Alan G. Rydge AM
In a career spanning more than fifty years, Alan Graham Rydge has been, and continues to be, an influential and well-respected member of the Australian finance and business community. He has also distinguished himself through his contribution and ongoing commitment to the Australian film industry, as well as his extensive philanthropy and community involvement
Much of Alan’s involvement in business and finance revolves around the EVENT Hospitality and Entertainment Limited Group (formerly Amalgamated Holdings Limited), one of Australia’s largest entertainment, hospitality, tourism, and leisure companies.
The Event Group's entertainment division operates Event Cinemas (including Greater Union and Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinemas) which comprise the largest cinema circuits in Australia and New Zealand; Sydney’s majestic State Theatre; Moonlight Cinemas across Australia; Cinestar Cinemas in Germany and Edge Digital Technology.
The Event Group's hospitality division operates Rydges Hotels & Resorts, QT Hotels & Resorts, Atura Hotels, and the premier Australian Ski Resort township of Thredbo Alpine Resort.
Alan’s experience across entertainment, tourism and hospitality is arguably second to none.
Alan commenced his career at The Greater Union Organisation (GUO) in 1971. His family's association with GUO dated back to 1937 when his father — Sir Norman Bede Rydge CBE — was appointed Chairman and MD. From 1971-78, Alan gained experience within various GUO operating divisions, and with cinema exhibitors Birch Carroll & Coyle and the emerging Village Roadshow Company.
Following his father’s death in 1980, Alan was appointed Chairman of Amalgamated Holdings Limited, (AHL), one of Greater Union's shareholder companies. The other shareholder was the Rank Organisation in the UK and in 1984 AHL purchased the other half of Greater Union from Rank. Since then, Alan has overseen the operations of the company, involving significant cinema expansion and business diversification for the Group.
In 1989, Alan was elected Chairman of GUO, having previously served as Assistant to the MD (1978-84), as Deputy MD (1984-86), and as MD (1986-2001).
In 2015, shareholders approved a name change from AHL to EVENT Hospitality and Entertainment.
Alan remains a director and Chairman of EVENT and recently celebrated 50 years of service to this proud Australian company with more than 100 years of operation.
In 2022, Alan was awarded an AM (Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia), for significant service to event hospitality, and to the entertainment industry.
In addition, Alan has been a director of listed equities investment company Carlton Investments Ltd since 1978. In 1980, Alan became Chairman of Carlton at just 27, the youngest chairman of an Australian public company at the time.
He was also formerly Deputy Chairman of Australia Post and a Director of Village Roadshow Limited.
Greater Union was a leading light in the Australian film industry and as a result, Alan enjoyed associations with many of the world's great film companies.
He also provided significant input (uncredited) and support to some of Australia’s iconic films, specifically Anthony Buckley’s The Irishman; Michael Pate’s The Mango Tree; Michael Thornhill’s The F.J. Holden and many productions of the late Pat Lovell AM MBE, including Picnic at Hanging Rock, Break of Day, Summerfield, and Gallipoli. Alan and Pat both held the strong view that Australia needed a properly resourced National Film and Sound Archive.
In the 1980s, Alan was a key proponent of Operation Newsreel, an initiative by EVENT, 20th Century Fox and the National Film and Sound Archive. Cinesound Movietone Productions, an EVENT and Fox joint venture, donated a significant collection of historical newsreels to the NFSA and committed to its restoration.
In 1998, Alan Rydge received the prestigious Ken G. Hall Award in recognition of his contribution to the preservation of Australia’s film heritage. In 2013, he became a Patron of the Friends of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.
Alan’s philanthropy and community involvement was, and is, extensive. He was a founding member of EVENT’s Workplace Giving program, which, over the last decade, has donated over $16 million to charities including Starlight Children’s Foundation; Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation; Beyond Blue; Surf Lifesaving; Cancer Council Australia; The Salvation Army; Royal Flying Doctor Service; Assistance Dogs Australia and the RSPCA.
His ongoing commitment and contribution to the Australian film industry is reflected in his unwavering support of the Society of Australian Cinema Pioneers and the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society; he is a much-valued patron of the latter. Alan was awarded Cinema Pioneer of the Year for 2007.
Alan and his wife Lynne have provided generous support to key charities and institutions over many years through private donations and via The Rydge Foundation, with recipients that include the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Garvan Institute of Medical Research, the Australian Museum, and the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation. Other beneficiaries include numerous individual NSW Surf Lifesaving Clubs and the Taronga Foundation, supporting the Western Plains and Taronga Zoos.
Alan and Lynne are based in Sydney; however, the family have longstanding and strong connections with Thredbo (Alan is Patron of the Thredbo Historical Society) and rural NSW —and both have an affinity with the land and animals. For weekend recreation, Alan has been quoted as saying he enjoys “anything to do with water, on it, in it, or around it. If it's not work, it's water. I find it's very relaxing."
More recently, Lynne and Alan have been very involved in their Central Tablelands farms, where Lynne manages production and their commercial breeding program of Black Angus cattle.
Pic courtesy Australian Cinema Pioneers