What would make a Hollywood producer fly halfway around the world to shoot?

Not the pyramids, they've seen the pyramids

A huge film and TV studio city just outside Cairo wanted the world's producers to see the other Egypt, the modern one, more than twenty eight stages, purpose built outdoor backlots, crews and post production all in one place

They needed a film that could sell all of it before anybody bought a plane ticket

I produced and directed it, nineteen minutes long

Nineteen minutes sounds long, right? not when the viewer is deciding where to spend a whole production budget, and it's somebody else's money

A tour you take from your desk

The film follows a visiting producer from the airport pickup to the hotel to the stages, the way a real trip would go, so the viewer basically takes the trip without leaving the office

Then it opens up. Crews shooting at night, a whole period street of European buildings on the backlot, a village set with huts and carts, a fortress gate in the desert, the technical floors, the empty land kept for the next expansion

And a golden 3D pyramid to open it, because some things you just have to do

The pitch inside the pitch

Here is the deal, the selling points were practical. Same latitude as Southern California, so the light and the weather feel familiar, direct flights, production and labor rates well under Europe and America

Bring your toothbrush and your laptop, they said, and they meant it

A producer reading a brochure thinks about risk. A producer watching the crews already at work thinks about schedule

So the film shows work happening, lights on, cameras rolling, people busy, and lets the viewer do the math on his own

Shooting in somebody else's country

I've worked in more than 80 cities, with local crews who don't always share my language but always share the job, and that is what this kind of film needs. You walk in, figure out who does what, and keep the day moving

Why should the producer be behind the camera? because when the sun is going and a set needs one more angle, I'm deciding through the viewfinder, not waiting for a meeting

More of my international work is in the World gallery, and my fashion shoots on location in the Fashion Photographer gallery

Hollywood of the Middle East, they called it

Length: 19 min 3 s · Producer & director: David Victory, VRSET video production, Los Angeles & Orange County

Key moments

  • 0:00 3D pyramid opening
  • 2:22 Offices and facilities
  • 3:58 Hotel lobby
  • 5:33 Animated globe
  • 7:08 Film crew at work on a night shoot
  • 10:19 Backlot period street
  • 11:54 Land for future expansion
  • 13:29 Village backlot set
  • 16:40 Technical facilities
  • 18:15 Presenter closing

See the matching photography in the World gallery.

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Planning a video or a fashion shoot? Contact David Victory or call (310) 988-6575 in Los Angeles, (949) 873-4551 in Orange County. Free consultation and quote for first-time clients.