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
Dale Donley
Festival Director / Animation, Drama & Family Friendly Programmer
Megan Hobson
Media Sales & Partnerships Manager
Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Junior Content Creator
Emma Jacob
Content Creator
Fruzsina Vida
Projects Administrator
Cherie Federico
Festival Director / Advertising & Fashion Programmer
Helen Osbond
Operations Manager
Eleanor Sutherland
Creative Producer
Katherine Smira
Delegate & Filmmaker Accreditations; Group Bookings Manager
Programming Team
Abi Mitchell
Drama Shorts Programmer
Adam Castle
Dance Programmer
Alice Butterfield
Narrative Features Programmer
Sarah Wong
Experimental Programmer
Des Gayle
Games Programmer
Natalie Gee
Drama Shorts Programmer
MarBelle
Comedy Programmer / Directors Notes
Tosin Alapafuja
Drama Shorts Programmer
John Rose-Adams
VR & Immersive Experiences Programmer
Shaneila Saeed
Games Programmer
Jack Denham
Games Programmer
Matthew Spokes
Games Programmer
Heather McIntosh
Documentary Shorts Programmer
Rachel Pronger
Documentary Features Programmer
Kit Monkman
Artists’ Film Programmer
Tom Knights
Games Programmer
Cherie Federico
Festival Director / Advertising & Fashion Programmer
Mikey Murray
Thriller Programmer
Dale Donley
Festival Director / Animation, Drama & Family Friendly Programmer
Rob Speranza
Drama Shorts Programmer
Rico Johnson-Sinclair
Music Video Programmer
Ana-Despina Tudor
VR & Immersive Experiences Programmer
Jury
Myles McLeod
Family Friendly Juror / BAFTA Award Winning Writer
Caroline Cooper Charles
Thriller Juror / Screen Yorkshire
Lola Oliyide
Drama Juror / Head of Development Neal Street Productions
Nancy Ryan
Comedy Juror / Ridley Scott Creative Group
Ella Kennea
VR & Immersive Experiences Juror / DNEG
Kaya Jabar
Animation Juror / Framestore
Luke Scott
Drama Juror / Director
Victoria Emslie
Thriller Juror / Actress
Yasmin Afifi
Comedy Juror / Director
Kai-Lu Hsiung
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror / Ridley Scott Associates Films
Aubrey Clarke
Family Friendly Juror / BBC Children
Jessica Bugg
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror / London College of Fashion
Mick Audsley
Drama Juror / Editor
Alexandra Garcia
Documentary Juror
Annabel Grundy
Documentary Features Juror / Sheffield Doc/Fest
Alice Bloomfield
Animation Juror / Ridley Scott Associates Films
Julie La’Bassiere
Advertising, Music Video & Fashion Juror
Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Juror / Peckham Platform
Alex Zepherin
Animation Juror / Don Dada Studio
Sarah von Fersen
Family Friendly Juror / Jellyfish Pictures
Liz Rosenthal
VR & Immersive Experiences Juror
Emily Dalton
Documentary Features Juror / Factual Fiction Productions
Paul Sng
Documentary Features Juror / Director
Susi Wilkinson
VR & Immersive Experiences Juror
Tom Dalton
Narrative Features Juror / Factual Fiction Productions
Nick Brown
Thriller Juror / Neal Street Productions
Larry Achiampong
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Juror / Artist
Tom Knights
Game Juror / Senior Narrative Designer at Ubisoft Reflections
Steve Melia
Documentary Juror / Video Production Manager Audible
Ben Smithard
Narrative Features Juror / Cinematographer
Jack Weedon
Games Juror / National Science and Media Museum
Georgina Starr
Artists' Film, Experimental & Dance Programmer
Lucy Ward
Animation Juror / Jellyfish Pictures
Simon Nelson
Comedy Juror / BBC
Advisory Board
Sadie Clayton
Artist & Designer
Daryll Smalley
City of York Council
Steve Jelley
Hammerhead VR
Dionne Farrell
Development Executive / BBC Films
Richard Knight
Screen Yorkshire
Max Park
Development and Production Executive / Film4
Nyree Jillings
BFI
MarBelle
Comedy Programmer / Directors Notes
Jess Loveland
Head of New Writing / BBC
Julian Foddy
VFX Supervisor / Industrial Light & Magic / Drama Juror
