Alex Paen, founder and president of Telco Productions, Inc., is an award-winning journalist specializing in international news. Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Paen was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from Grahm Junior College in Boston and from UCLA in Los Angeles, where he also began his journalism career at KMPC Radio in 1975. In 1979, Paen flew to Tehran, Iran to report on the American hostage crisis. There, he distinguished himself by gaining access to the occupied U.S. compound, obtaining interviews with the militants, and receiving the first recorded message from an American hostage. Paen also delivered more than four million Christmas cards and supportive letters to the captive Americans. Paen went on to anchor the weekend news on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, joined KABC-TV in 1980 and most recently reported on world affairs for KCBS-TV. Paen founded Telco Productions, Inc. in 1985, a multi-faceted communications company which produces and distributes quality programming. In 1994, he became the host of the nationally syndicated television show "Emergency with Alex Paen." Paen has created and hosts several national syndicated television shows, including "Animal Rescue with Alex Paen" ; "Missing" ; "Dog Tales" and "Real Green" . He also created "State Police" and "We the Jury" . In 2012, he co-created and was Executive Producer of the weekly discussion program, "What America Thinks with Scott Rasmussen." In his reportorial career, Paen has interviewed numerous world leaders, from presidents to princes to dictators. He has reported on the school desegregation efforts from Boston to Los Angeles and covered politics and crime, including the infamous L.A. Hillside Strangler case. Internationally, Paen has reported on the civil war in El Salvador, the political upheavals in South Africa, the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, the Iran-Iraq War, the Persian Gulf War, the Middle East Peace talks, the Rio Environmental Summit, the famine and civil war in Somalia, the economic crisis in Cuba and the tragedy in the Balkans. Paen has garnered numerous awards, including an Emmy for his series on Papua New Guinea, two Golden Mikes for investigative reporting from the Southern California Radio and Television News Association, an Associated Press award for his Gulf War reporting and Emmy nominations for his television special, "AIDS: The Global Explosion" as well as for his weekly series, "Animal Rescue." In addition to his news/broadcast career, Paen has authored "Love from America," a true life account of his harrowing experiences in Iran, and is the publisher of The Telco Report, an international television program magazine.
In 2016, The NFL Network and George Clooneys Smokehouse Productions produced and broadcast a one hour television program highlighting Paens Iran reporting, specifically his delivery of cassette tapes of the 1980 Superbowl to the hostages in the U.S. Embassy within hours after the game ended.
