Ground-breaking writer, producer and storyteller awarded honorary degree

In addition to writing and producing, Alison is also CEO, Founder and Chief Creative Director of storycentral, a London-based entertainment studio that incubates and develops ground-breaking transmedia properties with global partners in film, television, publishing and gaming.

An international pioneer in the field of storytelling, media and experience design, Alison has a career spanning over 25 years. She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences of Television (Emmys), is a BAFTA Guru, a judge for Cannes Young Lions and a member of the Themed Entertainment Association.

Alison is a published fiction author and producer of web series ‘The Loedown’. She has written three bestselling novels - ‘Class Act, ‘Look Before You Leap’ and ‘Three of a Kind’ and is the creator of the first transmedia romcom ‘Staying Single’. 

She is recently sold her fourth novel, ‘The Man in Manhattan’ as a film to a production company in Los Angeles, after writing the script for Netflix. She is currently working with Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund on the development of a new television series, is writing her 5th novel ‘Take My Breath Away’ along with her next movie with LA partners.

Commenting on the award, Alison says: “I am absolutely thrilled to be awarded this Honorary Doctorate of Arts by Solent University. I love working with Solent and the students here. I am passionate about and take a great deal of pride in my work, and also in inspiring and helping develop writers and their stories worldwide. Storytelling is a fundamental human trait, it’s in our DNA and helps us measure who we are, how we respond, and maybe most importantly, who we can become. As storytellers, we have the opportunity to impact the world and how people feel, to bring empathy and build bridges and not walls. We can touch the hearts and minds of people and that, coupled with an understanding of experience design and the psychology of story, is where I see hope for our futures.”