History
Village Roadshow commenced operations 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.
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 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 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.
In 2008, Village Roadshow and Concord Music Group, co-owned by television producer Norman Lear, said they 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.
Read more about this topic: Village Roadshow
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We are told that men protect us; that they are generous, even chivalric in their protection. Gentlemen, if your protectors were women, and they took all your property and your children, and paid you half as much for your work, though as well or better done than your own, would you think much of the chivalry which permitted you to sit in street-cars and picked up your pocket- handkerchief?”
—Mary B. Clay, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 3, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
“The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)