Palace Films and Cinemas

Palace Films and Cinemas is an Australian film production and distribution company that is also a major cinema chain in various Australian capital cities. Palace Cinemas currently comprises 20 cinemas with 85 screens. The business employs over 500 staff and the head office is in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn, connected to the Balwyn Theatre (also called Balwyn Cinema), which is the oldest theatre/cinema operated by Palace, having opened in 1930. The cinemas generally specialize in a mixture of foreign language, mainstream, independent and art house films. In 2015 they also introduced a focus on classic movies partly due to the acquisition of The Astor Theatre.

Palace has produced and distributed such Australian films as Kokoda and Chopper, and distribute many foreign language films in Australia.

The Palace Cinema chain operates in most states, except Tasmania and the Northern Territory. They exhibit films of either a mainstream, classic or an arthouse type, but the cinemas are usually focused on one film type or the other. The mainstream cinemas usually have several auditoriums that are fitted for projecting RealD 3D films, but unlike other major chains this is only on one or two dedicated screens. Initially Palace used Dolby 3D for several years before converting to the cheaper 3D format.

Notably, Palace operates several cinemas that originally opened as single screen theatres (some of which have received heritage status). All, except for the heritage protected the Astor, have subsequently been renovated and internally converted to multiplex, sometimes with the original screen, remaining as the largest auditorium/cinema at each venue. The original facades, box office, candy-bar and foyers in these historic venues, have been modernised and restored with care.

In the Melbourne suburb of Brighton, Palace operates 2 Cinemas within 10 minutes drive of each other, making it one of the only operators in Australia to own two indoor cinemas in the same suburb. Dendy Brighton, on Dendy Street, is more centralised in Brighton's main shopping strip, and therefore shows Commercial films. Brighton Bay, is in another smaller shopping strip on Bay Street, in North Brighton, and plays mostly arthouse films. The two cinemas will not show the same films (although this rule has been ignored on a few occasions, due to demand).

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