Tarek ElKazzaz

Tarek ElKazzaz
Date of Birth	July 23, 1980 (age 34)
Nationality	Egyptian
Years Active	2001-present
Notable Works	B+Show Al-Bernameg with Bassem Youssef Thawra Ala Alnafs America Belarabi

Tarek ElKazzaz (Arabic: طارق القزاز‎; born July 23, 1980) is an Egyptian digital entertainment expert who is also the CEO and founder of QSoft Holding, one of the leading new media companies in the Middle East. ElKazzaz is best known for creating and producing Al-Bernameg with Bassem Youssef, the first and top political satire program in the Middle East.^[1]

Career

ElKazzaz graduated from the American University in Cairo with a Bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. However, ElKazzaz’s passion for media and the digital world fueled his determination to create a market for online digital entertainment in Egypt. He started working on several self-funded startups in the media production and digital media field, but none of them achieved the sought success or the vision that he had in mind, a vision that has later changed the media production industry in Egypt and the Middle East. In 2007, ElKazzaz founded Qsoft Ltd., the first company specialized in managing and monetizing online content in Egypt. Although YouTube was not operating in Egypt yet, ElKazzaz was determined to become the first YouTube partner in Egypt. In 2008, he partnered with Ossama Youssef to grow their online videos business, and within two months, they landed more than 30 content partners for their online channel. The company expanded its YouTube operations in 2010 by introducing a sister company, Diwan Videos. Within five years, ElKazzaz’s leadership has grown the company to become one of the top professional producers of commercial online video and TV content in the Middle East. ^[2][3]

Discovering Bassem Youssef

After the tremendous success of managing and monetizing content on the internet, ElKazzaz decided to move a step further into the digital media industry, namely by creating his own online content. His objective was to create content that would succeed online and later move on to TV, reaching the largest possible number of viewers. Being lifetime friends with Bassem Youssef, ElKazzaz realized the talent Youssef had and decided to combine that talent with his expertise in digital entertainment to produce compelling content addressing the young Egyptian online community. Late in 2010, ElKazzaz and Youssef created a program discussing the different religious cults around the world. However, the project was never uploaded on YouTube due to the 2011 Alexandria bombings, that took place at the same time of the video production, making the topic too sensitive to address at the time. After the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, ElKazzaz and his carefully selected team of young professionals started executing a strategic plan to produce the number one entertainment show in the Middle East, namely Al-Bernameg with Bassem Youssef. The company started by producing the B+ Show on YouTube, gaining more than five million views in the first three months. In a few months, the team became the Executive Producers of Al-Bernameg with Bassem Youssef, making the show the first Internet to TV conversion in the Middle East. After leading an ambitious renovation project of Cairo’s glamorous Radio Theatre in 2012, the program became the first show of its kind in the Middle East with a live audience, and recording one of the highest ratings on TV with more than 40 million viewers every week and more than two million subscribers on its YouTube channel.^[4]

Further Projects

Being a principal contributor to the success of a number of productions, such as “America Bel ‘Arabi” by Bassem Youssef and “Thawra ‘Ala Al Nafs” by Moez Massoud, ElKazzaz decided to unleash the potential of his team by co-founding “BIG Productions”, a specialized production company. He is also embarking on a new project under the name Tube Star Network that aims not only to create successful productions, but also to create an online platform for any talent in the region to be developed, nourished and professionally produced, and to reach the highest number of audience through the different entertainment channels. QSoft has now expanded into a holding company, employing more than 250 young professionals, with offices in Cairo, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. ElKazzaz remains CEO, leading the company’s corporate strategy, business growth plans, contract negotiations, new accounts acquisitions, promoting corporate brand and relations, and online campaigns design and management.^[5]

References