Even if you’ve never heard of Dash-Media, you’ve probably seen their campaigns somewhere, like the catchy WEYAY Bank National Day or the iconic Sunkist TV ads. It’s a production and creative house, with an objective of creating success stories for their client’s projects by producing, and creating Films, programs, and video production. In reality, the Dash-Media team tell us that it’s their fun home where they all gather with their team – as there are no managers, no employees, just family – with very few offices and open living space for gathering, talking, playing, and a lot of brainstorming. They’ve been producing hit after hit that live rent-free in our heads. You don’t get to that point without a team of qualified experts who know what they’re doing.

We met with co-founders of DASH – Media Alya Al-Askari, Mohamed Maged, and Hatem Hosam Eldien and Ali, an invaluable member and pillar at DASH-Media to learn more about their journey.

How do you introduce yourselves as individuals? And what is your role at DASH? How did you meet
Alya Al-Askari – Co-Founder of DASH and Executive Director: A communications expert with 22 years of experience in the fields of media, journalism, and external relations. My career path has passed through Kuwait News Agency, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science, and the World Bank of Washington. In 2020, I decided on a career diversion to Psychology, and currently completing my postgraduate degree in Psychology. I am also a proud mother of two amazing boys, Yousif and Sulaiman. I met Hatem when I was working at the World Bank, I was one of his clients, and we worked on a project for about 6 months, and from there, a friendship grew followed by a partnership as we founded DASH. I met the rest of the team on our first meeting for DASH. My role as the Executive Director at DASH, includes all admin related affairs and external relations affairs, in addition to content creation in some projects.
Mohamed Maged, Co-founder of DASH-Media: Egyptian Director, one of the Notable Alumni of the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, and a graduate of The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, USA, and achieved my Bachelor’s and a postgraduate degree in filmmaking and cinema studies from the Academy of Art in Egypt. I worked in advertising, animation projects, TV commercials, and films as a creative, copywriter, animator, and director, and participated in most of the various hit campaigns, branding, and TV commercials in MENA over the past decade. I won and have been nominated for over 85 international and regional awards from different films and advertising festivals. My role primarily is as a Creative Director at DASH, my responsibility is to create ideas with the team and supervise the entire creative process, present and explain them to our clients, and in some projects, I get involved in the execution as a Director. Hatem and I met 8 years ago on an advertising campaign. I was the creative, and he was the director, we became friends after that, and we worked together on many projects, even before we started DASH. And I met Alya just before we started DASH 3 years ago, and we became friends immediately.
Hatem Hosam Eldien, Co-founder of DASH Media: Co-founder of DASH and Film Director, born and raised in Kuwait, a graduate of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kuwait. My dream was to become an actor, but the wheel of fate steered me towards film directing, which I grew to love. I worked as a freelancer for many years, then established 8K production with partners until I decided with my friends to establish DASH in 2020.
My specialty is drama production, documentaries, and advertisement. The DASH partnership sparked from friendships, I am friends with Maged and Alya – separately, I organized a sit down to discuss this project (DASH), and from there we started working together as partners.
Ali Alhadi: One of the main pillars of the DASH Group and is responsible for connecting DASH with clients and launching projects, in addition to arranging the financial aspects of any project and hiring crew members. Ali previously was a partner in 8K production and headed the operations department in Al Kout TV. He also worked with a wide array of clients like NBK and Burgan Bank and produced a number of TVCs, TV programs and Feature Films.

What inspired you to start DASH? Date of starting? What were you hoping to accomplish?
Maged: It’s a really funny story. In early 2020 before the pandemic, Hatem and I had our own plans where each of us was planning to travel abroad, me to the USA and Hatem to Egypt, but due to the pandemic, we decided to cancel our plans and start our own company.
Our inspiration came from our passion to create a place where we could present our art and make our own films and productions, so we started our company in 2020. It was a tough time to start a company, but we made it happen. We were hoping, and still are, to establish a company that works to produce artistic works that provide creative and honest content that reaches the world. A company with many branches in the Arab world, which is what we are seeking in the next stage to open a branch of the company in Cairo and Riyadh, and perhaps later in the whole world. Why not?
Hatem: The idea was bigger than DASH, most of the companies around were established by individuals, mostly this individual had a vision and tried to accomplish it through his company. And I believe that such companies are not sustainable. Therefore, the inspiration of DASH is getting together specialties, creativity, and visions under one hub, and we see this in the giant film industry.
Alya: The idea of DASH for me first sparked as I was working with Hatem on a special video. I just loved the process of filmmaking, from the start – the brainstorming and creative ideas – to filming and followed by the editing process. It was so different than what I had been working on for 20 years, it was another world! Very exciting, challenging, and lots of fun. So, when Hatem introduced the idea of a partnership I did not hesitate and jumped In, and I found myself in content creation and client relations.

What makes DASH different?
The DASH family is what makes it different. The passion, dedication, and creativity that characterizes each member of the DASH family is, of course, reflected in the spirit of the projects that are implemented and felt by the client and the public alike. The difference and strength of any institution, regardless of its orientation or the nature of its work, is fundamentally dependent on the individuals working in it. We are proud to say that we cooperate with the best people in this field on the social and professional levels.

Could you please explain the name DASH?
From the beginning, we were thinking for sure of a catchy and unique name, and because we aim to make our mark in the market, we decided to use a simple symbol inspired by the KEYBOARD, to be known and used continuously, and we chose “DASH” as a bridge between two words “Clients and audience”, simple, easy to draw and be remembered.
Surprisingly, we figured that “DASH” has the same meaning in both English and Kuwaiti Arabic, which means “Entering in a hurry”, which represents our passion, and dedication to our work.

What is your favorite project so far?
Most of our projects are rewarding, and we are proud of all our work, as we aim to illustrate our creativity and visions through our work. However, several projects do stand out, such as the “Central Bank of Kuwait” campaign, which had a very good impact on Kuwait society to raise awareness of Bank fraud, also the Porsche Macan Campaign which was proudly recognized as one of the best 10 Ads in the Middle East at 2021by “Campaign Middle East magazine”, and also ZAIN ads, NBK, Weyay, KIA, and many projects that were awarded in many festivals in the past 2 years that have a special meaning in our memories.

What would you consider your biggest achievement so far?
One of our biggest achievements was establishing DASH from scratch in 2020, in the middle of the world’s struggle with the Covid pandemic, when most other companies were closed or were going through difficult times, but we started and succeeded. Within 3 years, we transformed DASH from a startup into one of the leaders in its field in the Kuwaiti market. And of course, the trust of our customers is the most important achievement, and the proof is the continuous cooperation and success stories that we create together in every project, and also the expansion of our communications network from local companies to international participation, from shooting to participation in international festivals in different countries such as the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, France, and the United States.

What is your dynamic together as a team?
The diversity of individuals and personalities is what makes a partnership grow and evolve. Each one of the team has his/her own creativity, vision, and specialty, and that’s what made it a success. We are all driven towards a joint cause of making DASH a successful hub in our own ways while maintaining our friendships, partnerships and most importantly our respect for each other.

What is the funniest thing that happened during a project?
Every project has its own fun moments, and during our projects over the past three years, we faced many situations, some of which were fun at the time and others were very difficult, but we dealt with it and it became a fun memory after that.
But we remember that on one of the days of filming inside the studio, The artist wore a special costume, which was a large bear that he couldn’t see or hear from.l. While filming,he was walking and rushed toward the set in a comical manner and could not hear the surrounding sounds to warn him! But we thank God that we were taking precautionary safety measures for such situations; otherwise, it wouldn’t be fun at all.

Any exciting projects coming up?
Absolutely! We have some exciting projects on the horizon. While we can’t reveal all the details just yet but we can give a little teaser of what’s to come. We’re in the stages of post-production for a thrilling feature film that promises to captivate audiences with its compelling storyline and outstanding cast. Our team is also working to develop an innovative and visually striking commercial campaign for a renowned brand that will certainly leave a great impression. Also, we’re collaborating on a documentary series, and program show, that will shed light on inspiring real-life stories and offer a fresh perspective on important issues in the area. These are just a taste of what’s to come, and we can’t wait to share more details as these projects unfold. Just stay tuned for updates on our upcoming!

What do you hope for yourselves and DASH in the future?
As we celebrate our third anniversary, we reflect on our progress and the exciting path that lies ahead, we hope to continue our trajectory of growth and expand our customer base and market presence. We aim to work more on documentaries, films, and miniseries. Over the past three years, we’ve built a reputation for quality and trust and we aim to strengthen our services further and maintain our commitment to creativity. We also aspire to make a positive impact on the lives of our customers, employees, and community. We hope to explore new markets and territories, broadening our footprint and reaching a more diverse customer base in the GCC and Arab world. Furthermore, we are working on establishing the DASH SUMMER ACADEMY for 2024, which consists of workshops and internships for young talents. These hopes represent our ongoing commitment to building a strong, sustainable, and responsible company. While the road ahead may present challenges, we’re confident that the determination, teamwork, and support of each other will turn these hopes into reality, and look forward to even more significant achievements in the years to come.

Find out what DASH-Media are up to by visiting dashmediakw.com and following @dashmediakw on Instagram.