Aymar Jean Christian

Short Bio | CV | Scholarship | Press | Projects | News | Syllabi | OPEN TV (beta)

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Aymar Jean “AJ” Christian is assistant professor in the Media, Technology and Society program in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University.

Dr. Christian researches new media and creative economy. As part of this research he documents the changing market for television across popular and academic publications: on Televisual, but also for Slate, Indiewire, Tubefilter, among others; and academic journals Continuum, Transformative Works & Culture, First Monday, Cinema Journal and Communication, Culture and Critique. His book-length manuscript, Open TV: Innovation Beyond Networks, will be the first full study on the rise of web video, incorporating years of documenting and participating in this emerging art form and market.

His interest in digital production has led him to produce several independent video projects. The most significant of these is Open TV (beta), a platform for art and television by queer, trans and cis-women and people of color. For more about Open TV, read this introductory essay.

Before Open TV he co-produced, with Under the Spell Productions,  She’s Out Of Order, a Philadelphia-set sitcom about a journalist dealing with life’s professional and romantic frustrations. It an official selection of the 2015 LA Web Fest, one of the longest-running independent television festivals, with creator Teresa Lasley nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and LaJune Grant nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress.

Christian frequently serves as a curator and judge of television and video, including as an advisor and member of leading award shows and festivals, including, the Tribeca Film Festival (NOW program), Peabody Awards, Streamy Awards Blue Ribbon Panel and IAWTV Awards. He is also a member of the International Press Academy and its Satellite Awards. During his doctoral studies Christian worked for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, running the Film@Perelman short film series and lecturing on film as part of its education programming. Televisual‘s directories of black, LGBT, Latino and Asian American web series are among the few and most comprehensive available. His 2013 Indie TV Innovation series featured articles from Emmy-winning producers and rising indie creators developing programs for networks like the CW, FX and Comedy Central.

Televisual has been linked to by The Atlantic, Gawker, and MSN, to name a few. Christian has offered media commentary on topics from web TV, film, race and sexuality for The New York Times, Reuters, Slate, The BIO Channel and NPR, among others.

Christian received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, with a certificate in cinema studies. He received his bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in American Culture. He lives in Chicago.

You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.

For press and speaking inquiries, you can contact him here.

For more information, click on the subpages above.

Televisual explores the art, culture and market for television.

Founding Editor: Aymar Jean Christian.

Contributing Editors: Jacob Nelson, Heidi Khaled

For inquiries, email Dr. Christian here.

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