Omar Hilal

I’m delighted to be joined by award-winning ad director & filmmaker Omar Hilal as this month’s guest. Omar is one of those people who discovered that he wanted to become a director very early in life. He started out as a photo-journalist and went on to become an accomplished ad director, with stand-out ads such as the Aqua Mangos ad for Nestle and the ground-breaking Royal Jordanian Ad in his portfolio. The ads he’s worked on have won more than 50 awards, including 5 Grand Prix.

In 2023, he switched gears to release his directorial debut, Voy! Voy! Voy!, which went on to win 16 awards globally and was Egypt’s official selection to the Oscars.

Listen in as he tells me about his life’s twists and turns from ad-man to film director and everything in between.

You can also watch the episode here:

On a special bonus episode next week, Omar tells me about three key projects: the hilarious Aqua Mangos ad, the ground-breaking Royal Jordanian Ad and a sneak-peek into his upcoming film, so stay tuned!

And in a couple of weeks, we’ll have our next Encore episode with designer and icon Nadine Kanso.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, I’d love to hear from you. You can also leave us a comment on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.