Abanoub Emad is an award-winning senior digital and television journalist currently working with Sky News Arabia. He is a producer and director of documentary and television programs, having supervised, produced, and directed a range of political and social shows.
He previously worked as a Multimedia journalist at Deutsche Welle (DW) in Berlin and served as Head of Multimedia at Al Masry Al Youm in addition to collaborating with several local and international TV channels and news organizations.
Abanoub is a certified trainer by British Qualifi with over 10 years of experience in media training, digital storytelling, and content creation. He is also a jury member of the Telly Awards (USA), bringing international perspective and industry standards to his work.
How many years have you been a judge?
5+ years
What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?
What excites me about judging for the Telly Awards is my long relationship with the competition itself. I have been honored to participate over the years and to win more than 18 Telly Awards across the past four years. Today, I see the awards as a space that highlights my role and work as an Egyptian journalist who has covered local, regional, and international stories. Serving as a judge allows me to evaluate these works from a perspective that truly understands the challenges journalists face in reaching the level of excellence required to compete—challenges I have lived through myself.
What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?
My first job in the industry was as an editor at a weekly printed newspaper. That experience taught me the importance of choosing the right angle for every investigation and story—how to make a piece stand out among dozens of submissions from other journalists competing for limited space.
Today, that same skill translates directly into what social media calls the “hook”: the ability to capture attention quickly and meaningfully, not through noise, but through a clear, compelling editorial perspective.
What project are you most proud to have worked on?
I produced a short documentary after five years of attempts, focusing on the last remaining Jews of Egypt. The film was broadcast on Sky News Arabia.
What’s the most challenging part about your job and/or the industry?
The most challenging part of my job is finding the balance between creativity and consistency. You’re expected to produce continuously, while at the same time searching for topics and angles that haven’t already been explored. Maintaining originality under the pressure of constant output is a real challenge—but it’s also what defines meaningful work in this industry.
What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?
In my current role, I work as a journalist and content creator, producing video stories and interviews across a wide range of topics and regions. My responsibilities include researching stories, conducting interviews, shaping narratives, and ensuring that each piece is both visually engaging and editorially meaningful.
What I love most about my job is the access it gives me to people from different nationalities, backgrounds, and walks of life. That access is a privilege—it allows me to tell their stories with depth, context, and respect, going beyond the surface to capture who they truly are.
Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?
When I’m looking for a new story that genuinely matters to people, I go back to the street. I talk to everyone—from taxi drivers to supermarket workers. Despite the overwhelming amount of content online, truly unique stories are rarely found on screens. They’re found among people, in everyday conversations, waiting to be noticed.
What inspired you to pursue your career path?
I’ve always been curious about the world and how stories connect people. That curiosity led me to digital content and media, where I can share experiences, explore different perspectives, and create content that inspires or sparks conversation. Every project I take on pushes me to learn more and challenge myself creatively.
In your experience, what is a significant change you are seeing happen in the video, television, and/or film industry, and what insight can you share about how to navigate it?
Definitely, we’re entering the era of AI, which brings incredible opportunities but also significant challenges, especially the spread of misinformation. This shift requires rethinking how media is produced and consumed, emphasizing our role in fact-checking and verification, while also developing smarter tools to navigate this new landscape responsibly.
