Biography
Arun Vir established herself as the Media Training Director for FilmVideo Arts, a non-for-profit in New York City in the mid 90s, where she produced workshops for nascent artists. During her tenure, Arun was invited to serve as committee member for Fifth Night, famously known as the Nuyorican Poet's Café on the lower east side, founded by Poet Miguel Algarin in 1977. Staged readings were performed to packed audiences by an emerging talent pool that included Adrienne Shelley, Steve Buscemi, Adrienne Shelley, and John Leguizamo.
Fifth Night inspired Arun to find her voice and she began writing.
Vir's short screenplay "The Last Weekend" about a failing marriage, earned her the "Directing Workshop for Women" Award sponsored by The American Film Institute. She moved to Los Angeles to make the film which starred Suzzanne Douglas (Parenthood) and upon completion, earned a Best Short award from the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. The Last Weekend was also showcased on Showtime's, The Best Shorts with actor/host Hill Harper. Later, Arun wrote "Unfinished", a short story exploring "miscegenation, parental obligation, and diaspora.
Arun was inspired to write her short screenplay, "Reset", a dark drama which tackles the issues of addiction and recovery, through the eyes of a mixed-race teen. Through the support of various sponsors, Arun completed production of "Reset", starring newcomer Camille Bright with Nandini Minocha (Miss India America) and A. Russell Andrews (The Punisher).
In 2016. "Reset" made its international festival premiere in London at the 2015 British Urban Film Festival, Sponsored by Channel 4. The Africa Movie Academy Awards nominated "Reset" for Best Diaspora Short Drama. Additional honors and recognition for "Reset" include the Founders Choice Award by the International Black Film Festival Nashville; 2017 Programmers Short Film Award, The Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles; an official selection to the Orlando International Film Festival in 2017, and more recently, in October 2018, Reset was selected for the Au Contraire Film Festival, Montreal, Canada; a special screening of the film was sponsored by Chabad Life Line.
Drawing on aspects of her life, Arun's experiences inform her storytelling."Suburban Turban, a coming of age urban drama about an Indian-American top-knot teen living in Queens, New York City was the 2016 Academy Nicholl Finalist. In 2018, Arun placed as Pitch Finalist for the Humanitas New Voices Program, and Winner, Final Draft-Rocaberti Fellowship for her feature project, The Perfect Candidate, the true story of Patricia Banks who fought for her right to work as a flight attendant for Capital Airlines. Arun continues to pen feature screenplays and short stories in a variety of genres including Romcom Wedding Vows.
In 2020, Arun directed Doodu Boy, written by playwright, Stefhen Bryan for the Whitefire Theater, Los Angeles. It streamed live to well over 300 attendees. Vir and Bryan are in development with Birdsucker Lane, a drama centering on a Jamaican trans mother who is forced to live in exile from her family. Vir re-imagined Birdsucker Lane as short featurette, River Mamma and shooting was completed in 2024/2025 with Arun at the helm.
Her seasons producing credits include an indie feature, The Bulls Night Out for under $15k. She produced the scripted reality series "Romancing the Joan," with legendary comedian Joan Rivers before her untimely death. Additional credits include Showtime's, BBGun, (dir: Garrett Williams, '98 Sundance winner); Civil Rights documentary Freedom Riders (three-time Emmy Award Winner); (dirs: Stanley Nelson/Laurens Grant), web viral campaign, and Telly Winner, Friendly Advice Machine with John Cleese.
Arun is a Graduate of the ATF Citizen's Academy, Los Angeles. She is a member of The Independent Writers Caucus.
