Public Screening: The Battle for Cineplex Odeon

Robert W. Sexty is a professor of Business Administration and Commerce
at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and author of Canadian
Business: Issues and Stakeholders.

This book is an account of Garth Drabinsky’s building of a large
movie-theatre chain in Canada and the United States in the 1980s.
Drabinsky and a partner opened their first multiplex (that is,
multiscreen complex) in Toronto’s Eaton Centre in 1979. From then on,
the company evolved through expansion and takeover to become the
premier, if not the largest, chain in North America, with about 500
theatres and 1660 screens. Accomplishing such a feat required capital;
Drabinsky acquired funds from the Bronfman family of Montreal, and from
MCA Inc. of Los Angeles, one of the world’s largest entertainment
companies. The battle started when Drabinsky had a falling out with
these suppliers of capital. They apparently objected to such things as
his huge expense accounts, his management style, and Cineplex’s
creative (misleading) accounting practices.

Some background information on Drabinsky and the growth of Cineplex is
covered in the first four chapters. The remaining chapters describe how
the trouble started, and how it eventually ended with Drabinsky leaving
Cineplex. An epilogue discusses how well, or poorly, various players did
in the battle, and an index assists in tracking down the players if
necessary. There are eight pages of photographs of the people involved,
plus some pictures of the movie theatres.

Hubbard, a business journalist covering media and entertainment
companies for The Financial Post, relied heavily on press coverage of
events as sources. The book’s blurb promises that the author “takes
us inside that battle and tells us what really happened,” and that the
book “is also a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at two glittering
power centres (Hollywood and Bay Street).” Hubbard’s reliance on
newspaper sources provides a public account of events, but the
behind-the-scenes coverage is mostly missing. This book does provide
some insights into the movie and financial industries; however, the
inside story of the battle for Cineplex Odeon—far more difficult to
obtain—has yet to be told.