Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle (BCC Cinemas), is the largest movie exhibitor in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, with over 140 cinema complexes currently operating worldwide. The Greater Union Organisation is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

EVT Limited EVT Limited (stylised as EVT) (an acronym of the words 'Entertainment, Ventures, Travel') is an Australian company which operates cinemas, hotels, restaurants and resorts in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. It owns Event Cinemas, BCC Cinema ...

(formerly known as Event Hospitality and Entertainment) which is listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...

, a corporation that owns and operates brands in the entertainment, hospitality and leisure sectors, mainly within

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

History

The Event Cinemas cinema chain has had a significant impact on the Australian culture and

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

, and has a history of

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

and

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

s that span over a century.

Early 20th century

From 1906 to 1911, during the silent era, Australia was the most prolific producer of feature films in the world, a period which included the creation of the first feature-length film

The Kelly Gang The Kelly Gang may refer to: * Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer * The Kelly Gang (film) ''The Kelly Gang'' is an Australian feature-length film about the Australian bush ranger, Ned Kelly. The f ...

. This creative and fertile period in Australian film history was largely created by competition between

West's Pictures West's Pictures was a short-lived Australian film production and exhibition company during the silent era. It was established by English theatrical entrepreneur Thomas James West (1885–1916) who helped turn the company into one of Australia's l ...

Spencer's Pictures Spencer Cosens (12 February 1874 – 10 September 1930) best known as Cosens Spencer and posthumously as Charles Cozens Spencer, was a British-born Canadian film exhibitor and producer, a significant figure in the early years of the Australian f ...

and

Amalgamated Pictures Amalgamated Pictures Ltd was a film exchange company in Australia. For a time it was also a short-lived Australian film production company. Although none of its output has survived, it has been written that "judging by subjects chosen, the aver ...

. On 4 May 1912 the three joined to form The General Film Company of Australasia. On 4 January 1913 it then merged with The Greater J.D. Williams Amusement Co and restructured to become The Combine, a famous partnership between the exhibition wing Union Theatres and the production and distribution wing

Australasian Films Australasian Films, full name Union Theatres and Australasian Films, was an Australian film distribution and production company formed in 1913 that was wound up in the 1930s to merge into Greater Union. The Union Theatres and Australasian Films ...

. The Combine monopoly was highly influential on the early twentieth-century Australian film industry. However, it came under heavy criticism for its low interest in producing Australian films, its preference for imported cinema, and its reluctance to exhibit Australian films by other producers. Film icon and director

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford; 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer, and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australia ...

, whose independent production company had come under attack by the group, said in 1927 that "had it not been for the activities of that firm in its endeavour to crush it in its infancy, the local picture would now be 10 years at least advanced to the height now attained by the Americans." Historians have traced the sharp decline of the Australian film industry in 1913 to the repercussions of these series of takeovers and mergers. James Sabine has said that "the stranglehold of The Combine forced a decline in local production and contributed to many Australian production companies closing their doors." 1930 Cinesound studios and Crew

The Combine continued to grow into the 1920s during the genesis of the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

era with its focus on exhibiting American films. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

saw Union Theatres being liquidated in 1931 and its assets purchased by newly-formed Greater Union Theatres. This new company split from Australasian Films, established the Hollywood-model subsidiary

Cinesound Productions Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company. Established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union, Greater Union Theatres that covered all facets of the film proc ...

, expanded into radio and newspaper, and kept its major focus on building and managing cinemas. Due to The Depression, Greater Union Theatres merged into the General Film Corporation with

Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

, a competitor who had secured

Fox Film The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox. It was the corporate successor to his earlier Greater Ne ...

as a shareholder. In 1937

Norman Rydge Sir Norman Bede Rydge CBE (18 October 190014 May 1980) was an Australian businessman. Biography Rydge was born in Sydney to blacksmith William Henry Rydge and Margaret, ''née'' McSweeney. He attended Woollahra Superior Public School and Fort S ...

became managing director and removed the company from the previous merger.

1945–present: post-war expansion

In 1945, the last year of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, there was a box office boom and the British

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

purchased a half share in Greater Union Theatres. During this time Greater Union acquired the rights of ownership of many theatres across the country including what became the

Phoenician Club The Phoenician Club is a former entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was located in Ultimo, New South Wales at the corner of Broadway and Mountain Street, opposite St Barnabas Church. The venue itself had gone through various uses and h ...

Broadway, Sydney Broadway is a road in Sydney central business district, inner city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The road constitutes the border between the suburbs of Ultimo, New South Wales, Ultimo (to the north) and Chippendale, New South Wales, Chip ...

in 1943, originally owned by McIntyre's Broadway Theatres and established as a cinema in 1911. It acquired the Clifford Theatre Circuit in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in March 1947. The purchase price of £300,000 for the 22 suburban and regional cinemas was "believed to be the largest motion picture transaction ever made in Australia". The Clifford name was retained as a tribute to the entrepreneur

Dan Clifford ''Holby City'' is a British medical drama television series that premiered on 12 January 1999 on BBC One. The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty''. It is set in the sam ...

, and South Australian staff were retained. In 1958 the four holding companies in the Greater Union Theatres group were merged into the Rydge family Amalgamated Holdings Limited (AHL), and in 1965 Greater Union Theatres was renamed the Greater Union Organisation (GUO). In 1980 billionaire Alan Rydge was appointed Chairman of AHL to become the youngest chairman of an Australian public company. In 1971, it merged its assets with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

's Australian cinema unit, which the company's B.E.F. subsidiary distributing MGM titles until 1973, when distribution that studio's films in Australia was shifted to

Cinema International Corporation Cinema International Corporation (CIC) was a film distribution company started by Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures in the early 1970s to distribute the two studios' films outside the United States – it even operated in Canada before it ...

. In 1976, the company's British Empire Films unit was initially renamed GUO Film Distributors, then six years later, it was renamed to Greater Union Film Distributors. In 1975, Greater Union bought the old Metro Theatre in

Hindley Street Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street, Adelaide, King William Street and West Terrace, Adelaide, West Terrace. Th ...

, Adelaide, and redeveloped it as a modern four-screen cinema complex, called Hindley Cinemas 1–4. In October 1980, the company bought the building that had once housed the first cinema in Adelaide,

West's Olympia The Adelaide Glaciarium (also known as Ice Palace Skating Rink), located at 89–91 Hindley Street in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, was the first indoor ice-skating facility built in Australia. It is also the location of the first " ...

, also in Hindley Street. After a time in which rebuilds were made to the cinema, it reopened in December 1982 as Hindley Cinemas 5–6. In 1984 AHL regained control over the now-defunct Rank Organisation's half share, meaning that it once again became fully Australian-owned. In 1987 GUO merged with

Village Roadshow Village Roadshow is an Australian company which operates cinemas and theme parks, and produces and distributes films. Before being acquired by private equity company BGH Capital, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange a ...

's film distribution unit to form the distribution company Roadshow Film Distributors, and by that time, GUO and Village Roadshow partnered on a $100 million cinema chain that will see 200 circuits expanded by use by 1990. In 1991 GUO acquired Birch, Carroll & Coyle. In the same year, Hindley Cinemas 1–4 and 5–6 closed.

21st century

In 2003, AHL and Village Roadshow combined to form

Australian Theatres Australian Theatres is a joint venture between Village Roadshow and EVT Limited. The partnership was formed on 31 March 2003 between Greater Union and Village Cinemas in Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories ...

. Since 2009, a number of cinemas have been renamed from Greater Union Cinemas to Event Cinemas. On 22 December 2015, AHL was renamed Event Hospitality and Entertainment. In June 2016, Event Cinemas acquired New Zealand cinema chain

Downtown Cinemas ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district (CB ...

. In 2019, Birch Carroll & Coyle was inducted into the

Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame The Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame recognises a set of the leaders in business and social development in Queensland, Australia. Inclusion in the hall of fame can be of individual people (living or dead), groups of people, and organisat ...

in recognition of being Australia's leading provincial film distributor and its industry leadership throughout Queensland for 80 years.

Locations

Australia

Event Cinemas operates venues around Australia, many of which are located in large shopping centres. The cinema complexes comprise multiple screens. The below locations do not include sites that operate under the joint venture between

Village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Roadshow and Event Hospitality & Entertainment known as

. New South Wales *

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in New South Wales, Australia, west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Sydney, Greater Sydney. History Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area of ...

- trading as Skyline Drive-In *

Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local governm ...

* Burwood * Campbelltown * Castle Hill *

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

- trading as BCC Cinemas * Edmondson Park * Glendale * Hornsby *

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

Kotara Kotara ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. It is split between the City of Newcastle and City of Lake Macquarie local government areas. Kotara is known as one of Newcastl ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

* Macquarie * Miranda *

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellha ...

Sydney CBD The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

- colloquially known as

George St George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

* Top Ryde City *

Tuggerah Tuggerah () is a large commercial hub and a suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 91 km north of Sydney and 68 km south of Newcastle. It is the second largest business hub, major ...

Northern Territory *

Casuarina ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...

- trading as BCC Cinemas * Palmerston Queensland * Brisbane City *

Broadbeach Broadbeach is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Broadbeach had a population of 6,786 people. Geography The Broadbeach stretch was originally coastal forest. This gradual ...

- colloquially known as Pacific Fair *

Cairns Central Cairns Central Shopping Centre is in Cairns City, Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia. It is Cairns' biggest shopping centre. The centre was opened in late 1997 and is the second multi-story shopping centre in northern Queensland. The shop ...

* Cairns Earlville * Cairns Smithfield *

Capalaba Capalaba ( ) is an urban locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Capalaba had a population of 18,002 people. Geography The suburb has large shopping and commercial centres with two malls and a major bus station, as wel ...

- trading as BCC Cinemas *

Carindale Carindale is a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located by road south-east of the Brisbane GPO, and borders Belmont, Carina, Carina Heights, Mackenzie, Mansfield, Mount Gravatt East, and Tingalpa. In the , Cari ...

* Chermside *

Coomera Coomera () is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Coomera had a population of 20,225 people. Geography Located next to the Pacific Motorway, Coomera is close to Pimpama, Helensvale, Wi ...

Indooroopilly Indooroopilly ( , colloquially Indro ) is a riverside suburb south-west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 13,622 people. Geography Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by ...

* Kawana *

Loganholme Loganholme ( ) is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , Loganholme had a population of 6,764. Geography The suburb is bisected by the Pacific Motorway (Brisbane–Brunswick Heads), ...

* Mackay Mount Pleasant - trading as BCC Cinemas * Maroochydore Sunshine Plaza - trading as BCC Cinemas *

Mt Gravatt Mount Gravatt is a southern suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and a prominent hill and lookout within this suburb (). In the , Mount Gravatt had a population of 3,733 people. Geography The suburb is situated in the south-e ...

- colloquially known as Garden City *

Noosa The Shire of Noosa () is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it w ...

- trading as BCC Cinemas *

North Lakes North Lakes is a suburb in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. In the , North Lakes had a population of 23,030 people. Geography The suburb is mostly made up of newly developed housing originally around the North Lakes Golf Cours ...

* Robina * Rockhampton North *

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

- colloquially known as Australia Fair * Springfield *

Strathpine Strathpine is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. It is home to the Pine Rivers District offices of the City of Moreton Bay, as well as many businesses, administrative, and local, state ...

- trading as BCC Cinemas *

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

- colloquially known as Grand Central *

- trading as BCC Cinemas Toowoomba Strand *

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

- trading as BCC Cinemas South Australia * Glenelg *

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

Western Australia * Innaloo * Morley - trading as Greater Union * Whitford With cinema admissions in decline, Event Cinemas has continued to experience growth by raising the price of admissions and offering "premium experiences" such as "Gold Class" which offers more luxury seating and food, "Vmax" which offers a larger screen, and alternate content including

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

films, football, gaming, film festivals, opera and stand-up comedy events. Event Cinemas Whitford

Fiji

Within

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, Damodar Event Cinemas is a joint venture between

Village Cinemas Village Cinemas is an Australian-based multinational film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbusters, mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse, foreign language and documentary films. Since 2003, its Australian sites bec ...

, and the Fijian-based Damodar Brothers, who operate the existing two-cinema chain under licence since 2010. The brand has since changed its name to "Damodar Cinemas". * Damodar City - trading as Damodar Event Cinemas

New Zealand

Event Cinemas operates cinemas in New Zealand's major urban centres, including the Embassy Theatre in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and Rialto Cinema in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. Hollywood blockbusters are regularly shown alongside arthouse features and film festivals such as the

New Zealand International Film Festival The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) () is a film festival held annually across New Zealand. The festival is operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust. It programmes international and New Zealand films. History The festiva ...

. * Albany,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

* Blenheim *

Chartwell Chartwell is a English country house, country house near Westerham, Kent, in South East England. For over forty years, it was the home of Sir Winston Churchill. He bought the property in September 1922 and lived there until shortly before his ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

* Coastlands,

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...

* Embassy Theatre,

Havelock North Havelock North () is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local government saw it merg ...

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

* Newmarket,

( Westfield) *

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

* Queen Street,

* Queensgate,

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

* St Lukes,

* Tauranga Central * Tauranga Crossing * Westcity,

* Westgate,

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

* Newmarket,

(trading as Rialto) * Rialto Cinema,

(trading as Rialto)

Experiences

Gold Class

Gold Class cinemas, a luxury cinema format, is provided at a number of Event Cinemas locations in Australia, New Zealand & Fiji. Gold Class Cinemas include butlered refreshments, à la carte menu offerings and reclining seats in a cinema with a small number of seats.

first originated the concept of Gold Class, and has since popularised with the integration into the Event Group. All Gold Class Cinemas are operated in separate areas within regular cinema complexes. Event Gold Class branded cinemas are located at: In Australia: * Bondi Junction * Broadbeach - colloquially known as Pacific Fair * Campbelltown * Carindale * Castle Hill * Chermside * Coomera * Mt Gravatt - colloquially known as Garden City * Indooroopilly * Innaloo * Kawana * Kotara * Loganholme * Macquarie * Marion * Miranda * North Lakes * Parramatta * Robina * Southport - colloquially known as Australia Fair * Springfield * Sydney CBD - colloquially known as George St * Whitford In Fiji: * Damodar Event Cinemas In New Zealand: * Albany * Auckland - colloquially known as Queen St

V-Max

V-Max cinemas feature enhanced film display, picture quality, and immersive surround sound. The screens at V-Max used to be a minimum width of 25 meters or greater, however, that was lowered to 20 metres in 2010. V-Max cinemas are placed in large auditoriums which feature larger seats, stadium seating and wider arm-rests. Select locations also feature

Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels as well as free-moving sound objects, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horiz ...

. The V-Max format is also provided at many Event Cinemas sites in Australia and New Zealand. V-Max Cinemas are usually separate from the normal cinema complexes, like the Gold Class. There are certain locations that has Dolby Atmos surround sound included in their V-Max cinemas (brackets indicating). V-Max Cinema locations include: In Australia: * Bondi Junction * Brisbane City Myer Centre * Burwood * Cairns Central * Cairns Smithfield (Dolby Atmos) * Cairns Earlville * Campbelltown * Carindale * Castle Hill * Chermside * Coomera (Dolby Atmos) * Ed Square (Dolby Atmos) * Garden City Mt Gravatt * George Street (Sydney CBD) (Dolby Atmos) * Glendale * Hornsby * Hurstville (Dolby Atmos) * Indooroopilly * Innaloo * Kawana (Dolby Atmos) * Kotara (Dolby Atmos) * Liverpool * Loganholme * Marion * Miranda (Dolby Atmos) * North Lakes (Dolby Atmos) * Palmerston (Dolby Atmos) * Parramatta * Robina * Springfield (Dolby Atmos) * Toowoomba Grand Central (Dolby Atmos) * Top Ryde City * Tuggerah * Whitford (Dolby Atmos) In New Zealand: * Queensgate Shopping Centre (Dolby Atmos) * Westfield St Lukes * Westfield Manukau * Westfield Albany * Westfield Newmarket (Dolby Atmos) * Tauranga Crossing (Dolby Atmos)

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

IMAX uses precision lasers a sharper brighter images. This technology is currently available at Event Cinemas Auckland (Queen St), Event Cinemas Queensgate (Wellington), Event Cinemas Pacific Fair (Broadbeach) and IMAX Sydney

Digital 3D Digital 3D is a non-specific 3D standard in which films, television shows, and video games are presented and shot in digital 3D technology or later processed in digital post-production to add a 3D effect. One of the first studios to use digital ...

GUO converted most of their Australian auditoriums and flagship cinemas to digital projectors. The installation of these projectors means that most auditoriums are now

RealD 3D RealD 3D is a digital stereoscopic projection technology made and sold by RealD. It is currently the most widely used technology for watching 3D films in theaters. Worldwide, RealD 3D is installed in more than 26,500 auditoriums by approximatel ...

capable. Albany, Queen St Auckland, St Lukes, Henderson West City, Mt Wellington Sylvia Park, Broadway Newmarket, Glenfield Mall on level 5 Entertainment, Manukau Amersham Way, Highland Park, John Goulter Mangere, New Lynn and Crosstown Lakewood Court.

4DX

In late 2018, the first 4DX screen owned by the Event Group was opened in George Street (Sydney CBD). 4DX stimulates all five senses, featuring moving seats and special effects including wind, fog, water and scents that synchronise with the action on screen.

Boutique

EVENT Boutique cinemas feature recliners with footrest, and in-cinema food-and-drink service. Guests have access to the Boutique Cinema 30 minutes prior to their session. Boutique is currently available at Event Cinemas George Street (Sydney CBD).

ScreenX ScreenX is a panoramic film format which presents films with an expanded, dual-sided, 270-degree screens projected on the walls in a theater. First introduced in 2012, it is created by CJ 4DPLEX, a subsidiary of the CJ CGV group which also creat ...

On August 15, 2023, Event Cinemas announced that ScreenX would come to Australia for the first time. It opened at Event Cinemas Robina on the 17th of August. It later opened at Event Cinemas Campbelltown later that year on 14 December (in time for the Australian release of '' Wonka'').

Moonlight Cinema

Moonlight Cinema is an Outdoor cinema, outdoor seasonal exhibitor that operates in most Australian metropolitan areas. Moonlight was acquired by EVENT in 2010 from Prime Media Group for $1.75million. The division continues to grow and has signed 3 new venue contracts since its acquisition, and currently operates in: New South Wales *

Centennial Parklands Centennial Parklands is the name given to a group of three urban parklands located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Comprising approximately , the lands encompass Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park. Th ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Western Sydney Parklands The Western Sydney Parklands is an urban park system and a nature reserve located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The NSW government has spent around $400 million for the park. The park is governed by the NSW National Parks and Wildli ...

Queensland *

Roma Street Parkland Roma Street Parkland covers 11 hectares in the centre of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Roma Street Parkland is adjacent to the former Brisbane Transit Centre and the Roma Street railway station from which it takes its n ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

South Australia * Botanic Park,

Victoria * Royal Botanic Gardens,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Western Australia * Kings Park,

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

In addition, each venue offers 'Gold Grass' a luxurious outdoor-cinema experience, similar to the offerings of Event Cinemas' 'Gold Class'.

Cinebuzz Rewards

All cinema brands trading under EVENT, including Greater Union and BCC cinemas, share the benefits of a

Loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

the Cinebuzz Rewards Program. Free for members, the program grants access to advance screenings, ticket discounts, access to the Cinebuzz

video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

platform, and one free movie ticket for every six movies viewed at EVENT. The program is aimed at encouraging brand loyalty and recognising VIP Customers and currently has over 3 million members in Australia.

Controversy

The exhibition and production company that became Event Cinemas has been widely criticised as the cause of the downfall of early Australian film, which was argued to be the best in the world at the time. In 2005, Event Cinemas banned people from bringing their own food and drink into the cinema. After negative public reaction and a threat of investigation by

NSW Fair Trading NSW Fair Trading is a division of the New South Wales State Government's Department of Customer Service in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the ...

, the company was forced to revoke the rule. People complained that Event Cinema's food was more than double the price of that in supermarkets and had less variety. In 2012, Australian journalist Tim Burrowes attended a screening of ''

Skyfall ''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy thriller film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, ...

'' at an Event Cinema. There were various technical difficulties which resulted in the audience being asked to leave and a manager threatening Burrowes for filming the crowd's reactions. In the lead up to the

2016 Australian Federal Election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday, 2 July 2016, to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign p ...

, Chairman

Alan Rydge EVT Limited (stylised as EVT) (an acronym of the words 'Entertainment, Ventures, Travel') is an Australian company which operates cinemas, hotels, restaurants and resorts in Australia, New Zealand and Germany. It owns Event Cinemas, BCC Cinema ...

was reported to have donated to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's controversial political fund the Wentworth Forum. There have been numerous incidents of faulty popcorn machines causing fires to break out in Event Cinemas complexes, including

Top Ryde Ryde is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ryde is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and east of Parramatta. Ryde is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Ryde and part of ...

in 2011,

and

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

in September 2015,

in December 2015, and

in August 2016.

References

External links

Event Cinemas Australia Official SiteEvent Cinemas New Zealand Official SiteEvent Hospitality & Entertainment Limited Official SiteEvent Cinemas Australia FacebookEvent Cinemas Australia Twitter
{{Cinema of Australia Cinema chains in Australia Cinemas in New Zealand Entertainment companies established in 1913 Australian companies established in 1913

History

Early 20th century

1945–present: post-war expansion

21st century

Locations

Australia

Fiji

New Zealand

Experiences

Gold Class

V-Max

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

Digital 3D Digital 3D is a non-specific 3D standard in which films, television shows, and video games are presented and shot in digital 3D technology or later processed in digital post-production to add a 3D effect. One of the first studios to use digital ...

4DX

Boutique

ScreenX ScreenX is a panoramic film format which presents films with an expanded, dual-sided, 270-degree screens projected on the walls in a theater. First introduced in 2012, it is created by CJ 4DPLEX, a subsidiary of the CJ CGV group which also creat ...

Moonlight Cinema

Cinebuzz Rewards

Controversy

See also

References

External links