Blog — News and Insights from WHAT IF Creative Studio

This article was originally posted here by Gulf News.

‍

At the 5th Arab Hope Makers ceremony in Dubai on 23 February 2025, Mirwais Azizi, chairman of Azizi Group, pledged Dh3 billion to the Fathers' Endowment campaign to build a charity cancer hospital and research centre offering free treatment, in memory of his daughter Farishta, who died of cancer at 32.

Gulf News reported that a video screened at the event showed Azizi and his family paying tribute to Farishta. That film was produced by WHAT IF Creative Studio for the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.

‍

‍

Watch the film and see the full credits on the project page.

Client: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives
Production House: WHAT IF Creative Studio

This article was originally posted here by Campaign Middle East.

‍

Campaign Middle East covered Panadol Extra’s 2025 Valentine’s Day campaign with VML Dubai, which asked people to share their worst breakup texts and turned three of them into deliberately kitsch music videos for social media. The campaign builds on the brand’s idea that heartache is the one ache it can’t fix.

WHAT IF Creative Studio produced the films, directed by Nasrallah Saad with Hugo Narciso as executive producer.

‍

‍

Watch the films on the project pages: one, two and three.

Client: Haleon (Panadol Extra)
Agency: VML Dubai
Production House: WHAT IF Creative Studio
Director: Nasrallah Saad
Executive Producer: Hugo Narciso
Producer: Mely Urresti

This article was originally posted here by Communicate.

‍

In this Communicate feature, Nasrallah Saad, Executive Producer at WHAT IF Creative Studio, looks back at how the studio adopted AI early, testing tools and platforms to fit them into its production workflow and offer new solutions to clients.

He describes how clients were first excited, then wary of the unpredictability of AI results, and how agencies, post houses and designers soon made the tools part of their everyday work, to the point where the novelty wore off. On the job market, his view is that every new toolset brings a new generation of users with different skills, and the industry adapts.

Read the full interview on Communicate.

This article was originally posted here by Communicate.

‍

In this Communicate feature, Hugo Narciso, Managing Partner at WHAT IF Creative Studio, explains how the studio has used AI since the early days of public large language models: for transcription and subtitles, ideation and storyboards, brainstorming, and coding small internal production tools.

His view is that AI frees creatives from repetitive work rather than replacing them, and that the studio advises clients on the most efficient workflow, presenting AI options with their pros and cons. As the headline puts it, machines do not replace, they assist.

Read the full interview on Communicate.

This article was originally posted here by Campaign Middle East.

‍

Campaign Middle East covered “Re-Explore Life”, Ford Middle East’s campaign for the 2025 Ford Explorer, created with VML and produced by WHAT IF Creative Studio. The hero film, directed by Ed Yazbek and executive produced by Nasrallah Saad, was shot in the UAE’s mountains and invites adults to rediscover the curiosity they had as young explorers.

Speaking to Campaign Middle East, Hugo Narciso, Managing Partner at WHAT IF Creative Studio, explained that the brief was to place the new Explorer in the family segment as an enabler for re-exploration.

‍

‍

See the film and full credits on the project page.

Client: Ford Middle East
Creative: VML
Production House: WHAT IF Creative Studio

Creativity is becoming the only obstacle to content production. Although it comes with its downsides, i'm extremely hopeful for the upsides.

When I started playing around with moving pictures, back in my teenage bedroom, experimenting with After Effects 5, recording videos with a broom and replacing it with a light saber, or cloning myself with the "magic" power of masks.. Learning how to use software back then was trial and error, clicking every button, expecting the software to crash just to start again and do it better. It was quite a time consuming, frustrating experience. It was fun and rewarding though; the curiosity got me here. We kept the exports for ourselves to eventually be lost trough the wear and tear of old tech spinning hard drives, when clouds were just white spots in the sky.

Today, with the accessibility of machine learning, the advent of computing power or the complete overhaul of communication infrastructure, making things is a mundane task. The turnaround times for solo experiments in today's kid's bedroom is pretty much instant in comparison.

Get an internet connection, get a Discord account, spend some time on YouTube, you'll learn where to click and steps to follow in no time. If you don't know, just ask. You can even have a personal teacher just for you (LLM as a chatbot service). Very (very) soon we'll only need to speak, and the results appear.

As we enter a new paradigm of how we give inputs to our computers, what does it mean for the creative industry? I don't know. What I know is it's easier than ever to create, to put what we think in visual terms, and that's amazing. No more spending days on a 10 second low resolution clip painfully tracking broom sticks frame by frame on really bad monitors. No more waiting hours for an export because your computer can't preview.

Now, it's so easy to fail that we can iterate more. Make more. Create more.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As we welcome in the new year of 2023, we at WHAT IF Creative Studio are excited to share some of the innovative technologies we are considering incorporating into our video content production starting this year.

We have seen the incredible potential of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in generating stunning visuals and unique content and we are exploring ways to leverage these capabilities to enhance the quality of our projects as well as make our workflows more efficient.

‍

While we believe that AI can be a powerful tool in the world of video content production, it is important to note that it is not a replacement for highly skilled professionals. We believe the combination of human expertise and AI technology can lead to even greater levels of creativity and efficiency.

By using AI workflows, our team is able to focus on the creative aspects of their work, rather than getting bogged down in repetitive tasks. This allows them to bring their unique perspective and talent to bear on the projects they work on, resulting in higher quality content for our clients.

AI text generators, for example, can help with creative copywriting by providing ideas and inspiration, using advanced algorithms to generate unique text based on prompts or parameters. These tools can be useful for generating ideas for taglines and other types of content with short turnaround times. However, it is important to carefully review and revise any text generated by these tools to ensure accuracy, appropriateness, and effectiveness.

‍

Nas holding a NERF inside a NERF

Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) are a type of machine learning model that can generate new images of complex 3D scenes based on a set of 2D input images. They work by analyzing the patterns and structures in the input images and using machine learning algorithms to interpolate between them and create a complete, 3D representation of the scene. NeRFs are particularly effective at generating synthetic images for use in digital media.

A NeRF network is trained to map from viewing direction and spatial location to opacity and color, using a technique called volume rendering. This allows it to create new views of a scene that are highly realistic and detailed. However, NeRFs are computationally intensive and can take a long time to process complex scenes. Recent advances in the technology have led to the development of new algorithms that can improve performance and speed up the process and, of course, we're paying very close attention to them.

Imagining, Dreaming, Creating

Image diffusion models have the potential to significantly impact the stock imagery industry by making it easier and faster to produce high-quality images in large quantities. While these models are still in the early stages of development, it is likely that they will play an increasingly important role in the industry as they continue to evolve and mature.

‍

In addition to generating new variations of an existing image, image diffusion models can also be used to create new types of animations. By analyzing the patterns and structures in an image sequence and using machine learning algorithms to create new, similar images, these models can be used to generate entirely new animations that are based on the original content.

Another potential use case is in the creation of abstract or surreal animations that are loosely based on real-world references. By feeding an image diffusion model a series of prompts and styles, it is possible to generate entirely new animations that are based on those inputs.

One potential use case for this technology is in the creation of visual effects for film or television, where it can be used to generate entirely new environments or worlds that are not possible to achieve using traditional techniques. For example, an effects artist could use an image diffusion model to generate a range of surreal landscapes or cityscapes based on real-world reference material.

We are always looking for ways to stay at the forefront of the industry and deliver the highest quality content to our clients. By incorporating AI into our workflows, we believe we can achieve even greater levels of efficiency and creativity.

We hope this newsletter has given you a glimpse into the exciting technologies we are considering for the new year, and we look forward to sharing more updates with you as we continue to innovate and push the boundaries of video content production. While we have highlighted just a few examples in this newsletter, there are many more AI workflows and technologies that we are excited to share with you in the future.

We hope that this newsletter has given you a taste of the exciting possibilities that AI offers for content production, and we look forward to continuing the conversation in the coming year.

Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2023.

The last few years were indubitably the most challenging times for any business. The COVID-19 pandemic has put to the test the most resilient of industries and content production was not spared. We, at WHAT IF Creative Studio, took the moment to look at ourselves, study our strengths and weaknesses, and truly appreciate the opportunities we were given.

We realized that what drives us to wake up every day, many times at early hours in the morning to go to set, to shoot, to deliver; is a passion that cannot be easily disrupted.  We believe we are stronger today and are encouraged by the prospect of future challenges and future growth.

We are proud to support the development of an innovative, creative, fun and trustworthy eco-system where all those involved can be stronger, together; collectively nurturing a creative world where "I can't" becomes "WHAT IF”.

We are very proud of producing this beautiful piece of content for the World's Greatest Show, Expo 2020 Dubai.

This is Our Time is the Official Theme Song of Expo 2020 Dubai. Featuring Arabic singers of different generations, it is a celebration of unity and hope by the world's biggest platform that connects the world to create the future.‍

We also supported our friend Director Ekta Saran on her passion project.

A short film dealing with the complicated and evolving concept of identity, aptly titled as Identity. A very big thank you to all our friends who contributed with their time and passion and enabled local based directors to fulfill their vision.‍

With the vision of our friends at Misfits we produced 3 brilliant and funny commercials. Check them out!‍

Expo 2020 Dubai privileged us with producing the promotional video for the Opening Ceremony.‍

One of our latests for Nokia 5.4, showcasing the features of the phone. Welcome to our world!‍

3 ideas, 4 sets of casts, 2 variations each.

Together with VICE and The Emirates, we produced 7 amazing documentaries that tell the story of the UAE. Check them out and you'll be amazed with the great stories we found all over the United Arab Emirates.‍

Back in March 2019, we partnered with Expo 2020 Dubai to deliver this heartfelt message of hope and optimism to the entire world."..we wouldn't have made it, if we didn't stand together, as one."‍

Happy 2022!!

This article was originally posted here by Gulf News.

‍

Gulf News reported the launch of “It’s Possible”, a series of short films by the UAE Government Media Office with VICE Media, released in September 2021 as part of the United Global Emirates campaign to present the UAE to international investors, entrepreneurs and talent.

The seven films follow residents across the emirates through seven themes: art, food, innovation, language, music, performing arts and sport. WHAT IF Creative Studio produced the series with VICE.

‍

‍

Watch the films: Art, Food, Innovation, Language, Music, Performing Arts and Sport.