Aymar Jean “AJ” Christian is the Margaret Walker Alexander Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Media and Data Equity Lab at Northwestern University. He is the author of Open TV: Innovation Beyond Hollywood and the Rise of Web Television (NYU Press, 2018) and the forthcoming Reparative Media: Cultivating Stories and Platforms to Heal Our Culture (MIT Press). He is the co-founder of the Emmy- and Webby-nominated platform OTV | Open Television. He has juried television and video for the Peabody Awards, Gotham Awards, and Tribeca Film Festival, among others. His work has been recognized by the MacArthur Foundation & Field Foundation (Leaders for a New Chicago, 2019), Variety (Top 50 Entertainment Instructor 2020 & 2021), Filmmaker (25 New Faces of Indie Film, 2018) NewCity (Film Leader 2017 & Film Hall of Fame 2020), Chicago magazine (New Power List, 2021) and Seed&Spark (Filmmaker to Watch 2018). Dr. Christian engages industry and community as part of his research. He regularly serves as executive producer of films and series, including Jules Rosskam’s Desire Lines (Special Jury Award, 2024 Sundance Film Festival)
