The Board of Directors for The Paramount Theater of Charlottesville, operator of the historic Paramount Theater located on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, announces the election of four board members for the 2019-2020 term.
The Board Members include Chris Holden, Craig Littlepage, Barbara Sieg, and Gary Taylor. Chris Holden and Barbara Sieg rejoin the Board after a one-year hiatus; Gary Taylor rejoins the Board after a two-year hiatus.
Current Board Chair David Gies will continue to serve on the Board in the leadership role of Chair for the Board of Directors at the Theater for the 2019-20 fiscal year.
“We could not be more excited to welcome, and welcome back, these strong community leaders to our Board of Directors. All bring energy, talent, and expertise to the Theater, which will together allow us to continue in our mission to educate, enchant, enrich, and enlighten our community. Together we will continue to strive to execute the mission of our community’s nonprofit Paramount Theater. We are absolutely thrilled to have them join our team!” said Chris Eure, Executive Director for The Paramount.
The recently elected members of The Paramount Theater’s Board of Directors include:
Chris Holden
Chris Holden’s career spans over 30 years in media, technology, venture capital, and private equity. After an early stint in advertising as an agency creative director and television spot producer, he left the agency world to join HarperCollins Publishers in New York as Vice President of Advanced Media. He subsequently moved to HarperCollins’ parent company, News Corporation, in a corporate-wide role as Vice President of the Digital Media Group, helping Fox, 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins, and other News Corp companies to formulate digital media strategies and acquire strategic assets through M&A. For eleven years there he held a variety of senior executive roles, including serving as CEO of a News Corp-owned internet gaming company that he subsequently sold to Electronic Arts.
Holden left News Corp to co-found Court Square Ventures, a venture capital firm focusing on early stage investments in digital media, communications, and information technology. In 2015 Holden formed Free Union Partners, an independent sponsor of private equity investments working closely with family offices to source, acquire, and manage companies across multiple sectors with potential for substantial growth. He currently serves as CEO of Natural Retreats, a portfolio company of Cumberland Development managed by Free Union Partners.
Holden has also served on a number of volunteer nonprofit boards, including the Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation, the Music Resource Center, the Charlottesville/Albemarle Chamber of Commerce, WVPT (VA’s Public Television), and The Paramount Theater (Chair). In 2008 he was appointed by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to serve on the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University. A Virginia native, Holden is a graduate of Woodberry Forest School and Davidson College. He resides near Charlottesville with his wife Meg and three daughters.
Craig Littlepage
Craig Littlepage has over 44 years of experience in higher education and is currently the Special Advisor to the President and Director of Athletics Emeritus at the University of Virginia. In this role, he supports the University’s Executive Search Group which conducts senior level searches at UVA. He served as the University’s Director of Athletics from August 2001 through his retirement from the position in December of 2017. He held a range of athletics administrative positions at UVA and he chaired a variety of committees both with the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA. Most significantly, in 2006 Littlepage chaired the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee, one of the most prestigious assignments in college sports.
Littlepage was the first African-American athletics director in Atlantic Coast Conference history and was named the Black Coaches’ Association’s “Athletics Administrator of the Year” in 2003 and 2006. He was also listed on Sports Illustrated’s list of the 101 most influential minorities in sports in 2003 and 2004. In March 2005, Littlepage was named one of Black Enterprise magazine’s “Most Powerful African-Americans in Sports.” Mr. Littlepage earned his B.S. degree in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1973. Littlepage is married to Charlottesville native, Margaret Murray Littlepage. The couple has three adult children, Erica, Murray, and Erin, all that are graduates of STAB.
Barbara Sieg
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Sieg made her move to Virginia to attend Hollins University. Upon graduating from Hollins, she moved to New York City and worked in the television and print advertising industry. After relocating to Charlottesville, and following her love of France and travel, she founded two travel newsletters: “La Belle France: The Sophisticated Guide to France” and “Golf Travel: The Guide for Discriminating Golfers.” Sieg is a member of the Board of Directors of Alliance Francaise de Charlottesville and a member of the Board of Directors of the Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee. She also served on the founding board of UVA’s Children’s Medical Center, as well as on the board of the Charlottesville/Albemarle Heart Association. She is a member of the Contemporary Club of Albemarle and of The Charlottesville Garden Club. She is the Director of Iroquois Investments. Sieg was also a member of the original Paramount Board of Directors. She has lived in Charlottesville since 1980, and has three children, who also call Charlottesville home.
Gary Taylor
Taylor is a Charlottesville native and a graduate of the University of Virginia. In 1985, he founded his wealth management firm, Taylor Associates affiliated with Northwestern Mutual. He has served in community leadership capacities on the boards of the Virginia Discovery Museum, the PVCC Foundation, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Central Virginia Estate Planning Council, and the University of Virginia Clinical Cancer Center. Taylor has three daughters – Kari, Hilary, and Morgan.
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