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