In Pakistan’s vast media landscape, Syed Umair Ali is one of the most versatile creatives working in the industry today. His expertise is among the most varied from among the top talent of the industry.
With a passion for filmmaking and production, he began his career at the young age of 19 at Shin Satellite, based in Thailand. He got his break in Pakistan’s largest media groups, Geo TV, as a Video Editor and honed his craft editing some of Pakistani television’s most well-edited creative shows on the youth-oriented AAG TV network. He credits his rapid skill development and career growth to his hands-on approach, team spirit, and a mindset geared towards continuous learning.
As his experience grew, so did his demand within the industry, leading him to work with some of the biggest media houses, studios, international sports broadcasters, events, and filmmakers over the next two decades. Over the course of his rich career, he has worked with UNI Plus, Apna TV, Din News, Waqt TV, and Geo News. He is currently working in the international market and has delivered several high-profile projects in Australia, USA, UAE, UK, Thailand, and Qatar.
What makes his career trajectory exceptional and inspiring is how he has leveraged his technical prowess and creative ability to seamlessly transition across different roles ranging from E.N.G/Content Producer, Editor, After Effects artist, Preditor, and EVS Operator.
He has transitioned from news, film, and TV broadcast to Live Sports Broadcasting, covering mainstream global events including the ICC T20 World Cup Australia, International League T20 UAE, Major League Cricket USA, T10 League USA, Pakistan Super League, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the West Indies tour to Pakistan and others. Syed Umair is among a very small cohort of professionals holding such expertise.
Syed Umair credits this wondrous journey to getting his hands on his father’s Super8 handheld camera at the age of 12 and experimenting with making films with it. “The stories we made were bogus but the real fun started when we start joining different takes from one VCR to another. This was a complicated process but when I saw the result and the shot sequence made sense, it was such a fulfilling feeling. At that time, I was unaware that there was such a thing as video editing, but from there it all kicked off.”
He has kept his passion for filmmaking alive despite his busy career, and took the time to be a part of several compelling, award-winning shorts and documentaries on a broad range of topics.
A lifelong student himself, he is acutely aware of the severe shortage of skills in the industry, and the need to share his rich expertise with the future generation of creatives and filmmakers. To that end, he has taught several specialized courses, and was a faculty member at the renowned National College of Arts (NCA), the University of Lahore, the Millennium Universal College, and the Institute of Art and Culture. Around 100,000 students enroll per annum in one of his online courses on the Digiskills (Video Editing, Animation and Vlogging) platform. He also founded ASK Trainings, a training institute that focuses on skill development for the fast-evolving media landscape.
As a seasoned veteran with a superb roster of talent under his lead, his production company White Frog Works, is a media and content production service provider to the media and the corporate sector.
Leveraging his background as a broadcaster, filmmaker and trainer, he has collaborated with several organizations and institutes in developing and enhancing the competency of their media production and filmmaking capabilities. He is thrilled about the advancement of media technologies, sports broadcasting, and content platforms, he has no intention of slowing down and remains committed to exploring new horizons.
