ITV’s Sam Tatlow appointed MBE

ITV’s Sam Tatlow appointed MBE

Sam Tatlow, Creative Diversity Partner at ITV, has been appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday Honours list, receiving the honour for her services to people with disabilities.

Sam said:

“It is such an honour to receive the recognition for the work that I feel so passionately about. Championing Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people and their work has been a driving force in my career so far and I hope, by learning and building on the work from those that came before me, greater inclusion and representation of Disabled people will be achieved. I feel like the industry is on the cusp of making some large strides in creating a more equitable and accessible place for everyone and I am excited to be a part of that change.“

ITV’s Group Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Ade Rawcliffe said:

“Whenever Sam is sat at the table she is a passionate advocate for the rights of disabled people and for the talent and experiences that they can bring to the creative industries. At ITV, she has worked to improve disabled representation both in front of and behind the camera; and within ITV’s workforce. We are already starting to  see the results on and off screen and within our culture at ITV. Sam has been leading for ITV on the cross industry accessibility passport to make freelance work easier for disabled talent. Sam has worked relentlessly to transform attitudes to disabled people within our industry, and we are delighted that she has received this honour and look forward to the  barriers she will break down for disabled people next..”

Sam Tatlow, Creative Diversity Partner at ITV, has been instrumental in getting more disabled people into television and supported them in their careers for over ten years. Since joining ITV, Sam has been instrumental in the roll out of the Disability Inclusion training across the business and the Disability Access Passport for all colleagues, as well as collaborating with the wider industry on this work. She regularly advises and supports producers to ensure accessibility is embedded into their production and has seen Katie Piper and Sophie Morgan join the panel for Loose Women, Alex Brooker join the line up of Soccer Aid and Lost Voice Guy be commissioned for his Christmas Comedy Special which went out on Christmas Eve 2021. 

Sam began her career in Television on Channel 4’s Production Training Scheme where she began working as a Production Coordinator in drama on shows such as The Inbetweeners and Misfits before joining consultancy and training organisation thinkBIGGER! 

Whilst at thinkBIGGER! she worked on the award-winning campaign launched by Channel 4 which brought the first disabled reporters and presenters to the coverage of the London 2012 Paralympics which won Channel 4 a BAFTA and saw the careers of disabled talent such as Alex Brooker begin. 

She also delivered ScreenSkills’ Writers' Cramp which gave opportunities to disabled script editors and writers and managed BBC’s Class Act which gave training and auditions to over thirty disabled actors. 

Her final project with thinkBIGGER! before joining ITV was to set up ScreenSkills’ RE:Calibrate, a mentoring scheme for disabled talent which included mentors from the top tier of the industry - writer of His Dark Materials Jack Thorne, Netflix doyenne Anne Mensah and Head of Drama for ITV, Polly Hill with disabled talent such as script editor Claire Burgess, producer Eleanor Casely and writer Shahid Iqbal amongst it’s participants.

Sam is Chair of the Board of Trustees for Graeae Theatre Company,  a force for change in world-class theatre, leading on the ‘Aesthetics of Access’ boldly placing Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse actors centre stage and challenging preconceptions. She sits on the British Film Institute's Disability Advisory Group and is also an active BAFTA member, chairing their Disability Advisory Group and sitting on their Learning, Inclusion and Talent committee. In 2021 Sam was listed on the Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 of the most influential disabled people in the UK.

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