Born and raised in Chicago, Aaron Semmel grew up wanting to make movies underwater with Jacque Cousteau. When Cousteau passed away, Semmel aimed his sights towards dry land and Hollywood.

After studying Film Production and Creative Writing at Columbia College, Semmel started as a Grip on the set of a Roger Corman television series titled Black Scorpion. From there he got a job at Maverick Films, the film shingle of Madonna, where he helped to develop and produce several projects, including the film Agent Cody Banks.

Semmel was cast on the first season of the mega-hit NBC series The Biggest Loser, which gave him a unique perspective for developing and producing unscripted programs and dealing with reality casts and crews. In 2005, Semmel began working under James G. Robinson (CEO) and Guy McElwaine (President) at Morgan Creek Productions. Working closely with development, production, marketing and distribution, Semmel helped to produce such feature films as The Good Shepherd, Man of the Year, Georgia Rule and Sydney White.

Aaron joined Thinkfactory Media in 2009, moving into the world of television production. As Director of Scripted Development, he developed dozens of scripted television and feature film projects, including the feature film 10 Rules to Sleeping Around, the comedy pilot Whitey (A&E), as well as the mini-series Texas Rising (HISTORY). He also helped make unscripted television series, such as Gene Simmons Family Jewels (A&E), Dogg After Dark (MTV), Teach: Tony Danza (A&E), and Sinbad: It’s All About Family (WeTV).

Semmel traveled to Romania in 2011 to Co-Produce Hatfields & McCoys, directed by Kevin Reynolds and starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton. Airing on History, the rating record holding mini-series won five Emmy Awards and was nominated for many more.

Aaron launched his own company, Chicoastal, LLC, which creates, develops and produces television, films, branded content and live events. He created and Executive Produced an unscripted special with country music star Big Kenny Alphin of BIG & RICH for the TLC Network. He also created and Executive Produced an unscripted dog training special for Nat Geo Wild, titled Boss Dog.

In the Digital Space, Semmel Co-Executive Produced three web series for Snoop Dogg’s cannabis centric MerryJane.com. He worked closely with Kevin Costner on the development of several feature films and television projects, including Horizon, the upcoming epic western double-feature. Semmel and Costner partnered with Toyota to create and produce branded content, as well as the development of a potential documentary adventure series.

Semmel is currently a Development Consultant at his old stomping grounds of Morgan Creek Entertainment. There, he helps to oversee the development of new projects, as well as working to exploit the Morgan Creek library, including the recent reboot of The Exorcist, with director David Gordon Green, Blumhouse Productions and Universal / Peacock.

Aaron Semmel volunteers his time as a Program Consultant for the American Cinematheque, Hollywood’s premiere nonprofit dedicated to the public display of motion pictures, where he produces special theatrical screenings and events. He is also an advocate of Big Brother / Big Sisters and has been a “Big Brother” himself. In his free time, Semmel trains and competes in triathlons. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, their son, and their adorable white boxer, Ob-La-De Ob-La-Da.