CAIRO: The first phase of the prominent social advertising project, Closing The Gap, has been completed as was announced by a group of Egyptian youth who are producing the television advertisements. The project addresses issues such as sexual harassment, parental responsibility, creativity, as well as political participation in a mainstream television format aimed to reach the largest possible audience. Closing The Gap consisted of three phases, which took place in partnership between The Egyptian Life Center for Creativity and Culture and the American Freedom House organization. Its primary phase included an intensive workshop that took place in July, 2009. The goal of the workshop was to define the Egyptian context of social marketing, prior social issues that society needs to address through media, along with writing the ideas and storyboards for the ads' content. The goal of Closing The Gap is to train a group of 30 young media activists with interests in new media and its potential role in society. The project served these interests by giving them a chance to represent their views on the usage of new and appropriate media to advocate progressive ideals. “The editing phase was finalized by mid-April and the first screening will be held during April,†said Mahmoud Saber, documentary filmmaker and the project's technical coordinator. A third production phase will finish in early May, he said. “The project is a unique experience for us all. It is the first time young people have the chance to express in filming, with total independence from authorities or business interests,” said Bassam Bahgat, the project's executive coordinator. The project started a partnership with the Darb 1718 art center after Moataz Nasreldine, Darb 1718 director and Ghada Kabash, the Public Relations and Communication Manager, showed encouragement to the project and chose to support it. Some television networks have already offered to air the advertisements after the first screening at Darb 1718. The participants of the project are a group of young Egyptian media activists from many different backgrounds, including media students and professionals. Miral Brinjy, a television producer and project facilitator, expressed that the purpose of this experience was to learn “how to utilize conventional and new means of communication and media to spread awareness about personal responsibility towards reforming society.” BM
