Youth In Action

Salman Rob
Photo Courtesy: CheepMonks

From friends experimenting on random videos, to becoming one of the top contenders in the 'Ad Makers' competition, 'CheepMonks' have proved that they are the next generation of ad makers. In almost all their ad films, they try to convey a positive message to the society.

Speaking of how they started, the members of CheepMonks say that they were were never sure how good they would be at making ad films, until last October. "That is when the three of us (Salman Rashid, Shaker Bin Shams and Nabil Khan) decided to participate in a nation wide Ad Making event, as one of the teams from North South University (NSU)," the team says. "It was one of those endeavours we wanted to fulfil before graduating college. Surprisingly, after our first ad submission, everything got a little intense and we started to believe that we were actually going somewhere. After a while, it just became a passion for us, a great way of making use of our idle time."

The 'Anti-Littering' campaign by CheepMonks.

For the CheepMonks, making ad films was a hobby, and it still is. Nevertheless, the members are very serious about the jobs they undertake. To them, each project is like an extra step towards doing something better. When asked about their goals, Rashid says that it is something that they are waiting to discover -- regarding their talents and also the quality of the ad films they will create.

"CheepMonks is a family, of not only three, but a lot of minds. Some of our friends who were with us when we had started, are now studying abroad," says Rashid. "We are eagerly waiting for them to come back and join us."

The CheepMonks have their own YouTube channel and invites everyone to check it out online. "Anbody can subscribe to 'theCHEAPMONKSchannel', where we have our portfolio," says Rashid. "Most of our videos are a random congregation of thoughts put together in a presentable format. Call it hilarious, or 'dumb wit', most of our work is still on the experimental level. However, our best work to date is the 'Anti Littering' advertisement, which is our first ever video. We have to reach the mass, which is why we try to add a bit of humour to our creations. We are in a country, which is going through a lot of changes, and mostly towards betterment. There is a huge amount of pride we will take if in any way we can be a part of this movement."

The CheepMonks logo.

Very few realise the efforts that Bangladesh needs to put in, in order to compete with the whole world, which is getting smaller and smaller every day. With the help of social media and the internet, the CheepMonks believe that they can tell the story of Bangladesh's success to the entire world.

"Videos in particular have never really been an inspiration to us. Inspiration is something that we get from our day to day lives. As far as future plans are concerned, all we know is that we want to continue with what we are doing right now and be happy. More than anything else, we do not want to break this bond,” says Nabil.

Apart from a few corporate deals, the CheepMonks have been working on their own ideas as well and brainstorming regularly. As young people about to venture into the world of visuals and graphics, not to mention experiencing the society in a different way, the CheepMonks feel that it would do them a world of good if they could tag with some of the more specialised companies and organisations in the country. "This would let us work with new ideas and also be disciplined," they say. "The more we explore, the better we become."