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‘It was great newspaper fodder’: Village Roadshow CEO on family bust-up

‘It was great newspaper fodder’: Village Roadshow CEO on family bust-up

The Kirbys were masters of movies, until their family feud became the story. But they’ve held on for the ride.

Primrose RiordanSenior Reporter

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Hidden behind Movie World on the Gold Coast is a low-rise office block painted in a shade of cream that gives a whiff of the 1990s. Inside the boardroom sit Robert and Clark Kirby, father and son, the third and fourth generations of a family who built the most successful entertainment company Australia has ever seen.

Village Roadshow dominated the box office and the TV ratings for decades. Its hits included The Wiggles, Skippy, Mad Max, Bananas in Pyjamas, Brides of Christ, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and Muriel’s Wedding. The company ran film studios, drives-ins, cinemas and theme parks. It produced VHS tapes, board games and CDs, and was early to bankroll FM radio. With cinemas and video distribution across Asia, Europe and the United States, Village snaked around the globe. It co-produced Hollywood blockbusters like The Matrix and bought theme parks from Hawaii to Hainan.

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Primrose Riordan
Primrose RiordanSenior ReporterPrimrose Riordan covers private companies and family offices from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. Primrose was previously a correspondent for the Financial Times and covered foreign affairs and politics in Canberra. Primrose has won multiple awards for her journalism including from The National Press Club, SABEW in the US and Press Gazette in the UK. Message Primrose on Signal: https://tinyurl.com/PrimroseSignal Connect with Primrose on Facebook and Twitter. Email Primrose at primrose.riordan@afr.com

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/it-was-great-newspaper-fodder-village-roadshow-ceo-on-family-bust-up-20231023-p5eeeq