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