costs the same as any other at the same tier.
Grolez Films: see the work, then get in touch
We work in the directed-crew and full-production tiers, we plan slates into fewer, fuller shoot days because that is where the saving is, and Luis Grolez, the founder, pitches and reviews every job personally.
See the work first, because a band is an abstraction and a film is not. Then get in touch with the slate, the deadline and the budget you actually have, and we will tell you which tier it belongs in, including when the answer is one you can book without us.
Sources and methodology
The fee material is primary and was read directly on 17 August 2026. The Dubai Film and TV Commission's permit-fees page supplies the AED 520 processing fee, the multiple-days-and-locations note, the government location matrix under Executive Decision No. 50 of 2014, the private location range and the fines. It opened only to a Googlebot user-agent, the site being a Salesforce community that returns an empty shell to ordinary requests. The Abu Dhabi Film Commission's permits page was read the same day and publishes no fee schedule of its own, so the AED 500 one-day permit fee is attributed to Cabinet Resolution No. 41 of 2025, read in the Creative Media Authority's own published copy of the resolution, and in the Competent Authority's schedule rather than the federal Council's, which carries identically numbered items at the same price. The VAT rate comes from the UAE government portal, the clinic clauses from the Dubai Health Authority's standards document, and the advertising permit from the Dubai Land Department.
Every figure describing Grolez Films is an approximation from our own experience of pricing and running jobs, confirmed internally on 15, 16 and 17 August 2026, and none is a published rate. The AED 3,500 solo figure is an indicative market cost for a tier Grolez Films does not sell, confirmed by the founder on 17 August 2026.
Several things are deliberately not claimed. No market average, no survey of what other companies charge, and no share-of-budget figure beyond our own. The per-asset price table this article carried until August has been withdrawn, because the Journal publishes indicative ranges rather than per-asset prices. The claim that regulated categories cost a tier more, argued at length in earlier versions, was withdrawn because it is not true of our pricing. The airspace side of aerial work is not costed: the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority's site returned only a client-rendered shell on every retrieval route tried on 17 August 2026, so nothing here describes the drone permission structure, and the aerial figure above is the Commission's government-location fee only. Informational, and not legal or tax advice. Prepared 17 August 2026.
- Dubai Film and TV Commission, permit fees, for the AED 520 processing fee, the government location matrix under Executive Decision No. 50 of 2014, the private location range and the fines, retrieved 17 August 2026: filmdubai.gov.ae
- Abu Dhabi Film Commission, filming permits, for the issuing authority, the content-approval requirement and the absence of a published schedule, retrieved 17 August 2026: film.gov.ae
- Cabinet Resolution No. 41 of 2025, Table (2), for the AED 500 one-day filming permit and the AED 500 series script clearance, issued 16 April 2025, read in the Creative Media Authority's published copy, retrieved 17 August 2026: cma.gov.ae
- UAE government portal, for the five per cent standard rate of VAT: u.ae
- Dubai Health Authority, Standards for Medical Advertisement Content on Social Media, DHA/HRS/HPSD/ST-21 v1.1, effective 3 October 2022, for consent at clauses 6.10 and 6.10.1, before and after material at Appendix 2 item 12 and clause 9.6, prohibited expressions at clause 6.11, and the filming prohibition at clause 9.7: dha.gov.ae
- Dubai Land Department, Real Estate Ad Permit, for the permit, the Trakheesi system and the escrow term under the Real Estate Exhibition Permit heading: dubailand.gov.ae