AN incident was all that propelled New Zealander film maker Craig Johnson to make a movie based on a combination of personal experiences he has had over the last five years as an expatriate living in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “An Indian accountant was my colleague in one of the companies I was working in. He was more qualified than me and was far better at his job but he was earning a fraction of what I was earning and couldn't even afford to have his wife and son over to live with him. This got me thinking about how hard that must be, seeing Westerners around him doing the same sort of work but working less, getting paid far more and living like kings,” recalled Johnson, adding that he then decided not to sell his script and set up his own production company, Mcmahon Johnson Films. “I wanted to retain the control over what I wrote and transfer my vision from the paper to the screen,” he added, in a telephone interview with Saudi Gazette. Aptly titled “Expats”, the three-million-dirham movie he plans to make focuses on three expatriate families that arrive in Dubai from different parts of the world seeking wealth and a better life. It follows each characters' trials and tribulations through the initial cultural clash they experience and the impact moving to a foreign land and culture has on the individuals and their family's relationships over the course of three years. Gradually their stories become intertwined and build to a climatic conclusion in which some succeed while others fail in their pursuit of the ‘Arabian Dream'. “I originally arrived in Saudi Arabia from New Zealand as a sales manager for DHL and worked in Al-Khobar and Riyadh. I was transferred to Dubai after the terrorist attacks that culminated in the Oasis resort attacks; I was in a villa a few hundred meters away on that day. That was considered too close for comfort for the company who moved most of the western expats out of the country over the next few weeks,” recalled Johnson. Drawing on his own experiences as well as from various stories that he had read in newspapers and accounts from other expatriates, Johnson managed to build an impressive backdrop to his story. The 36-year-old filmmaker sold his first screenplay to Hollywood – a comedy about two travelling salesmen called “Repping”. The movie is currently in the pre-production in the US. “This gave me (the) confidence that I could write a decent screenplay,” he remarked. The production of “Expats” - to be set in Dubai and Mumbai - however, has been deferred after some of its investors backed out after the financial crisis hit the UAE. “Getting the script approved by the National Media council and Dubai studio city took a while, about ten weeks, during which the markets started to crash and my initial investors lost money in other markets and backed out of investing in “Expats”. This was a little frustrating but the movie is a commercially viable project that now has the approvals needed and will get made with the help of some new investors,” Johnson said, adding that he is looking out for investors at the moment who must buy ten shares worth AED300,000 each. “This will get an investor his name on the movie as an executive producer and invited to the international premiere of the movie at the Dubai International Film Festival. It's also possible for an investor to have a small part in the movie,” he explained. All investment amounts are held in a production escrow account by lawyers and investors are paid back their initial investment before any other profits are distributed. Johnson to finish the film in time to submit it for the Festival, “which will give it the maximum amount of exposure and publicity”. A French production company called Emotion is providing the crew and equipment to carry out the filming within the movie's small budget. American Dream vs Arabian Dream “There is a drive of the human condition to strike out from familiar territory to pursue the promise of riches and opportunities. Migrants traditionally went west to pursue the American Dream but with 9/11, the war in Iraq and a shaky economy the dream has soured. Now the ascent of the eastern empire has seen the flow start to reverse from west to east,” Johnson said. He adds that, for him, being an expatriate has been a boon. “But I'm not sure if it is so much for others. There are some very sad stories of expatriate workers who are lured by corrupt visa agents and promised the world on salaries in the Gulf. When they get here it is nothing like they were promised and they have already paid the hefty bill of the visa agent. But there are also some others who have been expatriates for years and have done extremely well for their families,” Johnson said. He believes that most Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will always need expatriate workers and that the whole ‘expats going home' thing is an over-blown media hype. “As the world economy continues to melt down I think you will actually see more expatriates come out here than less. Sure some have gone home but there will not be a mass exodus because what are they going to go home to? No where in the world is growing like the Gulf and with work scarce at home many will look abroad to keep their homes, especially westerners,” Johnson said. The father of two has finished another screenplay called “Crunched”, a comedy about a Wall Steet broker who loses the mob's money in the sharemarket crash and runs to New Zealand to hide. “It is very funny and I want to attach a major Hollywood comedian to it. I am starting to write my fourth screenplay right now, which I hope will be an Oscar contender as I am aiming to attract Russel Crowe to this project but I need to get “Expats” and “Crunched” made first. Then maybe he might consider me seriously!” Johnson laughed. The cast of “Expats” includes seasoned professional actors from the UK, as well as expatriate and Emirati actors. “I am happy to consider Saudi-based people for parts from all nationalities. Potential actors or investors just have to send me their details on [email protected],” concluded Johnson.
