- Village Cinemas
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Village Cinemas Type Subsidiary Industry Cinema Founded 1954 Headquarters Melbourne, Australia Key people Kirk Edwards, CEO Products Cinemas Parent Australian Theatres Website www.villagecinemas.com.au Village Cinemas is an Australian cinema chain. Its Australian sites are owned and operated by Village Roadshow-Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL) joint venture Australian Theatres. The group has rebranded several of its premier Australian and New Zealand cinemas as Event Cinemas since 2009.[1][2] Village Cinemas has sites across Australia, the United States and Greece. Village Cinemas which has output deals with all major film distributors shows all mainstream and some arthouse films.
Contents
History
Beginning in the early 2000s, Village Roadshow reduced the number of territories in which it operates having exited Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Switzerland, Hungary, France, New Zealand, Fiji, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Korea and in the United Kingdom.
In 2003, Village Roadshow sold 50% of its Australian cinema operations to AHL in exchange for a partnership to form a joint venture; Australian Theatres.
In 2007, Village Roadshow moved into the US market opening several Village Roadshow Gold Class sites.
Sites
Cinemas operated under the Village Cinemas brand include:
- Westfield Airport West (Village Airport West)
- Century City Walk (Century City Walk Cinemas)
- Westfield Doncaster (Village Doncaster)
- Coburg (Coburg Drive-In) (Owned by Village)
- Crown (Village at Crown)
- Eastlands (Village Eastlands)
- Westfield Fountain Gate (Village Fountain Gate)
- Geelong (Village Geelong)
- Glenorchy (Village Glenorchy)
- Camberwell (Rivoli Cinemas) (owned by Village)
- Hobart (Village Hobart)
- Jam Factory (Village Jam Factory)
- Centro Karingal (Village Karingal)
- Knox Shopping Centre (Village Knox)
- Launceston (Village Launceston)
- Morwell (Morwell Mid Valley 8)
- Westfield Southland (Village Southland)
- Sunshine (Sunshine Megaplex)
- Shepparton (Village Shepparton)
- Werribee Plaza (Werribee 10 Cinemas)
- Agios Dimitrios, Athens (Village Ag.Dimitrios)
- Renti, Athens (Village Park Renti)
- The Mall Athens (Village at the Mall)
- Thessaloniki (Village World)
- Faliro, Athens (Village Faliro)
- Pagkrati, Athens (Village Pagkrati)
- Volos (Village Volos)
JVP Sites
JVP, or Joint Venture Partner, sites are those that independently owned and operated but have a film and product output deal with Village Cinemas. These sites are usually branded independently of Village.
- Wangaratta (Wangaratta Cinema Centre)
- Warragul (Warragul Cinema Centre)
- Warrnambool (Warrnambool Capitol Cinemas)
Gold Class Cinemas
Gold Class Cinemas are luxury cinemas with various locations across Australia, The USA and Greece. Gold Class Cinemas are operated inside a regular Village Cinema within Australia although they are held in a separate specialised auditorium whilst in the US they are in a completely separate complex. Several JVP sites also feature Gold Class. Gold Class Cinemas include cloakroom facilities, butlered refreshments, à la carte menu offerings and reclining seats. The Gold Class scheme is also available at selected Greater Union and Event Cinemas. Gold Class Cinemas are located at:
In Australia:
- Century City Walk (Gold Class Century City)
- Crown Casino (Gold Class Crown, 6 auditoriums)
- Westfield Doncaster, Doncaster (Gold Class Doncaster, 3 auditoriums)
- Geelong (Gold Class Geelong, 2 auditoriums)
- Hobart (Gold Class Hobart)
- Albury (Regent Cinemas Gold Class)
- Jam Factory (Gold Class Jam Factory, 4 auditoriums)
- Centro Karingal (Gold Class Karingal, 3 auditoriums)
- Knox Shopping Centre (Gold Class Knox, 2 auditoriums)
- Westfield Southland (Gold Class Southland)
- Sunshine (Gold Class Sunshine, 3 auditoriums)
In the US:
- Pasadena, California
- Redmond, Washington
- South Barrington, Illinois
- Bolingbrook, Illinois
- Austin, Texas
- Fairview, Texas
In Greece:
- The Mall Athens (Village at the Mall, 2 auditoriums)
- Faliro, Athens (Village Faliro, 3 auditoriums)
- Renti, Athens (Village Park Renti, 2 auditoriums)
- Thessaloniki (Village World, 3 auditoriums)
Cinema Europa
Cinema Europa showcases the best of world film, mostly Australian independently made films, European films and documentaries. Cinemas Europa also shows many arthouse films which are not shown in regular Village Cinemas. Cinema Europa locations are inside regular Village Cinemas, in a separate area to the rest of the cinema. Each Europa cinema location features separate toilets and a licenced lounge bar and cafe. Some Europa audiotoriums are upholstered in blue, as opposed to red in the regular audiotoriums. Cinema Europa locations are:
- Camberwell (Cinema Europa at Rivoli Cinemas)
- Knox Shopping Centre (Cinema Europa Knox, 2 auditoriums)
- Westfield Southland (Cinema Europa Southland)
- The Mall Athens (Village at the Mall)
- Faliro, Athens (Village Faliro)
Vmax
Vmax cinemas feature enhanced film display, picture quality and digital sound. The screens at Vmax are all of width 22 metres or greater (the largest being 28 metres at Knox) and are placed in large auditoriums which feature larger seats, stadium seating and wider armrests. Vmax locations are:
- Centro Karingal (Vmax Karingal)
- Knox Shopping Centre (Vmax Knox, 1 28m auditorium)
- Westfield Southland (Vmax Southland) (2 auditoriums)
- Westfield Doncaster (Vmax Doncaster, 1 22m wide auditorium)
- Westfield Fountain Gate, Narre Warren
- The Mall Athens (Village at the Mall)
- Faliro, Athens (Village Faliro)
- Thessaloniki (Village World)
Coburg Drive-In
Opening in November 1965, Coburg is the last Village operated drive-in and one of only three remaining in operation in Victoria. The grand opening night's features were Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie and McHale's Navy. Today, a variety of blockbusters are projected onto three 33 metre wide screens. Sound is available via speakers attached to poles as well as an FM stereo broadcast. A retro 50's style diner is also on site, which offers an SMS ordering service, which delivers food and drinks to your car.
Digital 3D
Village have installed the RealD Cinema 3D projection system in a number of their traditional and Gold Class auditoriums. Typically, 1-3 auditoriums are equipped with the projectors per multiplex. Initially, glasses were offered for free, however they have recently been charging $1, encouraging people to keep and re-use their glasses for future sessions.
See also
- Australian Theatres
- Birch Carroll & Coyle
- Greater Union
- Hoyts
- Reading Cinemas
- The Movie Masters Cinema Group
- Wallis Cinemas
- Village Roadshow
- Warner Village Cinemas
References
- ^ Neil Dowling and Michael Bennet (10 May 2009). "Greater Union to give cinemas major makeover". Perth Now. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/greater-union-unveils-event/story-0-1225710850110. Retrieved 10 December 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Ben-Rutherford (19 May 2009). "Going to the Movies is now an EVENT!". Movieblog. http://movieblog.greaterunion.com.au/index.asp?id=1342. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
External links
Categories:- Cinema chains in Australia
- Companies based in Melbourne
- Companies established in 1954
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