“We started SYNC because we wanted to bridge the gap between professionals in the creative industry and aspiring creatives, as well as connect them,” says 29-year-old co-founder and CEO of SYNC School Mustafa Sharara. Physically located at downtown Cairo’s bustling Greek Campus, SYNC School has officially been in operation since December 2019 offering workshops and events that revolve around various creative fields (from advertising to filmmaking).
The school had launched at last year’s RiseUp Summit event, the country’s biggest entrepreneurship and startup marathon consisting of various talks, sessions, workshops and even pitch competitions. Being an event that brings diverse attendees (investors, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, incubators, accelerators) from all around the world together in one place, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce this new concept for a school.
“We wanted to connect professionals and aspiring creatives through education, networking, connecting, collaborating and even through job opportunities,” explains Sharara in more detail, “The fields within which we provide all this are those such as filmmaking, advertising, design, animation, photography, online content creation, creative entrepreneurship, acting, singing, writing and music production.”
Having started as a seed of an idea only eight months ago, SYNC School – and now SYNC Community – grew and thrived at an accelerated speed, proving that perhaps an entity such as this truly was missing from Egypt’s ‘creative’ world.
“In all of these creative fields mentioned, a lot of people seek to learn as well as find work… and there is no entity or community-based school that offers opportunities for education and collaboration within these fields,” says the young CEO on what pushed them to bring SYNC to life.
“The essence of what we do is that we want to teach, connect and let [people] shine – whether that be in the form of job offers, internships, or even on-ground experiences,” he continues.
SYNC had begun by offering workshops and talks at their downtown location, but once the pandemic hit they have had to suddenly shift their plans online and they have been successful in doing so thus far. They have already offered a variety of online workshops, from Copywriting with content creator and copywriter Eslam Hossam to Filmmaking and Music Production.
Recently however, what has truly seemed to stand out the most is the SYNC Community Facebook group, which has already gathered over 30,000 members in a mere three week’s time. The group is unique in that it truly brings big names in various creative industries together with young talents, in a humble and wonderful manner that manages to showcase the overwhelming amount of talent in Egypt.
Getting lost in a sea of passion-fueled posts in which people introduce themselves and what they do, it is awe-inspiring to find a post by someone whose name is well-known within their field, followed by a post by a talented aspiring creative within that same field.
“We wanted to have ‘creative impact’ and we believe in the power of community,” says Sharara when it comes to SYNC Community, “this space will enable people to connect and collaborate, which is essentially a part of what we want to do in addition to the educational workshops we offer.”
“We really did not expect the group to grow so quickly to be honest,” Sharara says, “it’s crazy because so many people are joining from different backgrounds, disciplines and levels of experience… it gave so many young talents a platform to showcase their work.”
Perhaps what is most noteworthy about SYNC Community, is the atmosphere of support and encouragement that falls within it, as people seem to be keen on sharing their work and their passion, rather than shy away from the opportunity to do so.
“The impact has been very strong… the exposure is great and everyone on the group has common interests and they have even been offering each other help, in addition to the showers of support that can be witnessed and felt,” says Sharara.
For Sharara, the diversity found within the group is unparalleled and offers a refreshing new perspective on Egypt’s talents. Being the only entity of its kind in the country, SYNC is a truly innovative and inspiring new platform that might just be the secret ingredient Egypt’s creative fields needed.
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