Meet "Maher"

I didn't see my friend Yasmine for a while, so we talked last week and she asked me if I'm interested to join for drinks at one of her friend's place, especially that Nabil, my friend and ex colleague from Leo Burnett Dubai, who is now friend with Yasmine as well is joining.

So I grabbed a bottle of wine and met Nabil in front of St Lawrence Market and we walked to Yasmine's friend place at the Esplanade..

Yasmine opened for us and introduced us to everyone there, especially to her friend Virginia who is hosting the drinks at her place.. And of course Yasmine was like: oh there is another Lebanese guy here tonight you should meet him, so I met Maher, who's been living in Canada for 8 years, and he worked for a while with Yasmine.

And then when Maher knew that I use to work with Leo Burnett on McDonald's he asked me if I know his girlfriend Rim who lives in Dubai and works at OMD, and works on McDonald's too.. And of course I knew Rim.. What a small world..
We talked about a Dubai, Toronto, and about the endless unstable situation in Lebanon which brought lots of Lebanese like us to move to Canada.

After having few glasses of red wine, and chatting with most of Yasmine's friends I left and hoped to see them again thanking Yasmine for her invitation and for trying to help me meet more people and new friends.

P.S.: if you're wondering who is the person wearing each pair of socks in different color, please ask Maher :)

Meet "Jorge"

When my friend Jad asked me to attend the shoot in Beirut, first thing I asked them who is the director on the job and requested to send me his reel and his treatment for the TV spots we were about to shoot.

In my 13 years in Advertising, I received many interesting treatments from directors, but it was always couple of notes on papers with few images and sometimes couple of video references.. But what Jorge Colon sent, was a one hour video of himself talking and explaining his ideas edited with references from movies.. I was sold from the first 5 minutes, his energy and enthusiasm to get the job were very clear, and I felt he was the right guy to handle these TV spots.

And when I met Jorge in person in Beirut the chemistry was instant, and we start building on each other's ideas, and got to an agreement on most things, like the cast, the locations, the wardrobe, and I looked forward for the beginning on the shoot.

We shot for 5 long days, it was tough, it wasn't easy to deal with so many cast, speaking in Arabic, which was difficult for Jorge, but he still managed to give them great direction, and acting tricks to ensure we get from them the right emotions and the right reactions.

It was very pleasant to see Jorge on set, taking care of every little detail, keeping his energy level super high all the time motivating the crew, and taking into consideration all the feedback from the agency and trying to deliver great work.

Last day before he left Beirut, Jorge presented to us his first director's cut for the first film (we shot 8 films in 5 days), and we were very happy with the result, and even the client in Dubai was very happy with the outcome.

Jorge is based in Miami, so he left Beirut back home, after a great experience, and I hoped we work with him again in the future, and definitely meet again but maybe this time in Miami.

Check Jorge's reel and some of his great work on Jorgecolon.net.

Meet "Alejandro"

After arriving to Beirut, I went to Clandestino (the Production Company) to meet the Director, the producer and the whole team to start preparing for the shoot.. And I met Alejandro, who was the Director of Photography on the job. It was the first time I work with him, and for the coincidence, Alejandro, or Alex (the way the Director calls him) lives between Toronto and Mexico, so we shared stories about the city, the people and how I'm doing so far..

The five days shooting passed very smooth, and Alejandro did a fantastic job, especially the last day when we only filmed food, his talent and taste were very obvious..

I was always a fan of DOPs as most of them they work quietly and they play a major role to give the right mood foe each film and to make the image look beautiful, and the experience with Alejandro wasn't an exception as we enjoyed it big time and wished to work with him again and of course to see him next time he's in Toronto.

Meet "Anju, Clevin and Ali"

Today in my post I'm not talking about new friends, but about three friends I was very happy to see in a very unexpected trip..

While in Toronto, I received a call from my friend and ex colleague Jad M. Asking me if I'm willing to fly to Beirut to attend a TV commercial filming as a freelancer as the Creative Director and his associate in Dubai were super busy with a huge presentation that is taking place at the time as the shoot. I answered "yes" on the spot without even thinking of it, as it was an opportunity for me to work on an interesting job, to see my family, to earn some extra money, and to escape the snow for few days..

And what made this trip even more exciting is catching up with great friends, coming from Leo Burnett, to attend the shoot, and here I mean Anju (TV producer), Clevin (Copywriter) and Ali (Account Supervisor)..

The work was hectic, and stressful, shooting in average 15 hours a day, but we were going out every night for dinner and drinks, evaluating the day, and laughing at some bad acting from the cast and getting a bit relaxed before going to bed to wake up very early  the second day..

Ali used to live in Toronto for years, so we had a chat about my experience so far, and where I stand so far with the job hunt..

When I thought that it might take me sometime to be on a shoot set after I left Dubai, this unexpected trip was a great experience and a real pleasure of seeing the guys, spending a week with them, and sending lots of kisses and greetings to the whole team in Dubai wishing to see them again in the very near future.

Meet "Karim"

Meeting Karim was different from the other friends I met so far.. I met karim virtually and not in person yet.. but Toronto is behind the reason I met karim..

My friend Zina sent me a message introducing Karim, a friend of hers, he decided to leave Lebanon and move to Canada but he is confused where to move between Toronto or Montreal, and he wanted to ask some questions about the city as he’s never been here before and he can’t make up his mind.. lots of people convinced him to move to Montreal, especially that he’s fluent in French and he has family there, but he’s more leaning towards Toronto, so he need to talk to someone..

I met Karim through Skype and I made it clear to him that I moved here less that 3 month ago, so I can help him with what I know so far, and I felt happy that I managed to answer most of his questions, and I found myself a big fan of Toronto and I kind of assured him that picking Toronto is the right decision, and shared with him my short experience so far.. we talked about rent, condos, continuing education, subway, expenses, art scene as he’s an illustrator, night life and of course the beautiful weather J

We added each other on Facebook, and told karim to feel free to ask me any question he has before taking his final decision and wished him the best of luck and hoped to meet him for real soon in Toronto.

And if you like to have a look at Karim’s page on Facebook look at Karim Al-Dahdah illustration studio.. a really nice talent.. https://www.facebook.com/karimaldahdahillustration

Or check his website: www.Karimaldahdah.com

Meet "Merwad"

My dear friend and ex colleague, the one and only super talented Zina (Zinacomics.com) went through the immigration process that I m going through now and moved to Montreal 4 years ago, so the minute she knew I' m moving here, she started sending me contacts of friends and people I should meet in Toronto, and Merwad was on top of her list.. "You have to meet Merwad".. So I called Merwad and we planned to meet for a coffee after her work.. And here was the first shock knowing that Merwad spends every day 1 hour and a half commuting to work.. each way.. And had already a panic attack if my new job will require the same (I' m the lazy type who used to live 3 minutes away from the office)...

We met at Yonge & Bloor and walked to a nice cozy cafe "Littieri".. we ordered our coffee and of course we had to go through the Lebanese ritual of fighting who will be paying the bill :)

After sharing our stories and what got us here, Merwad was extremely helpful and she gave me lots of tips, and websites to look at once I start my job hunt.. After all she's a graphic designer and we work in the same field, and it seems she’s a very talented one with lots of taste.

But the nice surprise when we decided to add each other on Facebook and we discovered that we have 14 friends in common and this took us to another round of stories and how do we know these people be it from the advertising circle in Lebanon or from the days of university.. Merwad is a good friend to very close friends of mine and I believe we gonna be good friends too.. And we already went again for cheese and wine (I had the wine, she had only the cheese or what I left for her from the cheese) where she introduced me to her friend Maha, and she was kind enough to invite me to the AUB Alumni lunch where it’s a chance for me to meet people and make new connections.. and we booked tickets to see a concert at the end of the month and meet her friends too.. So here to more friends and cheers to all the good people out there..