User talk:Francois Ziade

Autobiography

Directing and I

It wasn’t my motivation or the drive that made me leave my beloved country that year in 1989 to venture in my dream career, but it was the war that engulfed my homeland. After seeking my path abroad for five long years starting that September, I returned to a Lebanon which had yet to witness many episodes of internal struggles. My first hand experience with directing begun in 1994 when I joined CVN Television as News Director and helped in assembling its news department staff, as well as taking part in many directorial efforts. Transitioning from one TV station to another may seem tricky, but in my case, experience was my best teacher in that field and I had moved on to New TV as a way to expand my knowledge and skills through directing a number of programs. Although it was cut short after only one year, my journey in New TV paved the way for another interesting yet resourceful experience that set the level high and this time in LBCI where I held the responsibility of editing news graphics. In my opinion, people are the best source of knowledge for anybody and I was lucky to have associated with the late director Fares El Hajj in 1998 in many directional works along with my duty in the news department. In 1999, I explored football games directing in Paris where I was sent by my TV station in order to make ready beforehand for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. And then in 2003, I gained the driving momentum through achieving a repeated success for 6 consecutive years in that same TV station by directing over 1400 episodes of the daily morning live talk show “Nharkom Saeed” which covers political, cultural and social events in Lebanon. I had also the chance later on in 2004 to be Head of News Operations in the LBC team that worked in partnership with Al Iraqiyah, the Iraqi television station to provide training and programming. My driving vision was yet to lead me to another station in my life…where I am now since 2009. Leading, managing, planning, directing the activities of the news staff, tracking issues and events, selecting reporters for coverage, scheduling time for interviewing, monitoring performance of news personnel, adhering to deadlines and making timely and effective decisions in situations requiring prompt attention, all fall under my job description as Head of News Operations at MTV. My discovery journey has yet not finished, but as they had guided me before to create a future, my formulas of success will always be based on values being the solid foundation in my life.

Francois Ziade