Filming the Arabian dream

New Zealand writer and director Craig Johnson, who has lived in Dubai since 2003, is about to begin filming an English-language production based on expatriate life in the city, to be released in time for the Dubai Film Festival. “It used to be the American dream but now it’s the Arabian dream that modern day emigrants seem to be chasing,” Johnson says. To be shot in Bombay and throughout Dubai, Johnson says the film industry has a lot of potential in the City of Gold. “For the canny businessman it could be an investment with returns that can rival and exceed real estate.” Johnson’s feature-length screenplay Repping was purchased by Hollywood-based Supreme Media Group in late 2007 and goes into production next year.