Suroosh Alvi is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist and filmmaker. He is the co-founder of Vice Media, a youth media brand operating in more than 50 countries. Alvi is a travelled journalist and an executive producer of film, covering global youth culture, news, and music. He has hosted and produced award-winning documentaries investigating controversial issues, movements, and subcultures, including conflict minerals in the Congo, the Iraq War, and the rise of the Pakistani Taliban and global terrorism.
Early life
Suroosh Alvi was born in Toronto, Ontario to Pakistani parents, both of whom are academics; his mother is Sajida S. Alvi, whose focus is on Islamic Studies and Mughal history, and who is now professor emerita at McGill University, and his father is Sabir A. Alvi, professor emeritus in psychology at the University of Toronto. Alvi studied philosophy at McGill University.
Career
Suroosh Alvi launched VICE with Shane Smith and Gavin McInnes in Montreal in 1994. Originally a punk magazine, VICE has expanded to include a network of digital properties, including VICE.com, TheCreatorsProject.com, Motherboard.tv and Noisey.com as well as a cable and OTT network, a record label, an in-house creative services agency and a book publishing division. Today VICE produces dozens of original video series, covering news, travel, music, arts, fashion and food, and has a network of correspondents and bureaus. As a journalist, Alvi has reported for VICE on HBO and VICE News, which together have received both Emmy and Peabody awards. In 2014, Alvi served as a guest curator for the PHI Centre in Montreal and oversaw a month's worth of programming.
VICE Reporting
In 2006, as VICE was expanding from magazine publishing to video reporting, Suroosh Alvi reported a segment on the "Gun Markets of Pakistan." Since then, Suroosh Alvi has covered stories from around the world, reporting from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip. He has produced and hosted documentaries for VICE on HBO, VICE News and VICE Travel series. In 2017, VICE launched a multi-part series hosted by Alvi examining "the origins and impact of the world's deadliest terrorist organizations: al Qaeda in Yemen, al Shabaab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Tehrik-i-Taliban in Pakistan and the Islamic State in Iraq." In 2020, "The VICE Guide to Iran" was released, hosted by Alvi. In the feature-length documentary Alvi interviews ordinary Iranians about life under international sanctions. He also interviews Hussein Sheikholeslam, one of the students involved in the Iran Hostage Crisis who would die as a result of COVID-19 infection in March, before the documentary's release.
In 2002, Alvi created VICE Music, the company's record label which has partnered with over 50 artists and sold more than 7 million albums worldwide. Clients have included Snoop Lion, Action Bronson, Black Lips, Justice, Chromeo, The Streets, Bloc Party, and Death From Above 1979. In 2011, Alvi launched a partnership between VICE Music and Warner Bros. Records.
