Dubai · Guide for brands, PR agencies and event teams
“A launch happens once. The content is what makes it happen again on every phone the next morning.”
Brand launch videography in Dubai starts weeks before the doors open and ends days after the last guest leaves. The night itself is only one of four jobs: pre-launch content that builds anticipation, coverage of the event, same-night selects for social and press, and the cut-downs that keep the launch running for a week. Here is how to plan all four, with real Dubai productions as examples: ALIF by DAMAS with Nadine Njeim, the Anabela Chan event at Bayt Damas, the Affiliate World x Shinz closing party and an FPV fly-through inside a Dubai tower.
Anabela Chan at Bayt Damas · Dubai
01 · The plan
The four stages of launch content
Brands often book a launch event photographer in Dubai for the evening and only think about the rest afterwards. By then the best pre-launch moments have gone, and nobody planned for a same-night edit. Treat the launch as one production with four deliverables.
| Stage | When | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-launch | Weeks before | Campaign film, behind the scenes and teasers that build anticipation and give press something to run |
| The night | The event | Arrivals, the reveal, speeches, talent, the room at its fullest, product details |
| Same-night selects | During and straight after | A handful of edited photos and short vertical clips for the brand's stories and the guests who want to share |
| Cut-downs | The following days | Recap film, press selects, interviews and vertical cuts for paid and organic social |
02 · Pre-launch
Pre-launch content: ALIF by DAMAS
Introducing ALIF by DAMAS: the studio set and the pendant on camera
Damas named actress Nadine Njeim as the face of the brand in 2021, and the behind-the-scenes film for Introducing ALIF by DAMAS was shot alongside the campaign photographer, Greg Swalsart, in a studio with a grey backdrop. The collection is inspired by the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. A behind-the-scenes film like this is launch content in its own right: it introduces the collection through a known face before anyone has seen it in a store.
Shoot the teaser on the campaign day
The talent, the styling and the set are already there. Plan a few seconds for teasers: a hand, a pendant, a look away from camera.
Product in every moment
Even when the talent is just listening to direction, frame the piece. The film is for the collection.
Respect the embargo
Agree what can be posted before launch day. A leaked product shot can undo months of PR planning.
Record sound on set
A boom over the talent gives you lines to camera and natural sound for a teaser without a separate interview day.
The full story of the Damas productions, including how jewellery is lit on skin, is in the Damas campaign case study.
03 · The night
Launch night: the shot list
SwainUK filmed jewellery designer Anabela Chan at Bayt Damas, in an interview and at the event around it, dated 27 October 2021 in the film's title. Bayt Damas brings jewellery, art, fashion, a café and an exhibition space under one roof, which is exactly the kind of venue where a launch needs a plan, because every room looks good and there is never time to film them all.
| Moment | What to get |
|---|---|
| Before doors | The empty room styled and lit, product displays, the interview with the designer or founder while it's quiet |
| Arrivals | Guests at the backdrop, talent arriving, the first wide of the room filling up |
| The reveal | The product unveiled, reactions on faces, the founder or talent speaking |
| Details | Pieces on skin, displays, signage, food and flowers: everything the brand paid for |
| The room at its peak | One wide from above when the room is fullest; it's the shot organisers use most |
Record the interview before guests arrive. Events are loud, and clean sound is the one thing you can't fix later. More on running an event shot list is in event photography and recap films.
04 · Scale
Showing the whole space: FPV inside a Dubai tower
FPV inside a Dubai tower for a SwainUK event production, 2022
For an event production inside a tower in Dubai in 2022, an FPV drone moved through the whole space in one flow: the arrival, the artwork on the walls, a performance in front of a seated audience and the pool room lit in green. One continuous shot like that tells guests who weren't there how big the night was, and it makes a strong open for the recap film.
The same flight, over the audience
1. Fly it before or between the key moments, never during a speech or the reveal.
2. Walk the route with the venue first, and agree where guests will be.
3. Get the approvals: in Dubai, drones need separate aviation approval on top of the shoot permit. See drone rules for paid shoots.
4. The safety side of indoor FPV at events is covered in FPV for weddings and events.
05 · After dark
Night launches and club light
Affiliate World x Shinz closing party · Bla Bla Dubai
Many Dubai launches end as a party, and party light is the hardest light in video: almost none, then lasers and strobes. The Affiliate World x Shinz closing party at Bla Bla Dubai in 2023 was filmed and cut into a one-minute recap and a vertical Short, opening on a title card and closing on the partners' logos. The Shinz case study covers it in detail; the short version is fast lenses, exposure set for faces, a locked white balance and a small dimmed light for close-ups.
06 · Same night
Same-night selects and the cut-downs
The window for launch content is short. Guests post that night; press want pictures the next morning. Plan the edit as part of the crew, not as something that starts the day after.
| Deliverable | When | How |
|---|---|---|
| Story clips | During the event | Vertical, a few seconds each, sent to the brand's social lead as they happen |
| Same-night selects | By the end of the night | A small set of edited photos: the reveal, the talent, the room, the product |
| Press selects | Next morning | Captioned with names and roles, approved by the brand, in print and web sizes |
| Recap film | Within days | Around a minute, 16:9 and 9:16, partner or sponsor logos at the end |
| Interview and BTS cuts | The following week | The longer pieces that keep the launch on the brand's channels |
On site: a second person to offload cards and edit selects on a laptop, a pre-made grade for the venue's light, and an agreed approval contact who will answer at midnight.
Framing for both shapes at once is covered in shooting vertical-first.
07 · Permits and consent
Permits, consent and creators
A launch in Dubai has three kinds of paperwork, and each one can stop content going out.
The shoot permit
Commercial filming in Dubai needs a permit through a UAE-licensed production company, and private venues issue their own permission. See the Dubai photoshoot permit guide.
Guest consent
UAE law is strict about capturing and publishing people's images without consent. Agree how guests are told about filming, and keep anyone who declines out of the edit. See model release forms.
Invited creators
Creators who post about the launch need a UAE Advertiser Permit, paid or gifted. See the advertiser permit guide.
Timing
Dubai's busy season for events and launches runs from October to April. Book crew early; the Dubai events season calendar shows the busy weeks.
Watch
Launch and event films from Dubai
Nadine Njeim: Introducing ALIF by DAMAS, behind the scenes
Anabela Chan event at Bayt Damas
FPV inside a Dubai tower for an event
Affiliate World x Shinz, Bla Bla DubaiMore guides
Keep reading
FAQ
Common questions
What should a product launch event video include?
Arrivals, the reveal, speeches or talent, product details and one wide of the room at its fullest, plus an interview recorded before guests arrive. Cut it into a short recap, vertical clips and press selects.
Do you need a permit to film a launch event in Dubai?
Commercial filming in Dubai needs a permit through a UAE-licensed production company, plus the venue's own permission. Drones need separate aviation approval.
How fast can launch event photos be delivered?
With an editor on site, a small set of selects can go out the same night and press selects the next morning. The full recap film usually follows within days.
Should a brand launch have pre-launch content?
Yes. A campaign film, behind the scenes and teasers shot on the campaign day give press and social something to run before the event, and make the launch night feel like the payoff.
Written by Joshua Swain, who films launches, campaigns and events in Dubai and London. This is general information, not legal advice. See the Damas Jewellery project.