What should a brand film brief include?

The one claim the film must prove, who it is for, the person on camera, the languages and caption plan, where the film will live, the locations and permits, the launch date and the person who signs off.

What if I cannot write the claim in one sentence?

Then the brief is not ready. Settle the brand story or positioning first. A film shot without an agreed claim tends to record several messages and land none of them.

How long does DFTC script approval take?

DFTC says script approval takes up to 25 business days, counted Monday to Friday without public holidays. An approved final script cannot be amended once submitted.

Should a Dubai brand film be in Arabic or English?

Often both. Arabic is the official language of the UAE and English is widely used in business. Pick a lead language, adapt the second version properly, and plan captions from the start.

Where should a finished brand film be published?

On its own watch page on your website as well as the homepage and your channel. Google says a dedicated watch page helps a video qualify for video features in Search.

How to Brief a Brand Film in Dubai: One Claim, One Voice

Short answer: to brief a brand film, write down four things before anyone discusses cameras or locations. First, the one claim the film must prove. Second, the person who can say it believably. Third, the languages it must work in. Fourth, whether a filming permit and script approval will be needed. If you cannot write the claim in one sentence, the brief is not ready. Stop and settle the brand story first.

Studios in Dubai say the same thing in their own words. Studio502, a Dubai video studio, says a beautiful picture without a strategy is "just expensive wallpaper", and that it scripts every video before touching a camera. That is the point of a brief: the thinking happens on paper, where changes are quick to make, not on set. Our guide to brand film in Dubai explains the service. This page is only the brief.

What is the one claim, and why does it come first?

The claim is the single sentence the film must leave in a viewer's head. "We make healthy food people actually crave" is a claim. "Quality, passion and innovation" is not; it is three words any business could use.

Write it in one sentence. If it needs "and" twice, it is two films.
Test it with the team. Ask three people to write it without looking. If the three versions differ, the brand is not settled yet.
Check it against your positioning. If you have done brand strategy work, the claim should come straight out of it. If you have not, do that first.

Every other line in the brief serves the claim. Scenes, music and length are chosen because they prove it, not because they look good in a reference video.

Who should say it on camera?

Name the person, not the role. A founder can carry a story about why the business exists. A team member can carry a story about how the work feels. A customer voice only belongs in the brief if that customer has agreed to appear, and if what they say is true and can be checked.

Write down what the person must never sound like as well. "Not a sales pitch" and "no corporate words" are useful lines in a brief, because they give the director something to cut against.

Which languages must the film work in?

Decide this before the script, not in the edit. Arabic is the official language of the UAE, and English is widely used in business (UAE fact sheet). A Dubai film usually needs to land in both.

Pick the lead language. The script is written in it first, and the other version is adapted, not machine-translated.
Decide subtitles or voiceover. Subtitles keep the speaker's own voice. A voiceover version may need a second recording session.
Plan captions from the start. W3C's WCAG 2.2 guidance asks for captions on all prerecorded audio in synchronised media, and W3C WAI sets out what accessible video needs, including transcripts.

Will the shoot need a permit and script approval?

Ask the question in the brief, because the answer can move the launch date. The Dubai Film and TV Commission says that for movie and television filming in any government or private location, script approval must be received before applying for a filming permit. Arabic productions submit the full script in Arabic, and other productions submit it in English.

DFTC says script approval takes up to 25 business days, counted Monday to Friday without public holidays. That is up to 5 weeks of working days, longer when public holidays fall inside the window. It also says an approved final script cannot be amended once submitted. So the brief should list every location you hope to use, and the script should be close to final before it goes in. Your production partner confirms whether your particular shoot falls under these rules.

What should the written brief contain?

One page is enough. Use these headings:

The claim: one sentence.
Who it is for: the viewer you want to move, and what they believe now.
The voice: the person on camera, and what they must never sound like.
Languages: lead language, second version, subtitles or voiceover, captions.
Where it lives: homepage, its own watch page, channel, and any cutdowns for social feeds.
Locations and permits: every place you hope to film, and who checks the approvals.
Launch date: the real deadline, with the approval time built in.
Sign-off: the one person who approves the script and the final cut.

Where should the finished film live?

On its own page as well as the homepage.

Google's video SEO guidance says a dedicated watch page, whose main purpose is to show one video, helps it become eligible for video features in Search. Put that in the brief, so the film is delivered with a title, a description and a transcript ready for the page. If you also want vertical cutdowns, say so: on YouTube, square or vertical uploads up to 3 minutes are treated as Shorts (YouTube Help).

When is a brand film the wrong thing to brief?

When the claim is not agreed, when the business is about to change its name or offer, or when nobody can sign off the script. In those cases a film records confusion beautifully. Settle the story first, with a branding brief if you need one, and come back to the film when the sentence is clear.

For the wider service, see video production in Dubai. To talk through a film brief, contact the studio.

Key takeaways

A brand film brief is four decisions: the claim, the voice, the languages and the permit.
If the claim does not fit in one sentence, stop and settle the brand story first.
Decide Arabic and English versions and captions before the script, not in the edit.
DFTC says script approval comes before a filming permit and can take up to 25 business days, so build it into the launch date.

Written by Allen Antony James, Co-founder of Storytellers, a storyteller-first studio based in Dubai, telling stories worldwide. Want help putting this into practice? See Video production in Dubai or tell us about your business.

Sources

Every claim in this guide links to its source. All sources were checked on 17 Oct 2026.

How to brief a brand film: what to settle before the camera