“Jurassic World: Dominion filmed in a secret place”

Filmedia Productions is set in the heart of Cairo, offering services ranging from location scouting to budgeting, compiling cast and crew, post-production, and everything in between. 

Here KFTV talks to Ahmed Kardous, managing director and founder at the company, about providing second unit for Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion; the latest with Covid; and why Egypt’s locations are so popular…

What is the latest situation with Covid in your country and how are you coping/adapting?

The Covid situation has been relatively well contained, with around 100 cases a day. We aim at working with the needed amount of crew and cast only, locations sanitized, and having a doctor ready on standby just in case. Also, all our team need to have a negative PCR test result prior to shooting, and adhere to social distancing, mask wearing and washing their hands whenever necessary. 

What local and international productions have you worked on over the past few months?

We worked with Universal Studios on the Hollywood film Jurassic World: Dominion as their second unit team [Ahmed Kardous is second unit director on the film]. It was shot in various countries [including the UK and Malta], but our second unit team went to film in a secret place Universal Studio will announce in the right time. The experience was a marvellous one, it was and always will be an experience of a lifetime. 

Over the course of the last few months, we have also been finalizing May's Menu, an Egyptian cooking show with Discovery Dubai (Fatafeat channel).   

How have your services/working practices changed in the current Covid climate? 

 Our work has been affected by the Covid climate because almost all planning has been freezing or temporarily stopped until the world digested the situation. 

Why is Egypt a great shooting location?

Egypt does not only have one of the most stable climates in the Middle East and Mediterranean region, but also the real treasure is its rich variety of locations and its exceptional ability to “clone” or provide replicas of other parts of the globe. Whether you need to replicate a foreign location or you need something new, the chances are that you can find it in Egypt. Plus, all these locations are fresh to international audiences, cost very little, and are easy to manage and get permits for.

Besides, Egypt is a very ancient land and home of the Pharos - it has been conquered and colonized by many civilizations during its long history; each of which has left its architectural mark.

What makes you stand out from the competition?

Filmedia is a collaborative effort of highly experienced academic professionals who are driven by their passion for media production and have pursued that passion through acquiring higher degrees in cinematography, film production, and mass communication at Egypt’s most prestigious universities. They have then followed their dreams and worked on many small and huge productions with many distinguished Egyptian and international directors and producers.

What projects are you working on next?

We are preparing our next TV show, Dream Maker, with an Egyptian TV channel, which is a reality show in which people’s dreams come true.