Meet the Team .
Meet the industry professionals behind the 2024 festival. Our inspiring team has years of experience in programming, commissioning, publishing, production, curation and direction.
Aesthetica Team
Onnika Blake
Education Coordinator
Eleanor Sutherland
Creative Producer
Fruzsina Vida
Projects Administrator
Megan Hobson
Media Sales & Partnerships Manager
Emma Jacob
Content Creator
Dale Donley
Festival Director / Animation, Drama & Family Friendly Programmer
Phoebe Cawley
Marketing Coordinator
Anna Gallon
Operations Coordinator
Cherie Federico
Festival Director / Advertising & Fashion Programmer
Programming Team
Tosin Alapafuja
Drama Shorts Programmer
Matt Coward-Gibbs
Games Programmer
Cherie Federico
Festival Director / Advertising & Fashion Programmer
Dan Norman
VR & Immersive Experiences Programmer
Jack Denham
Games Programmer
Abi Mitchell
Drama Shorts Programmer
Dale Donley
Festival Director / Animation, Drama & Family Friendly Programmer
Des Gayle
Games Programmer
Holly Newson
Podcasting Programmer
Forms of Circulation
Artists' Film & Experimental Programmers
Alice Butterfield
Narrative Features Programmer
Matthew Spokes
Games Programmer
Angel Cohn Castle
Dance Programmer
Ana-Despina Tudor
VR & Immersive Experiences Programmer
Mikey Murray
Thriller Programmer
Rob Speranza
Drama Shorts Programmer
Martha Cattell
Music Video Programmer
John Rose-Adams
VR & Immersive Experiences Programmer
MarBelle
Comedy Programmer / Directors Notes
Rachel Pronger
Documentary Features Programmer
Heather McIntosh
Documentary Shorts Programmer
Natalie Gee
Drama Shorts Programmer
Jury
Nick Brown
Thriller Juror / Neal Street Productions
Lindsay Crouse
Documentary Juror / New York Times Op-Docs
Mick Audsley
Drama Juror / Editor
Danyele Seignoret
Drama Juror / Channel 4
Emily Whalley
Podcasts Juror / Chalk & Blade
Ben Smithard
Narrative Features Juror / Cinematographer
Paul Cheung
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror
Tom Knights
Games Juror
Alex Zepherin
Animation Juror / Don Dada Studio
Tiago Faria
Thriller Juror / BlueBolt
Simon Nelson
Drama Juror / BBC
Remy Downey
Family Friendly Juror / ITV
Susi Wilkinson
VR & Immersive Experiences Juror
Dom Johnson
Podcasts Juror
Julie La’Bassiere
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror
Steve Melia
Documentary Features Juror / Video Production Manager Audible
Tom Bedford
Games Juror / à la mode games
Bec Evans
Comedy Juror
Patrick Craig
Comedy Juror / Blink Productions
Alia Sheikh
VR & Immersive Experiences Juror / Freelance Immersive Experiences Consultant
Anna Price
Documentary Features Juror
Adipat Virdi
VR & Immersive Experiences Juror
Aubrey Clarke
Family Friendly Juror / BBC Children
Glenn Holberton
Animation Juror / Mackinnon and Saunders
Katherine Bidwell
Games Juror / State of Play Games
Johnathan Brigden
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror
Roy Jox-Fredstie
Documentary Juror / Producer & Filmmaker
Meera Kumar
Podcast Juror
Lola Oliyide
Narrative Features Juror / Head of Development Neal Street Productions
Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Juror / Wellcome Collection
Maike Fiene
Family Friendly Juror / Framestore
Will Becher
Animation Juror / Aardman
Advisory Board
Julian Foddy
VFX Supervisor / Industrial Light & Magic / Drama Juror
Max Park
Development and Production Executive / Film4
MarBelle
Comedy Programmer / Directors Notes
Daryll Smalley
City of York Council
Jess Loveland
Head of New Writing / BBC
Richard Knight
Screen Yorkshire
Sadie Clayton
Artist & Designer
Steve Jelley
Hammerhead VR
Nyree Jillings
BFI
Martin Roker
Black Dog Films
