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