Dubai OFW starts from scratch, becomes production studio owner

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A Filipino filmmaker who was promised a well-paying job in Dubai but ended up taking passport pictures and photocopying books, turned things around to become a successful cinematographer running a production studio with big brand names, banks, and government entities in its portfolio.

“‘Yun ang naging trabaho ko, from senior video editor sa  Pilipinas, naging photocopier sa Dubai. Lahat ng pinag-aralan ko sa  Pilipinas, lahat ng trainings, bagsak ko dito sa Dubai, photocopier,”  recounted 43-year-old Patrick Fronda.

Fronda studied fine arts at the Philippine Women’s University (PWU), then went on to study cinematography at the Mowelfund Film Institute, paid for by a film industry businessman who saw a budding talent in him.

At times, Fronda would also take passport pictures of customers at the Dubai company where he ended up working. 

“Grabe, nakaka-iyak... kasi ‘yun yung trabaho ko, nagpa-passport photo lang ako,” Fronda told GMA News Online.

Reminiscing on the time he spent working in the Philippine film industry, Fronda said life was good then as he was working his dream job.

“Editing videos was a rare skill back then in 2004,” he said. “I landed a job as a video editor, editing TV commercials and movies. Life was good, and I loved that job! I had always dreamed of working in the movie industry and was content being an editor and working in the camera department.”

Off course

But his career journey veered off course when a former colleague, who was then working in Dubai, urged him to work there, showing him a visa stating that he would be based in Media City.

“Nung una, siyempre  ayaw kong pumayag kasi okay naman na ako,” recalls Fronda.

(I was  hesitant at first because I was doing okay.)

He finally agreed after doing research and discovering that the place was a hub for media practitioners.  

“Nakita ko mga studios, talagang film making, kaya napa-‘oo’ ako,” he said. 

(I saw studios, it was filmmaking. That’s why I finally said, "Yes.")

Fronda arrived in Dubai around April of 2008. He was 27, excited and anxious.

“It was my first time to travel abroad, and I was very nervous,” he said.  

It turned out that his gut feeling was right. He learned he would not be working at any of the film studios, but rather at a small, nondescript document printing shop tucked somewhere in Dubai Media City.

The only “studio” he would be working in was a cramped space, where customers would sit as he clicked away on his camera for a set of two-by-two photos.

Despite his disappointment, Fronda stayed with the company and leveled up, using the camera assigned to him to produce videos.

“I  started shooting videos hanggang nakilala ako, at dumami yung mga works  ko dahil sa small camera na ‘yun na pang-passport,” he said.

(I started shooting videos and developed a reputation, expanding my portfolio. All because of that small, passport camera.)

A break

Things finally began to improve when an expat working at a university asked him to teach techniques.

“During that time,  very few people were doing videos here in Dubai,” said Fronda in a mix of English and the vernacular.

It was around 2010, digital video was not yet introduced in the market, when Fronda got his break.

He was hired to be a trainer at the university, where he stayed for two years before acquiring a sole proprietor license to start his own business.

Soon, Fronda was taking projects from major companies in the city – companies in the banking and finance industry, real property, and consumer products.

Business was brisk between 2014 and 2017.

“I was making AED80,000 a month,” he said.

Rock bottom

But things again took a bad turn in 2018 when companies started onboarding in-house staff to do the jobs that he was previously hired to do.

By 2020 and with the onset of COVID-19, Fronda hit rock bottom.

“Nawala na lahat. I went bankrupt. Naubos nang naubos yung kinikita ko during those two years of struggle, pasweldo and company expenses hanggang sinara ko na lang,” he said.

(Everything was gone. The money I made was used up for salaries and company expenses until I had to fold up.)

“Sa sobrang broke namin, iniisa-isa namin yung mga restaurants, may dala  lang kaming camera. Naisip ko, pag-binidyuhan natin yung restaurant,  free meal; pagbinidyuhan natin yung barber shop, free gupit. Ganun ang  ginagawa namin during that time dahil wala na talaga. Kailangan naming  mag-survive,” Fronda said.

(Because we were so broke, we went from one restaurant to another taking videos. I told myself, we’d get a free meal if we took videos of the restaurant. The same with barber shops where we could get a free haircut. We did that because we had nothing and we needed to survive.)

Fronda sent his family back home but made sure not to be remiss with his regular remittances. Some months later, he asked his wife to fly back to Dubai to help out. 

Fronda and his wife came close to quitting and returning home for good but COVID-19 struck and they were stuck.

“Uwi na sana kami. Talagang uwi na kasi wala na, wala na akong life dito. Di na ako makakuha ng project, wala  akong [business] visa. Hindi ako makakuha ng trade license kasi blocked yung name ko following my arrest over a cyber-related case that was eventually dismissed. Nang makuha ko uli yung passport ko after 10  months, dumating naman yung pandemic,” he said.

(We were supposed to go back home. I no longer had a life here. I could not land a project as I didn’t have a business visa. I could not get a trade license because my name was blocked following my arrest over a cyber-related case that was eventually dismissed. When I finally got my  passport back after 10 months, COVID-19 struck.)

In their direst hour during the pandemic, the couple resorted to swapping their belongings for groceries and selling face masks door to door. Fronda also had to keep renewing his temporary, limited-time visa from  2020 to 2022 to legalize his stay.

“From Dubai, we had to move to a small room in Ajman (a city north of Dubai) to save money since we couldn't afford the rent anymore. We lived like rats till [Dubai] reopened and things slowly got better. That’s how we were for a year till finally work started trickling in,” Fronda said.

Recovery

The opportunities that then came his way were a three-year contract for video production with a global fashion and lifestyle online retailer; and a six-month gig as a producer – and the only Filipino at that –  at Expo 2020 Dubai, which was held in 2021 due to the COVID outbreak.

The government also granted him a 10-year Golden Visa in 2023.

Fronda, who has three children, said 2023 was his best year. “Not only did we survive, but we recovered. I got to buy three properties back home, sent my family back there, and the business is doing really well,” he said.

“Today, I'm working my dream job as a cinematographer and producer for my own company. I am planning to expand to the Saudi market. I got to be where I am now because of all those struggles.” — DVM, GMA Integrated News