First PhD cohort announced for innovative Creative Bridges research programme

The initiative brings together academic expertise from two world-class universities to directly support the UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy

The University of Leeds and the University of Warwick has welcomed the first cohort of PhD researchers to be funded by Creative Bridges, an innovative Centre for Doctoral Training designed to shape the future of the UK’s creative economy.

Funded by a prestigious Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Focal Award – one of only ten granted nationally – Creative Bridges will fund 20 PhD scholarships between 2026 and 2033. It is led jointly by the School of Media and Communication at Leeds alongside the School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies at Warwick. Research will focus on boosting sustainability and diversity across film, television, games, and immersive media in the UK creative economy.

"We are excited to welcome our first cohort of Creative Bridges PhD researchers," said Professor Joanne Garde-Hansen, Programme Lead and Head of the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds. "Together with our partners across screen, gaming, and immersive media, Leeds and Warwick are training the next generation of researchers to build a diverse and sustainable creative sector. These six scholars embody the expertise, drive, and fresh perspectives Creative Bridges was established to nurture."

The initiative brings together academic expertise from two world-class universities to directly support the UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, which highlights the creative industries as a key driver of economic growth.

Speaking to the PhD students at the cohort launch event on Tuesday 29 September, University of Leeds Council Member Stuart Murphy said:

“Supporting PhD research couldn't be more prescient. Who is on those screens, how they are shown, where that work happens and what devices they are shown on are right at the flashpoint of a rapidly changing media landscape. The combined weight of two of the greatest, most creative universities in the world will be with you on your journey - Leeds and Warwick. I’m willing your success and will do everything I can to try and help you get there.”

There were also speeches from Creative Bridges’ partner organisations, including ITV, the BBC, Ofcom, Just Add water and Reflex Arc.

By bridging the regional screen clusters of Yorkshire and the Midlands, the programme offers industry partners direct collaboration with researchers on critical sector challenges. It will align with UKRI investment in CoStar, XR Stories, XR Artists, Creative Catalyst, Creative Clusters, and informed by Creative Radar, Geographies of the Creative Industries, Creative PEC and InGame.

"Creative Bridges represents a vital shift in how academia and industry collaborate to solve real-world sector challenges," said Dr David Wright, Lead Supervisor and Director of Research and Impact in the School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Culture at Warwick. "By embedding doctoral research into regional creative ecosystems outside London, we are equipping our researchers to make an immediate, practical impact on how content is made, distributed, and sustained."

The first Creative Bridges scholars are:

• Anna Theodoulides (University of Leeds) – ‘The Situated Negotiation of Platform-Viewing: An Empirical Approach to Understanding TV-Viewing in the Platformised Television Ecology’
• Jo Schofield (University of Leeds) – ‘Regional Screen Industry Ecosystems, Platform Change, and the Sustainability of Creative Work in the UK’
• Tammie Ash (University of Leeds / BBC) – ‘Blueprint for the Screen Industries: Where are Creative Workers Living, Working and Playing in the UK Today?’
• Jane Cheadle (University of Warwick / University of Leeds) – ‘Greening the Uncanny Valley: Towards Sustainable Animation & Video Effects Production in the UK, Practice and Policy’
• Zonglin Li (University of Warwick) – ‘Navigating Educational Choices and Adaptation among Chinese Immigrant Families in England: A Participatory Documentary Approach’
• Vasiliki (Vassia) Barmpa (University of Leeds) – ‘Producing Race on the Feed: Short-Form News Video, Algorithmic Systems and Creative Labour’.

Creative Bridges is led by Professor Joanne Garde-Hansen, Head of the School of Media and Communication with Professor Anamik Saha (Professor of Race and Media) at Leeds and Dr David Wright, Lead Supervisor and Director of Research and Impact in the School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Culture with Dr Sanjay Sharma (Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies) at Warwick.

Meet the scholars

Anna Theodoulides

Project Title: The Situated Negotiation of Platform-Viewing: An Empirical Approach to Understanding TV-Viewing in the Platformised Television Ecology

Supervisors: Professor Catherine Johnson and Dr Christopher Birchall (School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds)

Anna holds degrees from UCL and the LSE. She has worked on television research projects at Leeds, for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the future of television distribution, and for the International Broadcasting Trust. Her PhD investigates how platform interfaces—such as thumbnails, homepage placements, and search algorithms—quietly guide audience viewing choices, with a focus on viewers currently underrepresented in platform research.

Jo Schofield

Project Title: Regional Screen Industry Ecosystems, Platform Change, and the Sustainability of Creative Work in the UK

Supervisors: Professor Beth Johnson (University of Leeds) and Dr David Wright (University of Warwick)

Jo is a BAFTA and EMMY-nominated writer, producer, and Senior Talent Executive at Screen Yorkshire, with over 20 years of experience across Emmerdale, Coronation Street, and RTÉ. She also serves as CEO of Yarn Weaver and has led regional industry anti-discrimination initiatives. Her research explores how shifting commissioning practices, streaming platforms, and the creator economy affect regional screen production ecosystems, focusing on career sustainability and access barriers outside London.

Tammie Ash

Project Title: Blueprint for the Screen Industries: Where are creative workers living, working and playing in the UK today?

Supervisors: Professor Beth Johnson (University of Leeds) and Dr Tim Monteath (University of Warwick), in partnership with the BBC

Tammie is a freelance producer and writer from Bradford with five years of experience in unscripted television and national events, following an earlier career as a civil and structural engineer. Her industry-partnered project with the BBC examines major creative clusters—such as MediaCity Salford and Digbeth Loc. Birmingham—to assess how infrastructure, regional policies, and hiring practices affect worker access and diversity.

Jane Cheadle

Project Title: Greening the Uncanny Valley: towards sustainable Animation & Video Effects production in the UK, practice and policy

Supervisors: Dr Pietari Kääpä (University of Warwick) and Dr Leslie Meier (University of Leeds)

Jane is an independent animator and lecturer who has pioneered the integration of BAFTA Albert sustainability training into higher education coursework. Her research addresses the lack of environmental policy frameworks in digital production, examining the energy demands, carbon footprints, and material impacts of the UK's animation and VFX sectors to help establish industry-wide sustainability targets.

Zonglin Li

Project Title: Navigating Educational Choices and Adaptation among Chinese Immigrant Families in England: A Participatory Documentary Approach

Supervisors: Dr Lucy Brydon and Dr Michael Pigott (University of Warwick)

Zonglin is a documentary filmmaker holding an MA from UCL, whose films on migrant communities have screened at Sheffield DocFest, Shanghai International Film Festival, and Busan International Film Festival. His practice-based PhD works directly with newly arrived Chinese immigrant families in England, using co-production techniques where participants film and edit their own experiences to test participatory production models for the wider screen industry.

Vasiliki (Vassia) Barmpa

Project Title: Producing Race on the Feed: Short-Form News Video, Algorithmic Systems and Creative Labour

Supervisors: Professor Anamik Saha and Professor David Hesmondhalgh (School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds)

Vassia has over a decade of journalism experience in Greek and UK newsrooms, including national titles such as the Daily Mirror, and holds an MA in Race, Media and Social Justice from Goldsmiths. Her project examines how short-form video formats (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) and AI-assisted newsroom production shape public understanding of race and migration, offering insights into responsible, inclusive digital journalism.