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| Village Roadshow Limited | |
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| Type | Public (ASX: VRL) |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia (headquarters) |
| Key people | Robert G. Kirby, CEO |
| Industry | Media, Entertainment |
| Products | Cinemas, Radio, Themeparks, Film Distribution, Film Studio |
| Revenue | $1,453 million AUD (2005, [1]) |
| Website | www.village.com.au |
Village Roadshow Limited ASX: VRL is an Australian media company with interests in cinema, theme parks, film production and distribution. The company is a publicly listed entity on the Australian Stock Exchange. It is majority owned by Village Roadshow Corporation, run by John and Robert Kirby and Graham Burke.
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History
Village Roadshow commenced operations in 1954, running one of Australia's first drive-in cinema 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. In the 1960s the company started its film distribution business (once a 50-50 joint venture with Greater Union) and moved into film production in the 1970s. 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. In 1989, Village Roadshow took over De Laurentis Entertainment Limited, which brought on a change of name: Village Roadshow Limited. This allowed the company to raise more capital to fund further expansion. In 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 Group Limited, the creation of Village Roadshow Pictures, and the commencement of a co-production deal with Warner Bros.. In 2003, the company incurred massive losses due to several box office flops. In 2004, a move by Village Roadshow Corporation to acquire more stock was halted by German company Boswell Filmgesellschaft, who argued that Village had misinformed shareholders about their voting rights because holders of ordinary shares who also held preference stock were excluded from voting on the buyback.
Divisions
Village Cinemas
Austereo Radio
Village Roadshow Pictures
VRP co-produces feature films, primarily with Warner Bros.. Major successes include The Matrix trilogy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Ocean's Eleven. From 1 July 2007 Village Roadshow Pictures Group merged with Concord Music Group to create Village Roadshow Entertainment Group [2]. VRPG and Concord Music continue to operate separately under VREG where Village Roadshow holds a 39.9% interest with Crescent Entertainment (48%) and Tailwind Capital (12.1%).
Warner Roadshow Studios
Production editing and filming facilities located on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Films such as Pitch Black, The Condemned, Scooby-Doo, Peter Pan (2003) and House of Wax (2005) were filmed at the studio.
Warner Village Theme Parks
Originally a joint venture with Time Warner, VRP owns and operates Movie World, Sea World, Wet'n'Wild waterpark, Australian Outback Spectacular & Paradise Country - all located in the Gold Coast, Australia.
Roadshow Entertainment
A distributor of VHS and DVD titles to the home market. It was formally Festival Video until 1994.
Reel Corporation
A division of Roadshow which distributes smaller titles to Cinemas and on DVD.
Intencity
A family entertainment centre chain.
