In the Kingdom, 26-year-old Kamel, popularly known as the star of the famous YouTube show, “E7thar Khalfak Matab”(Caution! Speed Bump Behind You), has used the video-sharing site to reach out to his audience here. The show, which is shot entirely in the Kingdom, comically portrays the problems young Saudis face in the work place. Kamel’s videos have clocked thousands of views, and he has received positive feedback from his online followers.
“My friends and I were driving in Obhur and passed a sign that read “Caution! Speed Bump Behind You.” We were amused by the sign and decided it would be the perfect name for our show, which focuses on common problems and issues young Saudis face,” said Kamel.
The show’s first episode was called “The Lebanese Mafia,” and it addressed a commonly-held view that people from Lebanon control the marketing departments of many Saudi companies.
“We have nothing against the Lebanese, but unfortunately there are certain people from Lebanon who are monopolizing the marketing sectors in Saudi companies,” said Kamel who portrays both a Lebanese marketing executive and a young Saudi, the latter who is unable to make his way up the ranks of the company.
“The idea behind the program is to discuss youth’s problems and try to offer solutions. There is a story behind every episode and I tell it using my acting and cinematic and screenwriting skills. Of course, there is going to be some exaggeration for the sake of drama,” he added.
Prior to his YouTube show, Kamel has extensive experience as a screenwriter and has written five scripts, three of which were turned into movies and shown in Egyptian movie theaters. Although Kamel would like to show his movies in Saudi Arabia, he is unable to.
“I choose the Egyptian accent and targeted the Egyptian audience because there are no movie theaters or production houses in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I always dreamed of having my first movie shown in Saudi movie theaters but this dream was unrealistic so, I decided to go with the available options,” he added.
Kamel wrote his first screenplay in 2007 and turned it into a movie called “El A’alamy” (International) in 2009. The movie, a drama, centers around soccer, a sport that is taken very seriously in the Middle East. His latest movie, “Year of the Elephant” centers around pre-Islamic Arabia and describes how life before Islam was like. Kamel was inspired to write “Year of the Elephant” after watching movies on the subject and realized that the last movie on Islam, “The Message,” was made in 1976.
“We wanted to take the initiative and produce a historical movie about our religion. I wrote the movie with my friend Bandar Abu El-Enain and we are now marketing it and hoping to find someone who can fund it because it’s a big project,” he said.
Kamel majored in advertising and public relations at Cairo University, but unsatisfied with his job, he shifted his career to screenwriting, a move that didn’t go well with his parents.
“I had to follow my heart but I was in a dilemma because I had to follow my dreams or set up my own business. I decided to do both. I first did some screenwriting and after five years I established my business and opened a company called Key Ring which is composed of three departments: Key ideas that deals with advertisement, Key Pictures that deals with production and Key Writing for content,” he added.
In 2009, Kamel tried his hand at acting and appeared in the famous Egyptian TV show, “Al-Jamaa” (The University), on MBC4. He played the role of an editor-in-chief of a university’s online magazine. Although he enjoys acting, Kamel says his true calling is scriptwriting, as it allows him to use his imagination and be as creative as he wants.
“We have received positive feedback and have a growing number of fans. I hope to continue doing what I love and entertain people.”
