Said was born in 1953 in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.[1] In 1970, he began working for the Somali Film Agency as a photographer assigned to international relations and as a consultant for productions with other countries. Between 1984 and 1986, he served as Director of Programming on Somali television, and wrote and directed several training programs. Said also worked as assistant director on numerous film productions, including A Somali Dervish (1983); The Parching Winds of Somalia (1984); Riviera Somalia (1984), a program for the Italian public service broadcaster Radio Televisione Italiana (RAI); and A Man of Race (1987), produced by the LuceSaimon Film Institute.[2]