Lord Michael Grade joined Conor Burns MP at Bournemouth University for an in-depth tour of the Faculty of Media and Communication.
Lord Grade held many positions in media throughout his career including Controller of BBC1, Chairman of the BBC and CEO of Channel 4 and is currently a Conservative Party life peer in the House of Lords.
He took the time to speak with students about their work at BU before taking a tour of the television studios and speaking with lecturers and students about our television and film courses.
The next stop on the tour was a trip to the Faculty’s screening room to look at the work of students and graduates of BU’s National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA). Lord Grade stated that he was very impressed as he was shown visual effects clips from current students and heard about the NCCA’s courses and links with industry.
Accompanied by Conor Burns MP, Bournemouth University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney, Pro Vice-Chancellor John Fletcher and Stephen Jukes, Dean of the Faculty of Media and Communication, Lord Grade then spent some time being interviewed by media students inside the new Student Centre.
Lord Michael Grade said, “I am gobsmacked at what I’ve seen as to how dynamic this place is. You can feel that this is an institution that is growing. It’s in the right place, it’s got the right offer, it’s got the right students, and it’s got the right relationships with industry and future employers. It’s sensational!”
Zachary Mitchell was part of the television production team to meet Lord Grade as he entered the Faculty of Media and Communication. The Television Production student spoke to Lord Grade about what they were doing as a part of their course. Zachary said, “It was quite surreal to meet Lord Grade at first – but he was so interested in everything I had to say, and so impressed with the facilities available to us at BU, that I quickly relaxed. I was really pleased to have the honour of showing him around one of our live TV studios and discuss the sort of work I’m currently doing on my TV Production course.”
Edward Lawrence, a final year Television Production student at Bournemouth University, interviewed Lord Grade about his visit and said, “He was a very personable chap he had a very positive view of the university.”
When asked if he had any advice for current media students looking to carve out a career in the media for themselves, Lord Grade said, “I would always say to people who want to get into the industry, you’ve got to want it so badly, you’ve got to be able to take rejection and the people who get in are the people who want it the most. If you’ve got that kind of drive and determination you’ll get in.”
