Andrew Chitty

Creative Economy Champion at Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Andrew Chitty has three decades of experience in the creative industries, with a career spanning across television and digital. In January 2017 he became the first ever Creative Economy Champion for the Arts and Humanities Research Council, working to foster partnerships between academics and the rapidly growing creative industry in the UK. He is professor of Creative and Digital Media at the Royal Holloway, University of London and Director of the business advisory network Cranehill, which provides practical, specialist advice to high growth SME’s in the creative and digital sector.

In 1998 he founded multi-BAFTA award winner Illumina Digital, one of the UK’s leading convergent media producers, established to develop new forms of interactive content and services from TV to the web, real world installations to mobile channels.

Prior to founding Illumina, Andrew pioneered the combination of television production with interactive media while editing the BBC series, ‘The Net’ and as an award-winning creative producer for Granada Education, Channel 4 Schools, Microsoft Network and BBC Science.

Andrew is former Vice Chair of the producers’ trade body PACT, a board member of Creative Skillset, and a founding director of Creative England.