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Dunston Pereira

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World’s Biggest Film City Coming to the

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Dun ston Pereira

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C EO to th e P r iva te O ffic e of H H Sh ie k h A h m e d Bin Faisal Al Qassimi Shares Vision of the World’s Biggest Film City in UAE

By Jules Lavallee

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January 2024

Mr. Dunston Pereira, CEO of the private office of HH Shiekh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi is a well-versed and versatile personality who was in corporate leadership roles with multinationals for almost 30 years.

With vast experience in business excellence, he became an entrepreneur at the age of 46 and has been on a successful journey since then. He received the national award for business excellence in 2018 and the state award in 2019.

With his vast expertise in a global relationship, he has taken up this challenging assignment with the private office to make it one of the most acclaimed and accepted business organization in the world.

He is also a good humanitarian who is serving as an ambassador to about 10 NGO organizations across the world.

Red Silk Carpet, spoke with Mr. Dunston Pereira about his current project, in the design and implementation of the World’s Biggest Film City in UAE.

Tell us about your journey from IT to CEO to the Royal Office HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassim.

I started my career journey in the year 1986 as a lecturer in computers. It was the time when Computer Studies were slowly picking up in educational institutions and I was glad that I could be a part of it. However, after a few years it became monotonous, and I decided to

move on to a corporate world where I stayed on for almost 22 years helming various positions.

Though I started as a management trainee in the corporate world, I ended up holding the highest position in my career. In the year 2010, I took the big decision of quitting the corporate world and becoming an entrepreneur. With my experience, I could establish my own business and in one year I became quite successful with multiple business verticals and multiple locations. In 2019, I started a new journey with the Royal Office as the Chief Operating Officer and moved on to become the CEO in 2021.

Is the UAE the gateway for the global market?

Yes, UAE is the gateway for the global market for all sectors.

You name it, and UAE has established a good relationship with all countries across the globe. UAE is one place the world comes to shop, be it consumables, commodities, services, or manpower resources, you get the best. As of late, UAE has also become a key place for the entertainment sector where the film fraternity from, Hollywood, Bollywood, Kollywood and many others come to make use of this place for their content executions. The famous Indian actor, Sharukh Khan is the brand ambassador of Dubai. Many film related events are being held in this part of the world. The film commissions of Abu Dhabi and Dubai are providing very lucrative incentives to filmmakers for choosing this place as part of their movie.

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January 2024

You are a well-known global connector. How have your relationships been a cornerstone to your upcoming projects?

I am well connected with the Globe through different people from various sectors and I do like networking, which I believe is my strength. These contacts have indeed helped me a lot to align with the global expertise for the projects that we are planning in the UAE. Be it the film city, the pharma city, sports academy, or the wildlife sanctuary, I was able to connect with the best of the best in the respective industry which has given a lot of insight into what we should be doing.

What is involved in the Film City UAE? What excites you the most about this project?

It will be the biggest film city that will cater to all the needs with an end-to-end solution for the film fraternity across the world. They just need to come with the content and go back with the full product. And as UAE is geographically well placed it will help many filmmakers to use this facility and enjoy the benefits and I am happy that they could make a good product.

Moreover, this film city will also be a destination for tourists who will speak about the history of cinema and its making as well as see many of the important monuments in the world located in one place. Imagine seeing the Eiffel towers and the statue of Rio de Janeiro in one place. This concept is something that excites me the most.

How do you see Hollywood and Bollywood joining forces with Film City UAE?

Today with the OTT platforms dominating the film industry I feel that the entire film industry from across the globe has come together as the common viewer is able to see the contents of his choice sitting in the comfort of his place which was unlikely earlier. Earlier only successful movies were accessible to people across the countries, which is not the case today. Thanks to the OTT platforms which brought us closer to Hollywood and Bollywood and many other industries.

We are partnering with some key players in the film city project from various industries in the film industry. We were told that Mr. Denzel Washington is interested to associate with this project, and he has reached out.

Similarly, many others have also

approached us, and we are evaluating the same.

Share your philosophy behind the success of Film City.

Philosophy is simple. Provde the best services for the optimum cost. Quality of service right from infrastructure to facilities provided will be the best in the industry. And that is what I had mentioned earlier that it would be the largest as well as the best in the world. Once the film city is ready, we will also be providing the best incentives that will facilitate any filmmaker to choose this place for their content execution. RAK film city is all set to change the way the film fraternity will make films.

Tell us about your work with NGO’s.

I have always been passionate about working with NGO's for almost ten years now. I have

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January 2024

been associated with many across the world and provided whatever I could do in my capacity. I would like to mention that currently I am working on a project of setting up a skill center for autistic children in the UAE wherein the inborn talent of these children will be identified, and they will be imparted training to develop their skills which will boost their self-esteem to a greater level.

Share your vision for 2024.

I would like to ensure that all the projects that we have planned are started in 2024, so that we are on target of completion. We also would like to work on environment projects like the planting of 1 million plants in the UAE in 2024. We are also working on mentorship projects for young entrepreneurs from the SME and MSME sectors and guide them.