Company type | Private |
---|---|
ASX: VRL (until 2021) | |
Industry | Media, Entertainment |
Founded | 1954 |
Founder | Roc Kirby |
Headquarters | The Jam Factory, , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Robert G. Kirby (Executive Chairman) Clark Kirby (CEO) |
Products | |
Revenue | A$1.003 billion (2017) [1] |
−A$65.62 million (2017) [1] | |
Owner | BGH Capital |
Divisions | Village Roadshow Theme Parks |
Subsidiaries | Village Roadshow Pictures Roadshow Entertainment |
Website | www.villageroadshow.com.au |
Village Roadshow Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and majority owned by Village Roadshow Corporation, with members of founder Roc Kirby's family in the top roles. [2]
Village Roadshow originally started operations as Village Drive-Ins (later known as "Village Drive-ins and Cinemas" before becoming today's "Village Cinemas" brand), in 1954, when founder Roc Kirby began running one of Australia's first drive-in cinemas in the Melbourne suburb of Croydon. The drive-in was adjacent to a shopping strip called "Croydon Village"; hence the company adopted the "Village" name. The company later expanded into traditional cinemas in major areas, though it still operates the Coburg Drive-In in Coburg, Melbourne.
In 1968, the company expanded to start its film distribution business with Roadshow (once a 50-50 joint venture with Greater Union) and moved into film production in 1971 with the establishment of Hexagon Productions, [3] [4] and the company expanding into a longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. to distribute films in the Australian market. [5] [6] The original cinema chain now became one of several businesses the company was involved in.
In the 1980s, Village Roadshow was one of the leading forces in creating state of the art multiplex cinema complexes. Innovations brought in during this period included using stadium-style seating, sophisticated sound systems and the latest in projection technologies. The cinemas of that era were the forerunners to the multiplexes of today. It was expanded in 1987 when it signed a partnership with rival cinema chain Greater Union to see 200 screens expanded to their circuits by 1990 and having both companies to develop $100 million in their equipment. [7]
The venture was expanded in September 1987 when Roadshow and Greater Union agreed to combine the existing Roadshow Distributors theatrical branch with Greater Union's own theatrical branch, Greater Union Film Distributors to set up new separate-branding labels, Roadshow Greater Union Distributors and Greater Union Distributors, and RGUD continue to handle the existing suppliers, which included Warner Bros, Orion Pictures and New World Pictures. [8] [9]
In 1988, Village Roadshow took over De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, which brought on a change of name: Village Roadshow Limited. This allowed the company to raise more capital to fund further expansion.
In the 1990s, the company diversified into complementary media and entertainment businesses. This included the purchase and development of theme parks, the purchase and integration of the Triple M and Today radio networks to create Austereo, the creation of Roadshow Music, [10] the creation of Village Roadshow Pictures, and the commencement of a co-production deal with Warner Bros.
Village Roadshow has scaled back its international cinema markets to Australia and Singapore. The company merged its Village Roadshow Pictures arm with Concord Music Group to form a Los Angeles-based diversified entertainment division, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.
In 2003, the company formed a joint venture, Australian Theatres, with Amalgamated Holdings Limited, owners of Greater Union and several other cinema brands. The original founding business, Village Cinemas, is part of the joint venture.
In 2008, Village Roadshow and Concord Music Group, co-owned by television producer Norman Lear, said they had completed a merger forming a new company to exploit their film and music assets. Investors in the new company include Lambert Entertainment and private equity firms Tailwind Capital Partners and Clarity Partners. [11] However, on 25 March 2013, Wood Creek Capital led investor group purchased Concord Music Group from Village Roadshow Entertainment Group. [12]
In late 2019, company veteran Graham Burke stepped down as CEO and became a non-executive director, with Clark Kirby his successor as CEO. [13] [14]
In 2020, Village Roadshow was in talks with private equity firm BGH Capital about a takeover offer. The offer was lowered after the COVID-19 pandemic closed theme parks and cinemas. [15] [16] In 2022, Antenna Group announced that it was to acquire the Greek cinema chains from Village Roadshow Operations. [17]
Warner Village Cinemas was a chain of multiplex cinemas operated by Warner Bros. in the various locations throughout Europe. Created in the late 1980s in the UK as Warner Bros. Cinemas, these locations acted as a rival to Paramount and Universal's UCI Cinemas chain. This Warner brand of theatre debuted as the multiplex theatre format location was beginning to replace the traditional in-town style of cinema in the UK. In November 1996, a joint venture between Warner Bros. International Theatres and Village Roadshow Australia was established where the locations would start to share the prospective company names, leading to the title "Warner Village". The chain expanded by building more sites from 1997 to November 2002, with 40 sites open. The Warner Village chain is considered a continuation of the former UK cinema chain Warner Cinemas, which had operated for many decades prior to the formation.
Orange Sky Golden Harvest (OSGH) SEHK: 1132, previously known as Golden Harvest from 1970 to 2009, is a film production, distribution, and exhibition company based in Hong Kong. It dominated Hong Kong cinema box office sales from the 1970s to the 1980s, and played a major role in introducing Hong Kong action films to the world, especially those by Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Sammo Hung.
Village Roadshow Pictures is an American film and television production company and subsidiary of the Australian co-producer and co-financier of major Hollywood motion pictures established in 1989. It is a division under Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG), which in turn is owned by an Australian media company of the same name. It has produced over 100 films since its establishment in 1989 including, as co-productions with Warner Bros., The Matrix series, the Sherlock Holmes series, the Happy Feet series, the Ocean's series, The Lego Movie and Joker. The films in the Village Roadshow library have achieved 34 number-one U.S. box office openings and received 50 Academy Award nominations, 19 Academy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. is the American home video distribution division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
ABC Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, previously known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing and promotion for films produced and released by the Walt Disney Studios, including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios; the Searchlight Pictures label operates its own autonomous theatrical distribution and marketing unit.
Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, GU Film House, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle, is the largest movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, with over 140 cinema complexes currently operating worldwide.
Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a 154-hectare (380.5-acre) entertainment precinct, with the adjacent Village Roadshow Studios and nearby Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast, among other sites operated by Village Roadshow. Movie World is Australia's only film-related theme park and the oldest of the Warner Bros. parks worldwide. As of 2016, it receives a yearly average of 1.4 million visitors.
United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and United Artists (UA) films when MGM was part of the venture and also distributed Disney films in certain territories until 1987. In 2001, MGM left UIP, and signed a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox's overseas arm. The company formerly distributed DreamWorks Pictures releases internationally as well until late 2005.
The Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operations. It was launched in 1998 by integrating the businesses of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and TriStar Pictures, Inc.
Village Roadshow Theme Parks is a division of Village Roadshow Limited which operates theme parks and attractions in Australia and the United States of America. The Sydney Attractions Group Pty Ltd was formerly part of Village Roadshow Theme Parks; however, it was sold in 2011 to Merlin Entertainments.
Village Cinemas is an Australian-based multinational film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbusters, mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse, foreign language and documentary films.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio, owned by NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast.
2 Entertain Video Limited, trading as BBC Studios Home Entertainment, is a British video and music publisher founded in 2004 following the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International by BBC Worldwide & Woolworths Group respectively.
Reel Corporation is an independent Australian film distributor. Reel Corporation Australia established a joint venture sales company with Roadshow Entertainment called Reel DVD.
Roadshow Entertainment is an Australian home video, production and distribution company that is a division of Village Roadshow that distributes films in Australia and New Zealand. Their first release was Mad Max. Roadshow Entertainment is an independent video distributor in Australia and New Zealand.
RatPac Entertainment, LLC is an American media and entertainment company that finances and produces motion pictures, television, documentaries, live theater, and podcasts, owned by Brett Ratner and James Packer.
Act III Communications is an American media and entertainment company owned by the estate of producer and screenwriter Norman Lear. It was started in 1985 following Lear's sale of Embassy Communications to The Coca-Cola Company. In a Wall Street Journal interview in 1988, Lear explained the name by noting that in a Shakespeare play, there are always more than three acts and that he expects there to be an Act IV and V. Act III served as Lear's business vehicle, unconnected to his other activities as a political activist and philanthropist.
EVT Limited is an Australian company which operates cinemas, hotels, restaurants and resorts in Australia, New Zealand and Germany.