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INTERVIEW
AMIN SAMMAKIEH, PLAN A EXPERIENCE DESIGN STUDIO THE CEO AND VISUAL EXPERIENCE DESIGNER OF PLAN A LIFTS THE LID ON THE LEBANESE LIVE EVENTS INDUSTRY AND RECOUNTS A FEW OF HIS FAVOURITE PROJECTS FROM ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
“Content creation is content creation, regardless of the medium it is displayed in.” This is the mantra of Beirut-based Amin Sammakieh, the CEO and Visual Experience Designer of Plan A Experience Design Studio. With the proliferation of VR and AR technology, the world of content creation looks very different nowadays to how it did when Plan A was launched back in 2008. However, according to Sammakieh, whether you’re projection-mapping onto a building or creating an immersive VR experience, the importance
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of strong concepts and creativity remain. “The business model hasn’t changed – we’ve just added different mediums to display the content,” he explained. With a background in television, working for the likes of Central TV in the UK, Showtime Arabia, and MBC, Sammakieh started Plan A originally to work with TV clients, before winning large projection mapping projects at iconic Beirut nightclubs SKYBAR and O1NE. “From there, we started producing content for large screen displays at shopping malls, before diversifying
into the live events sector, becoming more involved with the software and hardware part of the projects,” he recounted. It wasn’t long before Plan A began to cast its net further afield than Lebanon, working on projects in countries all over the region, from Egypt to the UAE and Saudi Arabia which, in recent years, has proved a particularly happy hunting ground for the company. “We have worked on some incredible projects in the Kingdom over the years, including the King’s Cup Final in Riyadh, where we produced a massive