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