One contract.
The entire roster.
48 hours.
Professional documentation
for humanitarian response,
locally vetted creators,
pre-trained and deployable
across the Global South.
see how it works

One scalable contract with Z*TWAL unlocks
the entire pre-vetted roster across the Global South.
48h emergency deployment.
Consistent quality and safeguarding standards.
Minimum 50% of budget flows directly to creators.

Z*TWAL is the road everyone drives.
Reduces duplication and overhead across
the humanitarian response.
One vendor on retainer vs. silo hiring.
Agencies can subsidise access for their partners
through grants and sub-awards.

A local CSO gets equal access to
professional documentation as its international counterpart.
When local actors own their content and use it
for advocacy and fundraising,
that is genuine locally-led communication.

Many organisations already have staff
creating content.
Z*TWAL professionalises what exists and
fills gaps where capacity does not yet exist.

Access Models
Grantee
Access

Agency embeds
support into subawards.
Grantee receives
content and owns it.

Agency
Direct

Professional
field documentation,
beneficiary stories,
donor reporting visuals.

Surge
Capacity

48h deployment when
your team is stretched.
Pre-positioned creators,
retainer rates.

Access Models
Grantee Access

Agency embeds
support into subawards.
Grantee receives
content and owns it.

Agency Direct

Professional
field documentation,
beneficiary stories,
donor reporting visuals.

Surge Capacity

48h deployment when
your team is stretched.
Pre-positioned creators,
retainer rates.

Tailored by Tier
Tier 1
Minimal

Small orgs where whoever
has time handles comms.
Needs:
rapid deployment,
intensive mentorship,
smartphone storytelling
training.

Tier 2
Basic

Medium orgs with
volunteer comms staff,
inconsistent quality.
Needs:
3-6 month mentorship,
event coverage,
quality elevation.

Tier 3
Dedicated

Larger orgs with
dedicated comms team.
Needs:
surge capacity,
specialised skills
(drone,animation),
major campaign coverage.

Tailored by Tier
Tier 1 Minimal

Small orgs where whoever
has time handles comms.
Needs:
rapid deployment,
intensive mentorship,
smartphone storytelling
training.

Tier 2 Basic

Medium orgs with
volunteer comms staff,
inconsistent quality.
Needs:
3-6 month mentorship,
event coverage,
quality elevation.

Tier 3 Dedicated

Larger orgs with
dedicated comms team.
Needs:
surge capacity,
specialised skills
(drone,animation),
major campaign coverage.

Full Service
Catalogue
see more
PHOTOGRAPHY

Field / documentary photography
Campaign photography
Event documentation
Portrait series
Photo stories / essays
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VIDEO PRODUCTION

Documentary films
Campaign videos
Social media videos
Training / educational videos
Event coverage
Testimonial / interview videos

WRITTEN CONTENT

Human interest stories
Blog posts / articles
Social media copy
Campaign messaging
Reports with narrative elements
Case studies

INTEGRATED CAMPAIGNS

Full campaign development
Strategy through execution
Multi-channel content packages
Cross-platform storytelling
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SPECIALIZED SERVICES

Crisis response content
(24 to 48 hours deployment)
Translation / localization
Animation / motion graphics
Podcast / audio production
Interactive / web content

DESIGN & VISUAL

Infographics
Social media graphics
Campaign visual identity
Presentation design
Publication layout
Digital banners / assets

You belong here.
We are a roster
of locally vetted creators
across the Global South.
Pre-trained.
You belong here.
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Authentic
storytelling
from the people
who live it
Production-grade
content.
Local talent.
Global reach.
Video & Film
Documentary films . Campaign videos . Social media videos
Training / educational videos . Event coverage . Testimonial / interview videos
Photography
Field / documentary photography . Campaign photography . Event documentation
Portrait series . Photo stories / essays
Motion & Animation
Motion graphics . Animation . Live visuals .VFX compositing
Integrated Campaigns
Full campaign development . Strategy through execution . Multi-channel content packages . Cross-platform storytelling
Visual identity
Campaign identity . Infographics
Digital assets . Publication layout
Branded Documentary
Field stories with production-grade finish.

Communication shapes
how we see the world.
Z*twal exists because
every voice
deserves professional
infrastructure.
meet the founders
Richard
Guerra

Executive Director

Richard
Guerra

Executive Director

Richard knows what it looks like when systems fail people. He’s spent 30 years inside them. From leading humanitarian coordination in Mogadishu and Mosul to advising Governments in various humanitarian contexts, he has worked at the intersection of crisis, institutions, and the communities they too often overlook. He co-founded Z*TWAL because he believes the humanitarian sector’s relationship with local and creative talent is broken by design, and that fixing it requires people who understand both sides of that equation.
Richard is Belgian, fluent in French, English, Dutch and Italian. He lives in Cyprus.

Shereen
Dbouk

President

Shereen
Dbouk

President

Shereen Dbouk identifies how systems encode exclusion, and builds the infrastructure to undo it. With 15 years across conflict-affected contexts, she co-founded Z *TWAL out of a gap she saw through her own practice. She is also a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Shereen is Franco-Lebanese-Algerian, fluent in French, English and Arabic. She lives in Beirut.

Cedric
Richer

Creative Director

Cedric
Richer

Creative Director

Cédric makes images that hold up under close attention. Born in Martinique, trained in Paris at ESAG Penninghen, he spent a decade building a practice at the intersection of design discipline and cinematic instinct — directing music videos, brand films and visual experiments that have earned critical praises.
His work operates end-to-end: concept, direction, editorial, VFX supervision, compositing and sound.
He co-founded Z*TWAL because the most powerful stories are often the ones least resourced to be told well. That asymmetry is the problem. The roster is the fix.
Cedric is French. Fluent in English and Creole. he lives in Paris.

Shereen
Dbouk

President

Shereen Dbouk identifies how systems encode exclusion, and builds the infrastructure to undo it. With 15 years across conflict-affected contexts, she co-founded Z *TWAL out of a gap she saw through her own practice. She is also a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Shereen is Franco-Lebanese-Algerian, fluent in French, English and Arabic. She lives in Beirut.

Richard
Guerra

Executive Director

Richard knows what it looks like when systems fail people. He’s spent 30 years inside them. From leading humanitarian coordination in Mogadishu and Mosul to advising Governments in various humanitarian contexts, he has worked at the intersection of crisis, institutions, and the communities they too often overlook. He co-founded Z*TWAL because he believes the humanitarian sector’s relationship with local and creative talent is broken by design, and that fixing it requires people who understand both sides of that equation.
Richard is Belgian, fluent in French, English, Dutch and Italian. He lives in Cyprus.

Cedric
Richer

Creative Director

Cédric makes images that hold up under close attention. Born in Martinique, trained in Paris at ESAG Penninghen, he spent a decade building a practice at the intersection of design discipline and cinematic instinct — directing music videos, brand films and visual experiments that have earned critical praises.
His work operates end-to-end: concept, direction, editorial, VFX supervision, compositing and sound.
He co-founded Z*TWAL because the most powerful stories are often the ones least resourced to be told well. That asymmetry is the problem. The roster is the fix.
Cedric is French. Fluent in English and Creole. he lives in Paris.

Whether you are
a humanitarian agency
needing
documentation capacity,
a creator ready
to join the roster,
or a brand seeking
authentic production,
we respond within
24 TO 48 hours.

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