The idea was to conscientise and make UAE citizens and residents aware of the country's ecological footprintand that there is need to take immediate action.
A two-minute film was created to highlight this issue and to emphasise that if we don't do anything about it we will require 4.5 planet earths to sustain us and our endless needs in the future.
We had to find a creative way for advertising this important environmental problem, so we tied up with London-based Asylum Films and saw a couple of animation styles they had and finally found a cutout technique that used stock motion photography for animation. This technique was similar to what we wanted so we used it to put together this film.
I have always been an animation geek.
I scrutinise animation films and styles a lot more now. The WWF animation wasn't our first, we have done several projects for among others the Dubai International Poetry Festival. Not using human elements, characters or actors in an ad, believe it or not, makes its content a lot lighter and easier to grasp. However, the method used to make such films has always been the real hero and then the well-written script to develop such ad films adds to its content value.
This animation has got me more involved in environmental issues. The entire animation was made out of paper cutouts, including the characters of the film - the father, the son, a Hummer and a bulldozer. Making this was extremely intensive and involved using 2,500 stills wherein every moment of the character had to be a different take and all of these were then combined together using stock motion photography to make this film.
It took over 150 hours to build the sets out of 300 newspapers and 200 hours to shoot the 2,500 stills. The process took place in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and London and needed over 50 hours of meetings.
This two-minute ad film was released in May this year. It was shown in CineStar cinemas just before the movie was screened. This campaign has also gone viral - all over the world. It is on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and in websites of different WWF chapters. We are also going to enter this ad in several competitions and award events. Our partners in London are going to submit it to TED.com, a forum where people bring in their creative ideas. We also wish to submit this film to the Cannes Film Festival under the short film category. We are hoping this ad will bring us more recognition.
I am more conscious about the environment now and have become a lot more careful about what I buy.
When I walk into a supermarket the first thing I look for is local organic products. Most of these products are easily available in major supermarkets but the sad part is that they are all packed in plastic. I also volunteer for various environmental causes. Recently I was part of a team that released newborn turtles into the sea. I am also actively involved in gathering information about shark fishing, which is extensive in Dubai. These creatures are under threat because of their valuable and much sought-after fins. In most cases after removing fins, the meat, which costs less, is thrown away.
My company has also collaborated with the Emirates Marine Environmental Group. We are pitching for Bee'ah, an environmental group in Sharjah, which is into waste management and recycling projects. A lot of work we do for environmental companies only covers our costs. These projects are not money makers but they are award winners as they bring us recognition.
I have been in the field of advertising for about 15 years.
I started my advertising career in one of the biggest advertising agencies in the world - EURO RSCG, in Montreal, Canada. I worked as an account executive then account manager and kept climbing up the ladder till I became account director. Then nine years ago I started AYA in Montreal.
We moved our office to Dubai seven years ago and opened an office in Abu Dhabi in twofour54 (an Abu Dhabi-based regional creative centre facilitating the development of Arabic media and entertainment content) about eight months back.
We are a branding agency but we are also creative collectors.
Our first event was the Cultural Village. Then we were asked to design interactive sales centre experiences for our clients. For this project we brought in another Montreal-based company called GSM to design and help our clients build interactive sales centres.
When not working, I take care of my one year and ten-month-old son, Hani. I make sure that I leave the office at 6:15pm every day. No matter how busy I am, I never miss my son's bath time. This is one thing that helps me stay focused. The time spent with my wife Zeina Jabado and son is very important for me.
Another thing I am passionate about is snowboarding.
I am an avid snowboarder and I normally travel once a year to snowboard at different destinations with seven of my friends. Last year, we went to Japan, which is one of my favourite destinations. I feel every person should visit this place at least once in their lifetime. It is a beautiful, different and diverse place that is so inspiring and has several exotic scenic locations.
I am a Palestinian, but I was born in Kuwait. Then we moved to Africa, then Lebanon, before coming back to Kuwait. I was in Kuwait till I was around 17-18 years old and then moved to Paris, where I lived for a year and a half. I went to the American University of Paris during my stay there. We finally moved to Canada in 1991 and my family has been living there ever since.
My vision for AYA is to continue to make it a one-stop shop for creative branding.
My role and passion is to continue to find and collect new creative ideas from all over the world. In the next 15 years, I would like to expand AYA into an art run. I wish to open a gallery where we can host photo exhibitions, showcasing a lot of creative works. Incorporating commercial art into what we do here and using these creative ideas in communications is what I wish to do in the coming years. I want AYA to be a creative hub, open art galleries and bring creative talent into this region.
