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) (Now known as Event Hospitality and
Entertainment), 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, where they also operate within Event Hospitality and
Entertainment'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.Kirby rapidly expanded Village Drive-In Pty
Limited through the late 1950s, with the circuit opening in the
Melbourne suburbs of Rowville and Essendon; Victorian regional areas
of Hamilton, Wangaratta and Stawell; and regional Tasmania in
Launceston. Village also went into its first partnership with Greater
Union to build a Geelong drive-in, and by the beginning of the 1960s,
operated 27 drive-in theatres throughout the states of Victoria and
Tasmania. Village Drive-In Pty Limited then began to expand throughout
the rest of Australia, particularly after the company began adding
so-called "hard-top" (enclosed) cinemas in the 1960s. While drive-ins
catered to Australia's suburban and vast regional markets, the
hard-top theatres targeted the country's growing inner-city areas
where their populations were less reliant on private automobile
ownership. Village Cinemas Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter