J’aimee has been shaping the Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBFF) since its early years, working behind the scenes from 2005 before stepping into the Festival Director role in 2007. As BBFF approaches its 20th edition this October, she has spent more than 18 years keeping the festival alive and evolving through industry upheaval, funding pressure, natural disasters, and cultural shifts. Her leadership is grounded in a simple philosophy: there are no shortcuts to meaningful creative work, only persistence, adaptability, and the willingness to keep showing up.

With a background in Film and TV, J’aimee’s experience spans production, curation, audience development, and industry support. She has been an advocate for emerging forms of storytelling while remaining critical of hype-driven adoption, developing BBFF’s XR and immersive programs with a clear focus on craft, audience experience, and creative integrity. This included Australia’s first Federally funded VR arts initiative, delivered with an emphasis on rigour rather than novelty. She also led Make Diversity Reality, an XR accelerator supporting women and people from diverse backgrounds through skill development, sustained mentorship, and long-term career thinking. Her work consistently pushes back against the idea that new technology equals progress, arguing instead for depth, discipline, and creative responsibility.
A core focus of J’aimee’s work is early-career development. She has long championed BBFF’s Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year competition for under 25s, established in 2008, which provides a genuine pathway into the festival landscape. The program offers emerging filmmakers visibility, professional context, and connection to industry audiences, supported by judges drawn from the upper tiers of the Australian screen sector.
J’aimee continues to build BBFF through long-term thinking, difficult decisions, and sustained effort, supporting filmmakers as both creatives and professionals and reinforcing that mastery is earned by staying in the work long after the novelty fades.