Village Cinemas
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Cinema |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne |
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Key people
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Kirk Edwards, CEO |
| Products | Cinemas |
| Parent | Australian Theatres |
| Website | VillageCinemas.com.au |
Village Cinemas is an Australian-based film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbuster, mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse, foreign language and documentary films. Since 2003, its Australian sites became a joint venture between Village Roadshow and Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL), forming Australian Theatres. Previous to this, Village Cinemas was the founding entity of parent company, Village Roadshow from 1954 when the first drive-in theatre was established, and from 1988 Warner Bros. owned a third share in the chain. The Village Cinemas brand also operates in various forms within some international markets, either as a joint venture with Village Roadshow, or under licence, operated by other companies. Village Cinemas also pioneered and fostered concept screen brands such as, Gold Class, Cinema Europa, and Vmax (Vmax was inspired by IMAX), where they also operate within AHL's Event Cinemas/Greater Union/Birch Carroll & Coyle, and many international cinema chains. Village Cinemas has output deals with all major film distributors and selectively screens some independently sourced films depending on material.
In 1954, the company origins of Village Roadshow and Village Cinemas came from the foundation in one of Australia's first drive-in theatre operations in Croydon, an outer Eastern suburb of Melbourne (Melbourne's third drive-in, but only the fourth in the entire country), established by Roc Kirby. The drive-in was adjacent to the shopping strip, Croydon Village; hence the company adopted the 'Village' name. Kirby had already operated traditional indoor cinemas, under the Kirby Theatres name, but the outdoor Village-brand concept was to provide the motor for the company's growth. The original Village Drive-In featured capacity for 454 cars, later being redeveloped to offer features such as a swimming pool and a go-cart track, as well as a walk-in area for customers without cars. Kirby's company also built and operated a motel facing the theatre.
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Wikipedia