FILM INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Village eyes rebound as salaries, discounts cut

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Original article by Jemima Whyte
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 11-Jul-18

Village Roadshow will use the proceeds of a $51m right issue to reduce its debt. The new shares will be offered at $1.65 apiece, which represents a discount of 24 per cent to the stock’s most recent trading price. The theme parks and cinemas group has also advised that it will cease offering discounted tickets via resellers, with co-CEO Graham Burke noting that the majority of consumers now buy tickets directly from Village Roadshow. The company will reduce its joint CEOs’ salaries and its directors’ fees as part of a strategy to cut costs.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, WARNER BROS MOVIE WORLD ENTERPRISES, SEAWORLD, WET `N’ WILD WATER PARK, TOPGOLF, VILLAGE ROADSHOW CORPORATION LIMITED, ARDENT LEISURE GROUP – ASX AAD, DREAMWORLD, GROUPON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Village Roadshow to target debt and cinemas

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 10-Jul-18

Shares in Village Roadshow went into a trading halt on 9 July, pending an announcement on a possible capital raising. There is speculation that the cinemas, theme parks and film group will seek to raise about $50m. Village Roadshow has significantly reduced its debt in the last year, while it recently divested the Wet’n’Wild Water Park in Sydney. The new Topgolf business is one of its priorities looking forward.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, WET `N’ WILD WATER PARK, TOPGOLF, PARQUES REUNIDOS, ORANGE SKY GOLDEN HARVEST ENTERTAINMENT (HOLDINGS) LIMITED, WARNER BROS MOVIE WORLD ENTERPRISES, LGIASUPER, ARDENT LEISURE GROUP – ASX AAD, DREAMWORLD, LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MINTER ELLISON

Producers cut Hollywood deal

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jan-18

Australian film and TV production company See-Saw Films has secured a production deal with New Regency. The "first look" deal with the Hollywood studio will allow See-Saw to make films with much bigger budgets than at present, and enable its films to reach a larger audience worldwide. See-Saw was among the major winners at the recent Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts awards, for productions such as "Lion" and "Top of The Lake: China Girl".

CORPORATES
SEE-SAW FILMS PTY LTD, NEW REGENCY PICTURES, AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS, REGENCY ENTERPRISES, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Village to sue hundreds of Aussies for piracy

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Original article by John Davidson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 21-Aug-17

Village Roadshow intends to pursue legal action against Australians who download illegal copies of films and TV shows. Co-CEO Graham Burke says the film producer will only seek to recover the loss of revenue as a result of the piracy, as well as costs, rather than the huge damages payouts that had been initially been awarded for copyright violation in the US. The Federal Court recently ruled that local ISPs must block access to an additional 42 websites that provide access to pirated content.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, CREATIVE CONTENT AUSTRALIA, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, IPRIMUS

Foxtel, Village’s landmark win to block pirates

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Original article by Jake Mitchell, David Swan
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 16-Dec-16

The Federal Court of Australia has ruled that ISP must block access to five illegal file-sharing websites within 15 days. Foxtel and Village Roadshow had launched separate legal proceedings in a bid to combat the pirating of films and TV shows. Village Roadshow’s joint CEO Graham Burke has welcomed the judgment, arguing that the local film and TV production industry would collapse if action is not taken against such websites. Foxtel and Village Roadshow will have to pay the ISPs’ costs for blocking the infringing sites.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, IINET LIMITED, M2 GROUP LIMITED, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, WARNER BROS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, ASHURST AUSTRALIA

Pirates in the line of fire as Village boss goes on warpath

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Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 10-Oct-16

Village Roadshow MD Graham Burke has vowed to crack down on people who download illegal copies of movies. Burke will address the issue in a speech at the annual Australian International Movie Convention, in which he will highlight the impact of piracy on the local film industry. Burke notes that although the advent of subscription video-on-demand services has reduced the level of piracy among Australian adults, there has been big growth in piracy among the 12-17 age group.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Mad Max cleans up on Hollywood’s night of nights

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 1-Mar-16

George Miller’s "Mad Max: Fury Road" dominated the 2016 Academy Awards, winning in six of the 10 categories in which it was nominated. The film won Oscars for film editing, costume design, sound editing, sound mixing, production design, and best make-up and hair styling. "Mad Max: Fury Road" had a budget of $US150m and boasts gross box-office takings of $US377.6m.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, WARNER BROS, RAT PAC-DUNE ENTERTAINMENT, KENNEDY MILLER MITCHELL PRODUCTIONS PTY LTD, FOX STUDIOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Roadshow, Foxtel in battle against piracy

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Feb-16

Australian-listed Village Roadshow and a group of Hollywood studios want local ISPs to block access to a file-sharing website called SolarMovie. They will pursue action in the Federal Court under the Copyright Amendment (online infringement) Act. Pay-TV group Foxtel is also relying on the statute in a bid to block access to websites that allow people to download pirated copies of its TV shows.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, DISNEY STUDIOS, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WARNER BROS, PARAMOUNT STUDIOS, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE LIMITED

Call for tax breaks to put us on the big screen

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 17 : 5-Jan-16

Australia’s uncompetitive tax rebate system for the film industry has prompted expatriate producer Andrew Banks to shot feature film "Submergence" in Germany, Spain and Kenya. Banks says the film could have been made in Australia if the tax incentives for local productions were more attractive. He notes that the tax breaks for the film industry are significantly higher in countries such as the UK, New Zealand and Canada.

CORPORATES
LILA 9TH PRODUCTIONS, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DRAMATIC ARTS, THE OLD TOTE THEATRE COMPANY, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, RATPAC ENTERTAINMENT

Tugg brings indie films to streamers

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 8-Sep-15

Tugg Australia has secured an alliance with US digital film distributor GoDigital that will make independent Australian films available to a wider audience. GoDigital in turn has alliances with a number of key streaming video-on-demand services, such as Netflix and Hulu. About 100 films are currently available to view via the Tugg platform.

CORPORATES
TUGG AUSTRALIA, GODIGITAL, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, HULU LLC, ITUNES, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, DISH, LEAP FROG FILMS, HOYTS CINEMAS LIMITED, VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL