Executive Producer
“It was only natural to produce a film that tells
the story of these journalists and a department
that surely has been a voice for freedom for the
passed few years. It surely has been a great
journey for us all and one worth sharing. ”
Kismet El Sayed is a business development executive, who led
multidisciplinary teams to accomplish various projects in the field of
media. With a track record of more than15 years of hands-on experience in
management, strategic planning, business development, project
management she holds a strategic role in Al Masry Media
Corporation.Since joining Al Masry Media Corporation in 2007 she
succeeded in the development and implementation of an innovative digital
strategy that put the organization at the forefront of independent
organizations in the region. Al Masry Media Corporation transformed in
record time from being a daily newspaper to a media content house
producing video, audio, multimedia, animation, graphic and
documentaries. By this bridging the gaps better ‘new media’ and
‘mainstream media’. Her work included developing an interactive portal
platform that combines social media, web TV, English Edition with citizen
journalism. This service helped engage the generation of young people that
are more outward looking and aware than its predecessors. Besides her
work she is also studying for the International media Innovation Masters
program at the university of Berline. Kismet was born in 1976 and
graduated from the American University in Cairo with a bachelor in political
science she is married and is the mother of Fahmy, 3 and Malak 5.
Reporting…A Revolution
15
Notes about the film
When I joined Al Masry Media Corporation my vision was to increase the
space and the capacity of digital media in the organization. In 2007 Al
Masry Al Youm was already a very successful daily print operation so it was
a huge challenge to integrate the digital medium. I had to make sure that
all digital media products and services are sustainable (commercial
viability), are of high quality and get integrated with the existing operation.
The first success in the digital sphere was defiantly video. This is largely
because we had the right leadership and a great team of journalists that
embarrassed it. There is nothing more effective than getting a group of
young passionate motivated people to form a team, especially when we
constantly have to deal with limited resources. “Do more with less” was the
motto we all had to follow. We had to always improvise and look for
creative ways to get the job done. Sometimes such circumstances lead to
even better outcome. The flip cams and mobile phone equipment we had to
use actually brought us very unique content as journalist where able use
them without getting spotted by the police. And when they were
confiscated or broken we were not too upset. We were also able to give
100 journalists a camera which other wise would be impossible. We were
able by this to record so much brutality, violence, corruption, dishonesty,
carelessness and neglect by the state and people in power.
This film is really the outcome of 3 amazing years of hard work and
dedication. It is really this passion and dedication that made us manage
the chaos of the revolution. It is this compassion and teamwork that kept
everyone going during terrible times. It was only natural to produce a film
that tells the story of these journalists and a department that surely has
been a voice for freedom for the passed few years. It surely has been a
great journey for us all and one worth sharing.