Getting ready to be a haus-hold name

As a new real estate factual entertainment TV series ‘Dubai Hustle’ prepares to air, we ask Managing Director James Perry about the journey from leading property firm to TV stardom

How did haus & haus get involved with Dubai Hustle in the first place?

Over the course of 2020, we were approached by several production companies in the UK and US and got into serious discussions with two high pedigree companies with some very well-known household TV shows already under their belts.

In the end we went with Multistory as they were highly professional, were able to obtain fast approvals from the broadcaster, and fulfilled all their promises.

In a nutshell, what’s Dubai Hustle about?

The show follows a group of new haus & haus agents as they navigate their way through the challenging and exciting world of Dubai real estate. It’s essentially a fly-on-the-wall look at the job, with a focus more on individual highs and lows.

This is aspirational television for young people. We hope it inspires others to widen their ideas about what they are capable of; there are so many great opportunities out there!

How was the filming experience overall?

Overall, it was very positive. It is quite surreal to have a professional film crew recording your day-to-day activities, but we assigned an area of the office for those featured in the show to cause minimum disruption to everyone else.

What surprised me most is the amount of footage that was needed to get two or three-minute scenes. Plus, the crew filmed during some of the hottest Dubai months, and I was amazed how resilient they were in the high temperatures! Really impressive.

The range and scope of hit shows they’d had in the UK was a major factor. I also liked how proactive they were, which coincidentally is one of our company values.

We came up with a shortlist of brokers and casting took place over a couple of months. Off the back of this process, we have found some brilliant cast members.

The initial plan was to have the production crew come out to Dubai in March 2021 to film for three to four months, but this was pushed back due to Covid-19 production protocols. Filming was eventually completed this year, then editing took around three or four months.

The other thing I noticed was that having a film crew at our offices for those months enhanced the usual extremely busy and interesting vibe. We were boisterous and energetic before as a team, but this was next level.

But for me the reward and the fun are yet to come, and I am intrigued about how the audience will respond to Dubai Hustle.

Any last comments?

I hope people enjoy the show! We are planning a launch event with everyone at the office so they can all get behind the show and support their colleagues. We are looking forward to sharing a piece of our world here in Dubai.