Why Creative Jobs Matter and More
Last night, we were delighted to welcome back Jay Hunt, Class of 1985 and Creative Director, Europe, Apple TV+, for a very special conversation with Head Rowena Cole as part of our Be Bold! lecture programme.
Jay came to LEH fresh from the Emmys in Los Angeles, where Apple TV celebrated an outstanding night, taking home more awards than any other network and outperforming major rivals including HBO and Netflix. It was a fitting backdrop to an evening all about ambition, possibility and having the confidence to aim high.
Few careers demonstrate those possibilities quite like Jay’s. She is the only person to have led three major UK terrestrial broadcasters, having served as Controller of BBC One, Director of Programmes at Channel 5 and Chief Creative Officer of Channel 4. Earlier in her career, she spent 15 years in BBC News, working on programmes including Newsnight and Panorama and becoming Editor of both the One O’Clock News and Six O’Clock News.
During the evening, Jay brought that remarkable career to life with stories from some of the defining moments she has witnessed first-hand. She spoke about being responsible for the news as the events of 9/11 unfolded, and about interviewing Nelson Mandela, just two examples of a career that has taken her around the world and placed her close to some of the most significant and memorable events of our time.
What came through powerfully was Jay’s enduring belief in the importance of storytelling and creativity. To spend a career finding, shaping and sharing stories, she told us, is both enormously important and a real privilege. Whether reporting on world-changing events or commissioning drama and entertainment that reaches millions of people, storytelling has been the thread running throughout her working life.
That passion has continued at Apple TV+, where Jay has helped build a slate of acclaimed programming including Slow Horses and Bad Sisters. Today, her influence extends well beyond television. Alongside her role at Apple TV+, Jay is Chair of the British Film Institute (BFI), championing British film and screen culture, and Chair of Hay Festival Global, one of the world’s leading festivals of books, ideas and cultural exchange. It is an extraordinary portfolio and a powerful example of where curiosity, courage, creativity and a willingness to embrace new opportunities can lead.
Reflecting on her time at LEH, Jay spoke about the foundations the School gave her as she set out on that journey:
“Why wouldn’t you assume you can get the best jobs and have the most exciting career? The notion that everything is within your grasp, and that you should go out into the world excited about the possibilities, was very much reinforced at LEH. It definitely gave me the courage to go out and try to do that.”
Jay also shared one simple but powerful piece of career advice: be prepared to ask. Film and television, she pointed out, are unusual industries in that the credits give you the names of the people behind the work you admire. Find someone whose career interests you, send them an email and ask if they might spare five minutes for a conversation or a little advice. Nine out of ten people may never reply – but you only need one person to say yes.
It was a reminder that opportunities do not always arrive fully formed. Sometimes they begin with curiosity, a little courage and the willingness to make that first approach.
That sense of possibility lies at the heart of our Be Bold! series which gives our students the opportunity to hear first-hand from alumnae and other remarkable speakers about the choices they have made, the challenges they have faced and the opportunities they have created. Most importantly, it reminds our students that extraordinary careers do not belong to other people: they are within their reach too.
For our wider alumnae community, Jay’s visit was also a wonderful reminder of the impact that sharing your own experience can have on the generations coming behind you. Knowing that someone who once sat in the same classrooms and walked the same corridors has gone on to lead organisations, shape industries, witness history and pursue a career they love can be enormously powerful. It creates that all-important sense of “I can do it too.”
Be Bold! Lecture Programme
Next up in our Be Bold! series is with surgeon, author, and broadcaster Gabriel Weston, as she explores the extraordinary human body and what it means to live in it.
Gabriel became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2003 and continues to work as a part-time ENT surgeon alongside her career in broadcasting and writing. She has presented the BBC Two series Incredible Medicine: Doctor Weston’s Casebook and featured in seven series of Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.
Her first book, Direct Red: A Surgeon’s Story, won the PEN Ackerley Prize, and her latest book, Alive: An Alternative Anatomy, was published in 2025 and explores human organs beyond medical science, examining their role in our lives, mortality, and personal experiences.
Expect an evening of medicine, science, stories, and fresh perspectives on the human body, with plenty to make you think.