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