Sam Hope

Dean of Screen and Film

Sam Hope has over 14 years of experience in academic leadership within the Higher Education sector, following an award-winning career in commercial broadcast television. She brings strengths from both her industry background and academic practice to her role as Dean of MetFilm.

Coming from a modest background, Sam believes in the social mobility opportunities offered by both the creative industries and higher education. A first-generation university graduate, she studied film at the prestigious Central Saint Martins School of Art in London and received a scholarship to study at Syracuse University in New York State, USA.

After graduating, Sam joined ITV Broadcast Television at Central Studios as the first female technical operator. She continued to create films, and her talent for screen content creation and writing was recognised when she became ITV’s first Trainee Director. Beginning as a director in the boundary-pushing, BAFTA Award-winning Children’s ITV, Sam established her distinctive, often experimental, humorous style in film and animation content. This unique style extended into adult television, where she won multiple awards for short-form productions, promotions, and commercials, including prestigious PROMAX Gold awards in both the UK and USA. At ITV, she later became Director of Creative Services across six ITV regions.

Headhunted to lead the innovative Vice Chancellor’s Institute of Media Arts (IMA) at the University of Wolverhampton, Sam transitioned to Higher Education as Director of the Institute, followed by successful roles as Associate Dean, Head of the School of Art, Design and Media, and Deputy Dean (Honorary). Her portfolio included academic leadership, student experience, research, knowledge exchange, and enterprise. As Principal Investigator, she led numerous European consortia and a suite of projects valued at over £3 million, including SignMedia, a multilingual interactive online learning tool for Deaf media professionals that combines spoken and sign languages from across Europe. Recognised as a model of innovation, this project earned a runner-up prize for the Leonardo European Innovation Award. Sam was subsequently invited to advise the European Parliament in Brussels, contributing research and development insights to support accessibility innovations in voting systems.

Sam is passionate about education, social mobility, access, inclusion, and diversity. She champions the importance of the arts in education and has served as chair of Arts Council England’s Wolverhampton Cultural Compact as well as the West Midlands Cultural Compacts network. Committed to supporting the next generation of creative talent, she aims to prepare students for successful careers and to help shape the future of the creative industries. Sam has led comprehensive curriculum reviews to ensure a balance of industry-relevant skills with critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities, engaging with key industry stakeholders and students alike to prepare graduates for opportunities in the film, cultural, and creative sectors or for postgraduate studies.

In 2018, Sam was awarded a Senior Fellowship by Advance HE (SFHEA) in recognition of her innovative and inclusive pedagogical practices.