Rodney Faraon is a partner, co-founder, and Chief Creative Officer of Crumpton Global, where he leads an intelligence-driven practice advising Fortune 500 companies, family offices, and investment funds on geopolitical risk and strategic decision-making. His work blends the rigor of intelligence analysis with the demands of the private sector, drawing on three decades of experience across government and industry.
Before co-founding Crumpton Global in 2008, Rodney served as the founding Director of The Walt Disney Company’s Global Intelligence practice. His team assessed political, economic, and security risks affecting Disney’s worldwide operations—including ABC/ESPN, parks and resorts, Imagineering, and studio entertainment—and introduced intelligence methodologies that helped define modern private-sector intelligence.
Rodney’s path began at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served from 1991 to 2006. He worked across analysis and operations with assignments in East Asia and Washington. From 1999 to 2001, he served on the President’s Daily Briefing teams for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. As briefer and speechwriter to Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet, he received the Director’s Medal, the DCI’s highest personal honor. After 9/11, he was posted to a CIA Station in Asia, where he helped build a counterterrorism program and managed partnerships with foreign intelligence services.
Rodney is also an established creator and producer in film and television. He was the inspiration for—and Executive Producer of—NBC’s State of Affairs. Starring Katherine Heigl and Alfre Woodard, the series made Rodney and Hank Crumpton the first former CIA officers ever to produce a primetime television program for a major U.S. broadcast network. Rodney shaped the show’s creative direction, developed storylines rooted in real intelligence experience, and worked closely with writers, directors, and cast to ensure both authenticity and dramatic impact. State of Affairs averaged approximately 6.4 million viewers per week over its 13-episode run.
In addition to State of Affairs, Rodney has consulted on a range of intelligence-themed films and television series, including The Crossing (ABC), Homeland (Showtime), Blackhat (Legendary), The Blacklist (NBC), and the forthcoming The Billion Dollar Spy (Walden Media). Actor Simu Liu portrayed a fictional version of him—the CIA analyst “Farren”—in NBC’s Taken.
Rodney holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.