Veteran Australian film executive Joel Pearlman is stepping down as CEO of Roadshow Films after 30 years with the Village Roadshow organization.
During his tenure, this high-profile executive was responsible for Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Village Roadshow Pictures, A24, FilmNation, Makeup Stories and Arena Media. Highlights include launching the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games and Dark Knight franchises at ANZ.
Perlman also invested in Film Nation, an independent production, financing and distribution company in which Village Roadshow owns a 31.03% stake, and co-founded TV drama producer Roadshow Rough Diamond with John. He was also instrumental in securing a strategic partnership for Village Roadshow. And Dan Edwards.
The executive is also a long-time champion of the Australian film industry, responsible for some of the most successful films of the past 20 years, including Red Dog, The Dish, The Dry and Mad Max: Fury Road. He distributed many of the Australian films he collected.
“It’s a tough decision to move on to a new adventure,” Perlman said. “I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead this organization over the years and am grateful to Village Roadshow CEO Clark Kirby, Village Roadshow Chairman Robert Kirby and former CEO Graham Kirby. We are very grateful to Mr. Burke for his support.”
Roadshow’s upcoming schedule includes the Midnight Oil documentary The Hardest Line, which opens at the Sydney Film Festival next week, and the reboot of The Crow, which opens across Australia on December 26. Those include Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” and Lionsgate’s “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” starring Anna. De Armas.
