How to choose a videographer in Dubai: nine questions

Why the website does not tell you

Every showreel in Dubai is cut from the best three seconds of each job, so every showreel looks good. What a reel cannot show is whether the crew knows that the contractor badge for Dubai World Trade Centre is registered in the exhibitor portal, that GITEX, Automechanika, GISEC and CABSAT now run at Expo City Dubai with a different access routine, that show days run 10:00 to 18:00 and the clean stand photograph only exists for the forty minutes before doors, or that the first LinkedIn post wins on the evening of day one and not two weeks later. Those are process questions, and process is what you are buying. The nine questions below are process questions. Send them by email so that the answers are in writing.

The nine questions

1. When do we receive the first photos and the film? Same day is the professional answer for shows and events: first selects within the hour for press moments, the edited set and a recap film in the evening link. 'Within a week' means the content misses the show. Ask how same-day is actually done, and expect to hear about an editor working on site during the day. See same-day versus standard delivery.

2. What exactly is in the quote? Hours on site, number of edited photographs, film duration and versions (16:9 and 9:16), number of interviews, revision rounds, usage rights, music licence. All written down. A quote that says 'full coverage' and nothing else will be renegotiated after the show.

3. Have you worked at this venue? Ask for the halls by name. A crew that has worked the Za'abeel Halls knows where the loading access is and how long the walk from the car park takes at 08:00; a crew that has worked Expo City knows the distances between the Dubai Exhibition Centre halls and plans the editing corner accordingly.

4. How do you handle LED walls and screens? The answer should mention shutter speed and refresh rate. Stands at GITEX and CABSAT are built around screens; a crew that bands them has nothing usable. More in our guide to photographing LED walls.

5. Who edits, and where? On site, during the day, is the answer that makes same-day delivery real. If the edit happens in an office after the show, the delivery date in the quote is the honest one and 'same day' is a hope.

6. Can we see a delivery, not a showreel? Ask for a complete set from a real client at a comparable show: the folder as the client received it, the film as it was published.

7. Are interviews subtitled? In English and Arabic for this market, delivered as burnt-in versions and as separate files for LinkedIn's own captioning. Ask whether the microphone is a lavalier; hall noise ruins an on-camera microphone.

8. What rights do we get? Usage for your own channels without time limit, music licensed for online use, and a clear statement about whether the crew may show the work in its own portfolio. Anything less than this in writing will cost you later.

9. Who is our contact during the show? One name with a WhatsApp number who is on the stand or reachable within minutes, not an account manager in an office.

Red flags in the quote

• A quote that promises 500 photographs. That is a count of frames taken, not edited photographs; 60 to 120 edited per show day is a real number.
• A showreel with no client names.
• Delivery in 'two to three weeks', or a vague 'as soon as possible'.
• No mention of badges, the exhibitor manual or the venue's filming rules. These are the things that stop a crew getting onto the stand before doors.
• A price that changes after the show for 'extra hours' or 'additional edits' that were never defined.
• A crew that describes GITEX as being at the World Trade Centre.
• Separate photo and video companies that have never worked together, meeting for the first time on your stand. See an experienced crew versus two suppliers.

What good looks like

A written quote within a day of your enquiry, with every item counted. A call sheet before the show naming the crew, the arrival time, the shot list and the delivery times. A walk-through offered on the build-up day or the evening before. The crew on the stand before the doors open, on badges you registered. A WhatsApp message with first selects when something happens that your PR team needs. A link on the evening of day one with the clean stand, team portraits and visitor coverage, and the recap film on the final evening. Two revision rounds afterwards. See our deliveries, what arrives in the link and the show-day process.

A worked example: two quotes for Arab Health

A medical device company exhibiting at Arab Health for the first time gets two quotes for a three-day stand. Quote A is lower and lists 'photography and video coverage, 3 days, delivery within 10 working days'. Quote B lists eight hours per day, 80 edited photographs per day, a 60 to 90 second recap film in 16:9 and 9:16, three subtitled interviews, same-day delivery of photographs and the film on the final evening, two revision rounds, and rights for the company's own channels. Quote A cannot answer question 4 and names no venue experience; Quote B names the Za'abeel hall and sends a client folder. The company's press release about a distribution agreement signed on day two goes out with Quote B's photograph the same afternoon. With Quote A it would have gone out with a phone photograph.

What to send with your enquiry

The crew can only quote accurately with: show name and dates, hall and stand number, stand size and whether it has screens, what you want to publish and where, how many people are on the team, whether a VIP visit or press moment is expected, and who approves on the day. For references, ask for two clients from the same venue and email them a single question: did the delivery arrive when promised? Then send your enquiry; a serious crew answers within 24 hours and faster by WhatsApp during a show week.