In this episode, Reim El Houni, talks about the challenges she faced in the filmmaking, tv and digital industry and how she has to constantly be on top because of the evolutionary nature of these mediums. She talks about perseverance as she shares her journey which began 20 years ago as a production runner to winning the bronze medal in The New York Festival’s World’s Best Television & Films in 2018.
Things we discuss:
Notable moments:
15:00 – Well, I’ve made so many mistakes. The fortunate part was that I had already been in the industry for 10 years before I started my company so I had a good gauge of the market, what others were charging. So I think that’s usually a good starting point. However, even with that knowledge, it was very important for me in the beginning to just get clients.
34:00 – When the brands started to realize:
1- We had just started and had no track record and views yet and
2- When they realized it was all online and all on YouTube. And back in 2014 most of the brands we met with were not interested on YouTube. It’s so fascinating to me now that 5 years out and everyone is on YouTube. I’ve always been a little early, you know.
40:00 – I think it’s great and terrible at the same time. I’m a big learner and I love going to conferences. I spent years going to the US. For my industry you go to different events even in Europe. I always came back very excited with a lot of ideas and wanted to implement them. As a result, I have implemented very early for this market. So, it’s just about whether or not you can keep the momentum going. I was very fortunate with Dubai on Demand. In 2014, no one was ready for that. I am fortunate to have a second coming with that in the last two years. But there was definitely a phase in the middle where it was very disheartening and I was thinking, “Am I doing the right thing?”
1:04:12 – I am a big believer in not having any regrets. I might make the wrong decisions but atleast I made the decisions.
