University of Birmingham inaugurates its first Creative Industries Advisory Board

The University of Birmingham’s first Creative Industries Advisory Board was held on Friday 20 June 2025 at The Exchange, the University’s city centre-based exhibition and community venue. The Board draws together industry leaders and academics to help inform our programme portfolio and its development, our research, and our wider engagement with the creative sector.

External members are all alumni from creative courses and will serve for three years in the first instance. They are co-Chair Adam Driscoll (CEO, ATC Group plc), Hannah Witton (freelance content creator, consultant and coach), Mark Bell (Commissioning Editor, BBC), Ameesha Green (Founder and CEO, The Book Shelf), John Sewell (Founder and CEO, Cosimo Art) and Gareth Neame OBE (CEO, Carnival Films; and Honorary Professor in the Creative Industries at the University of Birmingham).

Our academics joining them on the Board are co-Chair Professor Gianna Bouchard (Deputy Head of the School of English, Drama and Creative Studies), Dr Joanna Bucknall (Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts), Dr Zoe Hope Bulaitis(Assistant Professor in Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences), Professor Annie Mahtani (Professor of Electroacoustic Composition and Practice) and Professor James Walters (Professor of Screen Aesthetics and Criticism).

The first part of the meeting provided overviews of our new programmes in the Creative Industries and Digital Media, which build on the core strengths of our foundational disciplines. Professor Dan Moore (Head of the School of English, Drama and Creative Studies) spoke about the School’s work and ambitions in these areas, and Dr James Green, Head of Research and Strategy Support for Arts and Law, gave an introduction to the CreaTech Frontiers collaborative project, a new creative industries cluster for the West Midlands.

The Board’s discussion focused on the key skills that students need to be successful in the creative industries, and the importance of maintaining a balance between theoretical study and industry-facing applied skills and practice, as part of a Russell Group education. Our industry experts encouraged us to keep storytelling and the human at the centre of what we do, even as AI continues to develop and impact on creative work. We also talked about industry placements, and early plans to introduce a Year in Creative Industries on the BA Cultural and Creative Industries programme.

The University of Birmingham has been ranked as the best university in the UK to study Communications and Media Studies, according to the latest 2026 edition of the Complete University Guide.

On Friday 20 June academics from the University of Birmingham were joined by representatives from the West Midlands creative sector and alumni to celebrate the launch of the University of Birmingham’s new Creative Industries programmes and research.