At Village Roadshow, Kirbys are like rotations of the sun: when one falls, another begins his ascent.

Robert Kirby is stepping down from the chairmanship of Australia's most intriguing entertainment company. After last week's disastrous investor briefing sent shares down 9 per cent on the day, you might reasonably deduce that the market wouldn't cop a new CEO reporting to his father, the chairman. Or his disgruntled uncle John Kirby, until now, the deputy chairman.