Great Guns Signs Director Omar Hilal

Great Guns is excited to announce that it has signed award-winning director Omar Hilal to the international roster.

Born in Egypt, Omar finished his schooling in Canada then returned to Cairo to study film, journalism, photography and advertising at the American University. Shortly afterwards he directed a TV show in Italy then came back to Cairo and met the MD of Leo Burnett Cairo who immediately offered him a job at the agency.

Hilal, now directing full time, has shot films for several major brands including Vodafone, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Tiger Beer and Nestle.

Over the last 12 months he has won multiple awards including; 2 Golds, 6 Silvers and 2 Bronzes at the Dubai Lynx Awards, Gold and Silver at the Global Cristals, Silver at the LIA’s and 3 Golds, 4 Silvers and the Grand Prix at the African Cristals 2014.

Great Guns founder Laura Gregory spotted Omar at the 2014 LIA awards in Vegas where his film, ‘Swimming Mangos’, for Nestlé Dolce Ice Cream, won a Silver award. “Sometimes you see work that is so perfect you cannot stop thinking about it and wondering who made it happen,” she states. “While producers like to think they are a key element in the creative process, they are only as good as the vision of their director. Omar’s vision is unfettered. I literally couldn’t sleep until I had found him and signed him!”

Since signing with Great Guns Omar has already shot a two-spot campaign for Tiger Beer through BBDO Singapore to celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence. As Singapore celebrated this milestone event, Tiger Beer wanted to celebrate another icon also born in 1965 – the very first Tiger Beer bottle.

Hilal worked closely with the BBDO team and Tiger Beer to realise the two lighthearted mockumentary-style films that depict the ‘Unofficial Official History of Singapore’, recounting the stories behind some of the nation’s favorite quirks.

Executive Producer Carl Wyant remarks; “from the first time we saw the scripts, we all immediately felt that this campaign was destined to be the first project with our newest signing at Great Guns, Omar Hilal. Not only were they great comedy scripts, but they were also posed in that classic ‘mockumentary’ style that Omar excels in. It was almost as though the creatives had written the scripts with him in mind. Fortunately the team at BBDO agreed, and as they say, the rest is history . . . well, officially unofficially at least.”

The first of the two mockumentaries is a humorous take on Singapore’s favorite national dish, Chicken Rice. The film interviews the ‘inventor’ of chicken rice, as he explains how a country, once overrun with chickens, had the ingenious idea of how to get rid of them.

“Even though these stories about Singapore’s history are all clearly send-ups of the documentary form, the challenge for production was to make the look and the styling as authentic to the periods as possible. It took a good deal of research, some brilliant art direction, and a true collaborative effort between the BBDO creative team and the Great Guns production designers, all brought together with Omar’s eye for the bizarre and sense of timing to create comedy in every scene”, says Carl.

The second installment of the ‘Unofficial History of Singapore’ mockumentary campaign explains the origins of the ‘Kallang Wave’, the name given to a football crowd celebration that the film claims Singapore sold to the Mexicans.