As Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's caravan of 30 cars speeds across the desert, unmanned helicopters film every move. The billionaire is producing a movie about himself and doesn't want to miss a thing.
He also needs action shots for the music video.
Unlike other billionaires' personal documentaries, this one includes an MTV-style montage, with a Lebanese pop singer crooning "may you prosper" in Arabic.
A nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and Citigroup Inc's biggest shareholder, Alwaleed, 44, estimates his fortune at US$20 billion. The music video and film document the lifestyle of a Saudi prince who made his money from investing, not oil.
"It's how he spends his time in the desert, how he spends his time around the world," said Tony Abou Elias of Lebanon's Clap Productions, who is directing the documentary and video.
Alwaleed's spokesman said the films are for private use and declined to comment further.
To get aerial shots at his desert encampment, Alwaleed hired Coptervision, whose remote-controlled helicopters got footage of him working with falcons, riding camels, hunting, target shooting and playing volleyball, the Los Angeles-based company said.
The documentary may run three hours, and is 75 percent complete, Abou Elias said. Footage includes scenes of Alwaleed tending to investments in Cairo and skiing in Switzerland.
Biographical films, a staple in politics, are becoming more common among a new generation of billionaires, said Stanley Nabi, managing director at Credit Suisse Asset Management in New York.
"It's for self-promotion, mostly, a vanity film," he said.
"They want power and recognition. The older generation didn't want to be very obvious."
Alwaleed began building his fortune in the 1980s with investments in Saudi construction and real estate. His most important move came in 1991, when he helped rescue Citicorp by investing US$590 million in a bank battered by bad loans. Shares in the company, now Citigroup, comprise half his fortune. He also owns stakes in AOL Time Warner Inc, News Corp and 50 percent of New York's Plaza Hotel.
Alwaleed travels the globe in his own jets, including a Boeing 767. He spends part of the summer in Cannes, France, aboard a 281-foot yacht. On foreign jaunts, he brings along a physician, a body guard and two Bedouin men whose role is to tell jokes.
In Riyadh, he lives in a 317-room palace. Two days a week he works at his desert outpost. The sand and rock getaway includes a soccer field, basketball court, at least 50 tents, some air conditioned, and a fleet of campers emblazoned with the green royal seal.
Alwaleed isn't shy about giving people a glimpse of his world.
The CNBC business news channel plans to broadcast a four-part series on Alwaleed next week.
The movie is still a coming attraction.
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