Zaid Dagamseh
Visual Content and Digital Media Specialist (EN/FR/AR/DE)
Overview:
Bilingual Creative Professional with eight years of experience producing video, photography, and digital content for organizations, brands, and businesses including Canadian Tire, Google, Microsoft, EY, and RBC, through HOP Films and in-house production roles.
Strengths:
Photography and Videography Production
DSLR and cinema camera shooting
Pre-production planning from concept through outline, script, and storyboard
Directing subjects for on-camera interviews and appearances
Built across seven-plus years, enterprise-level clients, and managed projects/budgets up to $250K
Post-Production Editing
Premiere Pro, After Effects, Final Cut, and DaVinci Resolve
Short and long form content cut for multiple platforms from a single production day
Client and Stakeholder Management
Executive communication and relationship management
Story development and brand identity guideline adherence
Balancing competing priorities across simultaneous projects and deadlines
Education:
Graduate Certificate in Film Production, plus a Bachelor of Engineering. The posting asks for an Advanced College Diploma or an equivalent combination of education and experience. My education and professional experience exceed these requirements.
TRUSTED BY
Selected
Projects
These are the three samples requested for this presentation. Each is broken down against the six areas outlined in the presentation brief: team structure by production phase, intended audience, the message we were communicating, the recommendations I gave the client, and how effectiveness was measured.
The following tools, platforms, and equipment were used across all projects (list is not exhaustive):
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Video Editing
Color Correction & Grading
Captioning -
Motion Graphics
Light VFX Work
Animation
Software Mock-Up -
Media Server Operation
Back-up and Maintenance
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Sound Mixing
Audio Clean Up -
Graphic Design
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Versioning
Client Feedback
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Word
Excel
PowerPoint
Sharepoint -
Graphic Design
Icon Design
Thumbnail Design -
Project Management
Inter-dept Comms
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BlackMagic Cinema Cameras
Sony FX3/FX6
DJI Ronin Gimbals -
Aputure 300x/600D
Aputure LightMat
Aputure 300C
Diffusion -
Green Screen Keying
All White Studios
1) Trust-Building Profiles: Healthcare Provider
Project Overview and Goal:
A video series introducing the practitioners of a Toronto-based mental health practice. The goal was to make the practitioners feel approachable and trustworthy as real people, not just credentials on a website.
Target Audience:
Prospective and current patients, as well as corporate clients the practice was working to attract.
Deliverables:
6× 2 minute videos
Social Cuts
website hero content
Production Roles:
Pre-production: The practice's leadership selected which practitioners to feature and worked directly with me to build a script for each one.
Production: Directed and shot a multicam studio interview setup with one production assistant, who handled lighting and footage dumps between takes.
Post-production: Solo. Edited all six episodes plus social cuts and web content.
Additional Support:
1x On-Set Production Assistant.
Client Recommendations:
Directed the clients directly for on camera presence as well as advice on best way to convey information in a natural and engaging way. This resulted in a much more natural performance and much more professional looking content.
Project Impact:
Success was measured through client satisfaction and compliance with client’s original request of services. Project was successful and resulted in repeat business.
2) Community Event Coverage — Canadian Tire Jumpstart
Project Overview and Goal:
Covered a live event for Canadian Tire's Jumpstart charity program, capturing kids' sports activations and interviews with program participants. The goal was to communicate the impact Jumpstart has on kids' access to sport and community.
Target Audience:
Internal Canadian Tire audiences and Jumpstart's own internal marketing team.
Deliverables:
Hero sizzle reel (2 minutes), interview segments, delivered in English and French.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Received the brief in advance of the activation. The ask was a sizzle reel capturing the event.
Production: Solo. Directed and shot the entire event run-and-gun, capturing sports activities, key moments, and interviews across a fast-moving, multi-activation venue.
Post-production: Solo. Edited the hero reel and interview segments.
Client Recommendations:
Keep it short, use lively music, and keep the interviews with the kids until later to build rapport. Focused the early interviews on the program's leaders instead.
Project Impact:
High engagement on the video, and Jumpstart exceeded its fundraising goal that year.
3) Animated Product Explainer — UGC Shop
Project Overview:
Worked directly with the client's Creative Director to develop the concept from brief through storyboard to final animation. The goal was to explain a multi-feature SaaS platform in under 60 seconds without losing the viewer.
Deliverables:
60-second animated explainer, social cuts for LinkedIn, Instagram, and email.
Target Audience:
People landing on the client's website who want to understand what the platform does, with the goal of converting them into customers.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Solo. Developed the concept and storyboard directly with the client's Creative Director, based on their initial brief.
Production and post-production: Solo. Built the full animation, motion graphics, and sound from storyboard to final export.
Client Recommendations:
Advised the client to keep the script short and pushed for several rounds of iteration to make sure the copy was effective and not verbose.
Project Impact:
the video became the primary asset on the client's homepage and the opening piece in their sales deck.
Additional
Projects
The work below isn't part of the three requested samples. It's included to show range across formats, budgets, and production scale. I'm glad to walk through any of it if it's useful to the panel.
Conference Interviews : Queertech x Google, Ernst & Young, RBC
Project Overview and Goal:
On-site interviews with corporate partners and sponsors of QueerTech, discussing why they were invested in the relationship and highlighting the launch of a new founders program built as an incubator for tech startups.
Deliverables:
Interview series, promotional cuts of the conference, evergreen digital assets.
Target Audience:
Potential investors and venture capital funds that might fund the founders program.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Received the brief in advance, along with the event date, for a sizzle reel capturing interviews with the incubation program's leaders.
Production: Run-and-gun, with two production assistants, one handling lighting and equipment movement, the other organizing captured media.
Post-production: Solo. Edited all content.
Client Recommendations:
Advised building scripts in advance rather than winging the interviews live, given the stakes of the investment message.
Project Impact:
Measured by client satisfaction and on-time, on-budget delivery. The founders program's startups have since received funding.
Award of Excellence — National Dealer Recognition Film Series
Project Overview and Goal:
A recurring film series highlighting top-performing Canadian Tire dealers across the country, shot across multiple provinces with a consistent look and feel.
Deliverables:
7-minute hero films, social cuts, internal edits, regional adaptations.
Target Audience:
Local townspeople, store staff, and the store owner receiving the award.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Received the brief on each store's location and who was winning the award and why, then booked flights, accommodations, and the crew.
Production: Producer and director, leading a team of a cinematographer, camera assistant, and two production assistants. Directed documentary-style interviews built around the recipient, kept confidential from them in advance.
Post-production: Edited some episodes solo and outsourced others due to volume, managing vendors and iterations on the outsourced work.
Client Recommendations:
Advised Canadian Tire that more advance notice on award selections allows better planning, since the surprise format requires everything arranged before the recipient knows.
Project Impact:
High engagement on the video, and videos played at CT’s annual convention to a standing ovation.
Tech Event Coverage — Enterprise AI Hackathon feat. Microsoft & Google
Project Overview and Goal:
Covered an internal hackathon highlighting the investments Google, Microsoft, and Canadian Tire were making in AI, showcasing teams building minimum viable products.
Deliverables:
Highlight reels for each MVP team, plus a sizzle reel for the event.
Target Audience:
Internal audiences within Google, Microsoft, and Canadian Tire, plus potential venture funds that might fund the MVPs.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Received the creative brief and identified the deliverables needed.
Production: Solo. Shot run-and-gun, man-on-the-street style interviews across multiple rooms on an unpredictable schedule. No crew support.
Post-production: Solo. Edited all footage.
Client Recommendations:
Advised staying as concise as possible, and worked to make people unused to being on camera appear natural and comfortable.
Project Impact:
Measured by client satisfaction. Google, Microsoft, and Canadian Tire were all pleased with the content and asked for the project to run again the following year.
Event Coverage — QueerTech Leadership Summit
Project Overview and Goal:
Covered a full event day showcasing tech leaders who are queer or allies, highlighting members of Toronto's QueerTech community and their contributions to the industry.
Target Audience:
Internal audiences at Ernst & Young, plus QueerTech and its sponsors, for their own social channels.
Deliverables:
Hero recap video, short-form interview cuts, vertical social edits.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Received the creative brief and confirmed the ask.
Production: Solo shooter and director for interviews and panel discussion coverage, with one camera assistant managing batteries, footage, and memory cards.
Post-production: Solo. Edited all footage
Client Recommendations:
Kept interviews brief and helped subjects feel comfortable on camera, which produced more engaging content.
Project Impact:
Measured by client satisfaction and compliance with the original scope. The client was pleased, which led to repeat business.
Ongoing Executive Series — 12+ Episodes
Project Overview and Goal:
A recurring interview series with Canadian Tire's CEO and senior leaders, built to humanize the CEO and introduce employees to the executives shaping the company's long-term direction.
Deliverables:
7-minute episodes, produced monthly, 12 per year.
Target Audience:
Internal Canadian Tire employees.
Production Roles:
Pre-production: Shared. Canadian Tire's executive communications team handled scripts and talent booking. I managed set preparation and production readiness.
Production: Producer and director, leading a team of two camera assistants, one lighting assistant, one production sound mixer, and one teleprompter operator.
Post-production: Edited each episode.
Client Recommendations:
Worked one-on-one with the CEO on delivery, phrasing, and cutting filler words to help him come across naturally on camera.
Project Impact:
Measured by viewership. The series became one of the most-watched pieces of content in the company's history.