->Jf81: /* Biography */

2021-11-25T15:17:39Z

Biography

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Parminder Vir
| honorific_suffix = OBE
| birth_date = April 1955
| nationality = [[India]]
| citizenship = [[England]]
| occupation = Chief Executive Officer
| employer = [[Tony Elumelu Foundation]]
}}

'''Parminder Vir''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} (born April 1955) is an Indian-British business executive, filmmaker and TV producer.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-04-05|title=Parminder Vir, OBE|url=https://www.globalsmefinanceforum.org/Africa-2018/speaker/parminder-vir-obe|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Africa SME Finance Forum 2018|language=en}}</ref> She is currently chief executive officer of the [[Tony Elumelu Foundation]], a position she has held since June 2015.

==Biography==
Vir was born in April 1955 in [[Punjab, India]]. She moved to England with her family when she was 10. Her brother Arun also became a filmmaker.

Vir started out as an [[arts administrator]] with the [[Minorities' Arts Advisory Service]] before moving on to the [[Commonwealth Institute]]. She then joined the [[Greater London Council]] as Head of the Race Equality Unit for Arts and Recreation.<ref name="Donnell2002">{{cite book|author=Yinka Sunmonu|author-link=Yinka Sunmonu|editor-link=Alison Donnell|editor=Alison Donnell|title=Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfdpdZ9DwH0C&pg=PA312|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-70025-7|pages=312–3|chapter=Vir, Parminder}}</ref>

In 1986, Vir produced a showreel on black filmmaking in Britain, which was viewed by senior [[BBC]] executives and led to an offer of work there. Starting out as a researcher, she progressed to assistant producer and eventually to series producer, staying with the BBC until 1994. Thereafter, she continued to make programs for the BBC under the aegis of her own production company, Formation Films.

In 1991, she produced two programs for the BBC series ''Our War,'' in which Middle Eastern directors explored the effect of the [[Gulf War]] on their different countries and people. This was followed by more international documentaries such as ''Algeria - Women at War'' (1992, made for Channel 4's ''Critical Eye'' season),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genderandsecurity.org/projects-resources/filmography/algeria-women-war|title=Algeria: Women at War - The Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights|website=Genderandsecurity.org|accessdate=19 October 2017}}</ref> ''The Sex Warriors and the Samurai'' (1995, for Channel 4's ''Secret Asia'' series), ''African Eyes on Europe'' (1995, broadcast ZDF/Arté, Germany), and a mini-series on the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BFI Screenonline: Vir, Parminder Biography|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/536394/index.html|access-date=2020-08-02|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> In 1998, she produced the feature film ''[[Babymother]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies|title=Movies|accessdate=19 October 2017|website=Nytimes.com}}</ref> a reggae musical set in West London and in 2000 she produced the second series of ''Single Voices,'' four half-hour comedy monologues by selected writers.

She worked with leading media investment companies in the UK including [[Ingenious Media Investments]] and [[Goldcrest Films]] where she advised on the investment of a £20m capital fund which included investments in [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-winning and critically acclaimed feature films.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/changingmediasummit/speaker-parminder-vir|title=Parminder Vir OBE|date=1 February 2010|website=Theguardian.com|accessdate=19 October 2017}}</ref>

In May 1996, Vir was appointed the diversity advisor at [[Carlton Television]] and in 1999 to the board of the [[UK Film Council]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/makers/fm369.shtml|title=WOMEN MAKE MOVIES - Parminder Vir|website=Wmm.com|accessdate=19 October 2017}}</ref> She also served on other private and public sector boards including the [[UK Trade & Investment|UKTI]] Asia Task Force, [[UK India Business Council]], Non-Executive Director of [[Goldcrest Films]], Department for Culture Media and Sports, and [[The Indus Entrepreneurs]] UK.

Vir is currently chief executive officer of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which she joined in April 2014,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Parminder Vir OBE|url=http://www.globalthinkersforum.org/people/parminder-vir-obe|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Global Thinkers Forum|language=en}}</ref> and is a senior adviser to the [[Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance]].

===Recognition===
Vir was awarded an [[Order of the British Empire | Order of the British Empire (OBE)]] for her services to the broadcasting and film industry during the [[2002 Birthday Honours]].

==Personal life==
In 1985, she married [[Julian Henriques]], film director and professor of media and communications at [[Goldsmiths, University of London]], and they have two daughters.<ref>[http://www.ila-net.org/WLC/WLC19-2/Parminder-Vir-OBE-Biography.pdf "Parminder Vir OBE".]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vir, Parminder}}
[[Category:Indian chief executives]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Indian women chief executives]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesswomen from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]

Parminder Vir - Revision history

->Jf81: /* Biography */