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