Jay Hunt on Seizing Opportunities and Creating Your Own

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 Be Bold! The series 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.” 

And you don’t have to have followed Jay’s path – or reached the very top of an industry – to have valuable experience to share. 

Our alumnae mentoring programme is an important part of making that happen. By becoming a mentor, you can help current students and fellow alumnae navigate their next steps, develop their confidence and ambitions, and benefit from the lessons you have learned along the way. Whatever stage of your career you are at, your perspective, encouragement and experience could make a real difference to someone else. 

As ever, our students are at the heart of everything we do. We build their confidence in the classroom, on stage, on the sports field, in the science lab and through programmes such as Be Bold! Since its launch in 2024, the series has welcomed back a host of talented alumnae, each demonstrating in their own way just how many different directions an LEH education can take you. 

There are thousands more stories, careers and experiences across our alumnae community that could inspire the next generation. 

Could you become a mentor? Do you know an alumna whose story our students should hear? Or perhaps it is time to come back to LEH and share your own? 

We would love to hear from you. To get involved with mentoring or to suggest a future Be Bold! speaker, please email alumnae@lehs.org.uk.