Aaron R. Lobel

Aaron Lobel is the Co-founder and CEO of Black Birch Entertainment (BBE) a company that develops and produces purpose-driven scripted television and film for, about and from the Middle East. BBE is partnering with Hollywood companies such as Participant, Caryn Mandabach Productions, Propagate, and ITV and developing a slate of original, large-scale dramatic series for global audiences. Lobel is also the Founder and President of the Washington, DC-based international media organization America Abroad Media (AAM), which has partnered with some of the world’s leading journalists, writers and directors to produce public affairs shows, feature length documentaries and other programming. AAM initiatives also include Screen Buzz, which brings Hollywood writers and directors to the Middle East to lead workshops with the creative community there, and AAM’s Annual Awards gala in Washington, which has presented awards to outstanding creative artists such as Directors Kathryn Bigelow and Paul Greengrass, Netflix Head of Global TV Bela Bajaria, and the Hulu series RAMY. Lobel received his Ph.D. in International Affairs from Harvard University's Department of Government, where he was awarded the Joseph Levenson Prize. While at Harvard he was also a Study Group leader at the Institute of Politics, and a Fellow at the Belfer Center and the Olin Institute. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the International Advisory Council of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Board of the Edward R Murrow Center for a Digital World at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.