Joy Films: 30 Years of Innovation in Global Film Production

Since its start in ‘90s London, full service production company Joy Films has evolved into a global force in advertising and film. Spearheaded by founder Mehdi Nowrozian and managing partner Ali Azarmi, the company underwent a Middle East expansion in 2008, establishing offices in Dubai and Beirut, and then in Abu Dhabi and soon in KSA, accumulating an incredible depth of local knowledge to deliver results that stand out on an international stage - while picking up several awards along the way.

As Joy enters its 30th year, the company shares insights on embracing Dubai's can-do mindset and how the region's evolving infrastructure and commitment to innovation has solidified its status as a hub for diverse, world-class film production. 

LBB> Tell us about your origin story - how did it all start?

Joy Films> The name comes from an experimental film, ‘Joy’, directed by Mehdi Nowrozian, who founded the company in London in 1994 with his partner and executive producer, Desley Gregory. Joy became a great international success, leading to a partnership with Ridley Scott Associates to form JOY@RSA. Then, in 2008, Joy expanded to the UAE with a new partnership between Mehdi and managing partner, Ali Azarmi, leveraging his experience in advertising in the region as executive creative director of multinational advertising agencies.

LBB> In the last three decades, how have you adapted to the changing landscape of film production?

Joy Films> The world of advertising and film production went through massive transformation from the late ‘90s onwards with the rise of digital tech. It was a big disruptor for media and advertising industry, which, coupled with the crash of 2008, demanded a new mindset to satisfy the growing digital media audience cost-effectively. By being able to provide creative services as well as full production services, we were able to adapt to this fast-changing landscape. Witnessing Dubai’s incredibly ambitious transformation had a big influence on us, inspiring our perspective on the notion of the impossible. We apply our agility and smart problem solving to all of our productions to deliver high value for extremely complex projects across the globe.  

LBB> What has been your biggest/most successful production to date?

Joy Films> Probably the Expo 2020 Dubai global brand launch campaigns. These gave us unprecedented multi-media global coverage for productions that were extremely challenging in their scale and scope but, ultimately, creatively rewarding, thanks to a great script from Ogilvy and a trusting client who believed in us throughout the process.

LBB> What makes production in the UAE so special?

Joy Films> The film production industry in the UAE is another example of the country's diversity, attracting and nurturing talented and skilled individuals from all around the world. The crew is truly world-class and producers and production teams are well-seasoned by the region's pace, high standards and expectations.

Creatives, directors and producers should certainly come to the region for their production needs if they’re looking for amazing local support, technical crew, world class studios, fastest turnarounds, greatest attitude, global accessibility, diversity of locations, facilities, and amenities, hospitality, unsurpassed stability, safety and security, most affordable cast and talent. This region is on a mission to outperform and deliver and it shows. 

LBB> How do you stand out from traditional production models? 

Joy Films> We don’t have a roster of in-house directors so we are not defined nor confined by a list. We can reach out to great directors from all around the globe. We propose directors who best fit the project’s creative vision, scope scale and timelines. We make sure the director’s vision delivers the agency’s creative concept and the clients’ marketing objectives whenever we work directly with advertisers who do not have a creative agency. 

LBB> Your international presence is stronger than ever. How are you looking to expand and in what regions? 

Joy Films> One no longer needs to have offices across the world to have an international presence, except maybe to have continuity of contact locally. Today, Saudi Arabia represents one of the most dynamic and exciting markets in the world for us, and our presence there is our priority. We recently completed a global production that took us to 10 major cities in four continents, over five months to produce 13 films with a hectic post-production schedule to deliver a film every two weeks. It was all planned in no time and made the whole process seem effortless while delivering on time and on point. 

LBB> What does the future have in store for Joy Films? 

Joy Films> Technology continues to evolve at an accelerated pace and creating new possibilities with AI and other tools. The landscape is constantly reshaping. That is very exciting, but the art of Filmmaking, be it advertising, documentaries, or features, is ultimately about entertainment. Unless we entertain the viewers, they are not going to watch. Films have to engage people if they aim to relate, educate, inform, or seduce by their imagery and or poetry. Long-form has been one area of our interest which we want to expand further, but commercials keep us on our toes and help our minds stay sharp.