Magdi Omar
Education
University of North Alabama, Bachelors of Science, Mass Communications
Specialization: RTF (Radio, Television, & Film Production)
Film Making Diploma, New York Film Academy
Email Address
Specialization
Online audio & video productions
Biography
I was born in Egypt and lived between Cairo and Alexandria until I was 17. After high school, I moved to the United States where I got a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications & Production from the University of North Alabama, then moved to New York City and received my Film Making Diploma from the New York Film Academy. Upon graduating from NYFA I returned to Egypt and worked as a Television Producer/Director for a couple of years before moving to Dubai, UAE, where I continued to work on TV shows, Documentaries, Commercials, and Short Films. My television work has taken me to over 24 countries around the world including the North Pole and the Amazon Rain Forests of Brazil.
In 2012, I co-founded Disalata.com, a web-based platform where we discover young amateur talent online in the Middle East (singers, stand up comedians, chefs, etc.) and produce good quality/low cost videos for them, post it on our platform and use our contacts in Media to get them sponsored by big brands such as Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Chevrolet. The talent makes money for something they used to do for free, we make money through our platform, and the sponsors get the online exposure they want for a relatively low cost.
In October 2013 I became a Canadian Resident and moved to Canada to attend the MDM program at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Why Digital Media?
I know this might sound like a cliché, but I do believe that digital media is the future and that traditional media as we know it will eventually be replaced. It already has started.
I've worked for over 10 years in television and I can already see the changes happening, and when I co-founded Disalata.com I realized the great revenue potential and huge social impact digital media can have.
Research
Major Research Project: "New Canucks"
This project is a transmedia documentary that tells the story of five different immigrants from various backgrounds and ethnicities. The main characters will be immigrants who left their home countries and families and moved to Canada to start a new life and secure a better future for themselves and their children. Our five immigrants will be people who have settled in different parts of Canada. By settled in different and foreign environments to that which they are used to, they will share the challenges and successes they experience as newcomers. They all have strong stories and different reasons for coming to this country, but they also all came looking for the “Canadian dream”. The video documentary will be supplemented by a website and social assets.