Take a break with Hassan Kamara

Hi there! What is your name and what did you study at Ravensbourne? When did you graduate?

Hi, My name is Al-Hassan Kutubu-Kamara. I studied BA Content Development & Production and MA Broadcast Futures between September 2011 to August 2017.

It’s time for a coffee break! What’s your go-to drink or snack?

Black Americano with extra caramel (I’m lactose intolerant please NO MILK!)

How did you get to where you are now?

After graduation I worked at the advertising giant, Ogilvy until 2018 which was extremely fast paced. I managed a creative team and worked across brands such as Unilever, British Gas, British airways, Mini and American Express. We created online social media campaigns and internal films for our clients.

Then I decided to move careers into television, working mainly on factual documentaries. I worked my way up from a runner to researcher with Vice studios, Mentorn media, the Garden and Naked TV; working on shows like the Great British Cocaine Epidemic (Channel 5), 60 days in the Estates (Channel 4), Secrets of an ISIS Smart Phone (BBC1) and Hunting the Rolex Rippers (BBC3).

Tell us about what you are doing now…

I’m currently an Assistant Producer at BBC studios where I have developed and produced ‘The Return of Life & Death Row’. This tells stories from the heart of death row with interviews days before execution. I was also on the production of ‘The Return of Our War’, which tells the stories of troops who served in Afghanistan using uncensored footage from bodycams and in depth interviews days, after the troops return from military tours.

What is the best part of your job?

I love developing ideas, finding untold stories and opening the eyes and minds of viewers to worlds they may have never known existed. I like to see myself as an explorer with my storytelling, hopefully discovering treasure along the way! I find having a great team really is the key to creating the best projects. I’m blessed to have worked with great people who bring the best out of me and I can always appreciate different perspectives.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Winning a place on the Assistant Producer Accelerator Programme on a year contract in the BBC studios, was a huge accomplishment because the office was located next door to the estate I grew up in (White City).

My father was a journalist but he struggled to break into the industry. When we would walk or drive past the BBC TV studios, he would always tell me how they never let him into the industry. It was a lot more difficult to find opportunities in the industry during the 90’s especially for an African man.

As a youngster in the late 90s, my friends and I would sometimes break into the BBC studio grounds and run around as it was a lot less secure back then, or I would kick my football on the roof just to get the security guards attention!

When my dad would drive past the BBC TV Centre with me, he would often repeat how they never let him in and I would tell him that I had breached the perimeter, he would either laugh or stay silent.

He passed away when I was nine but I’m sure he would be proud that I have made it into the industry now, and of the films I have been a part of creating.

What is something that people may not know about you?

My great great grandfather Bai Bureh was a Sierra Leonean Warrior, who led Sierra Leone to war against the British in 1898 called the Hut Tax War.

A book I recently loved is… Outliers by Malcom Gladwell.

My current favourite piece of clothing/accessory is… Love divine at 10-pm.com.

My favourite way to exercise is… Calisthenics.

If I won an all-expenses-paid trip, I’d go to… The moon!