Meet the Team .
Meet the industry professionals behind this year’s festival. Our inspiring team has years of experience in programming, commissioning, publishing, production, curation and direction.
Aesthetica Team
Megan Hobson
Advertising Coordinator
Dale Donley
Festival Director / Animation Programmer
Matt Glasby
Designer
Laura Kirkwood
Digital Assistant
Helen Osbond
Operations Manager
Katherine Smira
Education & Bookings Coordinator
Aoife Rush
Festival Assistant
Cherie Federico
Festival Director / Advertising, Fashion & Music Video Programmer
Eleanor Sutherland
Digital Content Creator
Matthew Millard
Technical Coordinator
Saffron Ward
Digital Content Writer
Programming Team
Rachel Pronger
Documentary Programmer
Aduke King
Drama Programmer
Cherie Federico
Festival Director / Advertising, Fashion & Music Video Programmer
Rico Johnson-Sinclair
Music Video Programmer
Rob Speranza
Features Programmer
Kit Monkman
Artists’ Film Programmer
Harvey Dimond
Narrative Features Programmer
Adam Castle
Dance Programmer
Abi Mitchell
Drama Programmer
Hannah McHaffie
Drama Programmer
Natalie Gee
Drama Programmer
Samantha Kingston
VR & Immersive Experiences Programmer
MarBelle
Comedy & Drama Programmer / Directors Notes
Caragh Davison
Drama Programmer
Lauren Clarke
Experimental Programmer
Mikey Murray
Thriller Programmer
Dale Donley
Festival Director / Animation Programmer
Jury
Larry Achiampong
Documentary Juror / Artist
Linda Brusasco
Documentary Juror / Fremantle
Alia Sheikh
VR & 360 Juror / BBC
Julie La’Bassiere
Drama Juror / Awards, Publicity & Marketing Strategist
Anthony Andrews
Co-Founder and Creative Director / We Are Parable / Documentary Features Juror
Jessica Woodward
Comedy Juror / Curzon Home Cinema
Andrew Kotting
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Juror / UCA
Sadie Clayton
Designer / Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror
Julian Foddy
VFX Supervisor / Industrial Light & Magic / Drama Juror
Charlie Phillips
Documentary Juror / Sheffield Doc/Fest
Bart Yates
Animation Juror / Blinkink
Delphine Lievens
Documentary Features Juror / Bohemia Media
Christina Newland
Comedy Juror / Film Critic and Journalist
Alice Dunseath
Animation Juror / Goldsmiths
Simon Nelson
Comedy Juror / BBC
Jessica Bugg
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror / LCF
Natalia Guarín
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror / Producer
Jason Wood
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Juror / BFI
Shelley Jones
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Juror / Park Pictures
Alice Ramsey
Drama Juror / BBC
Richard Nockles
VR & 360 Juror / Surround Vision
Sandra Hebron
Narrative Features Juror / NFTS
Terri White
Narrative Features Juror
Ana-Despina Tudor
VR & 360 Juror / LCC
Kristy Matheson
Documentary Features Juror / Edinburgh International Film Festival
David Jenkins
Thriller Juror / Little White Lies
Dan Borgonon
Thriller Juror / Channel 4
Akua Gyamfi
Thriller Juror / The British Blacklist
Advisory Board
Max Park
Development and Production Executive / Film4
Clare Stewart
BAFTA Film Committee
Richard Knight
Screen Yorkshire
Sadie Clayton
Designer / Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror
Jess Loveland
Head of New Writing / BBC
MarBelle
Comedy & Drama Programmer / Directors Notes
Dionne Farrell
Development Executive / BBC Films
Julian Foddy
VFX Supervisor / Industrial Light & Magic / Drama Juror
Nyree Jillings
BFI
