WEBVTT

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Hi.

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My name is Hisham Elzubair.

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I'll give you a brief about myself.

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I lived in various countries like I said,

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and I moved to Sudan 
about two years ago.

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After about one year of being in Sudan

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I felt very frustrated seeing this country
so rich with so many things,

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yet, things used to be standing still.

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So I thought, let me put my talents
and the talents of others,

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and let's do something positive 
for the country.

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Keep your mind that finding people 
is relatively easy. 


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We began the hunt looking 
for media specialists,

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and creators in the various fields.

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The process first began by a portion 
of people I knew personally.


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And they knew people, 
who were also talented,

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and utilizing social networks,

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we were able to locate 
a lot more people,

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and those people knew people 
in their circles 


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were able to reffer them to us.

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About 80% of those people 
who we approached,

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joined the project on voluntary basis.

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They didn't join for the money,

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they joined for what the spirit 
of the project is all about:

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for the betterment of Sudan.

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That's the actual glue 
that bonds all of us together. 


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Now, in terms of: Why does it work?

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Or, how does it work?

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There are number of systems
we impelment to help us to ensure this.


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First, each with their own setup.

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We don't have capital, 
we don't have money,

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we don't have an office.

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So, everyone uses their own equipment 
at home to produce the work.


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We also utilize communication.
Communication is key:

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phones, SMS, chats, e-mails,

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every form of communication 
available as possible is used.


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We also host specialized meetings,

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meetings for scenario guys, 
meetings for the website guys,


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meetings for the marketing guys 
to get the work coordinated.

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Most of the work is done in solitude,

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at one's home, and then they email 
the other members


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or relevant members of the project 
that work has been done.

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We also have a virtual office,

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we have shared calendars, 
shared to-do lists,

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shared files, shared contact sheets,

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so we are able to integrate 
the work together.

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We operate on total transparency,

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and we believe 
that transparency itself is a vehicle 


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that enables this work to proceed further.

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We also operate on a shared goal 
driven coordination system.

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It's the goal of the whole project 
that actually makes us work together.

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Now, why [does] it work?

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A lot of people ask me this question.

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Well, like I said, the overall goal
the betterment of Sudan,

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to improve Sudan's image, 
is a goal that we share together.

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So, it's something that moves 
and drives us together.

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It also provides an opportunity 
to create a very high quality

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in something we all aspire to.

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Sudan is very --

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you don't see this very often in Sudan,
so it's something that moves us.

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It's an addition to one's CV.

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We believe the work we do 
in Almawja is so valuable 


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that it can be a good addition 
to one's CV.

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It also provides opportunity for one 
to work with complementary talents,

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to produce a more complete 
media product or unit.

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It provides the opportunity for one 
to start his own project,

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or her own project,

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and we lend a hand and share
to make sure

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that the project is realized,
supervised for project ownership.

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Finally, revenue generation.

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Money is the least of the priorities,

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for money [goes] for marketing

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[and] exceptional costs before 
we actually enjoy the fruits.

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Now, we do suffer a lot of setbacks.

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This is natural, I guess.

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One of the setbacks we suffer

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is the priorities given to the actual jobs,

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so the amount of time allocated to Almawja
is significantly reduced.

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That's something [that]
has a quite impact on us.

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Also social obligations, 
specially in Sudan,

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I'm sure you guys are familiar,

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takes a quite a toll also on the time 
allocate to Almawja.

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Anther issue is general laziness,

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and time culture issues in Sudan,

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so the time allocated to Almawja 
again is reduced further.

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There are other issues
we experience, such as


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lack of equipment.

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Again, we don't have a capital, 


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so the equipment we have 
is rather minimal.

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We hope this will change in the future.

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Also hardware issues,

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for the hardware issue we can't solve it 
as easy as corporation can.

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So this is an issue 
that sets us back quite a bit.

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Finally, we learn as we go.

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So, sometimes we make mistakes,

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and we have to go back 
and fix the mistakes.

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This sets us back, but as well

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it gives us the strength 
to move forward in a better fashion.

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In terms of what we do as a group,

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we work on documentaries.

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One of them is the ancient 
history of Sudan,

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which we're very proud of,
just completed.

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We're also working on 3D cartoon series,

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such as:
(Arabic) Yawmiyat Balad,


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it's a cartoon that's in progress right now,

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should be released in about a year.

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We're also engaged in photo campaigns,

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where we collect various 
artistic photos of Sudan,

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by various photographers,
so we can show the world.

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We're hoping to start 
in training enthusiasts

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in different various specialties 
very soon

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to provide more recruits.

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Other parts we're working on 
include music video clips.

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We're working on a video clip right now,

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for a Sudanese band, 
a song that is really beautiful.

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We're working on TV series, 
that should be coming soon.

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And we're also working on short films.

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We're soon to expand to creating movies,

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but we want to start slow and surely,

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we'll make sure that we do the right way,

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we don't move too fast.

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The shared principles that we have,

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are the cohesive glue 
that binds us altogether.

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One of the things is shifting perception,

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we want to shift the perception of Sudan 
to a more positive and more real image

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than what is out there 
in the media right now.

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We want to be a vehicle 
of overall promotion of art and culture,

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by promoting all talents 
and creativity in the country

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as something we all believe in.

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We want to create a platform for ourselves
and others to showcase our talents.

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Sudan is full of talents.
I believe they need to be showcased.

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We believe entertainment brings relief,

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and relief is an important component
for change to take place,

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which we're really after.

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We are also [in] education, 
particularly in terms of raising awareness,

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we want to raise awareness 
of what is negative around and about us,

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as well as of what
we should be proud of

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through our documentaries for instance.

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We would like to create a market.

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We believe that Sudan 
has a lot of talents

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that can provide all the country's 
media needs,

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at comparative pricing and a better quality
that worths outsource to.

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We would like to expand, 
we a have open board philosophy,

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the more the merrier.

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And finally, we'd like to be an inspiration.

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We let this model to be used by others,

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where you can create something great, 
out of absolutely nothing.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)