in 1989, village roadshow went public, making an aggressive move into other markets, such as film production, theme parks and radio. after the public float, the kirby family remained the majority shareholders, owning 51.5% of the shares in village roadshow. roc kirby retired as ceo in 1988, leaving the running of village roadshow to his sons, robert and john, as chairman and deputy chairman, and "surrogate son", graham burke, as managing director.