NACO Board of Directors
David Seargeant
Chairman, NACO
David Seargeant served as CEO and Group Managing Director of Event Hospitality & Entertainment Limited from 2001-2017. He was Managing Director of Rydges Hotels group from 1988- 2002 and the Greater Union Group from 2000-2002. He distinguished himself during his 30-plus years’ experience in the hospitality and leisure industries with the creation of the Rydges Hotel brand, premium QT hotel brand, as well as the Event Cinema brand. He drove transformational change in very challenging economic times and oversaw the transition of the group’s cinema business from its former celluloid film-based media to its present digital form.
Mr. Seargeant serves on numerous boards, including Tourism Australia and Tourism Training Australia. He is Chairman of the National Association of Cinema Operators-Australasia and Deputy Chairman of Tourism Accommodation Australia.
In 2017, Traveller Magazine lauded ‘hip hotelier’ David Seargeant’s legacy as the playful hotel brand he launched, saying: “with an eye for striking elements drawn from architecture, emerging art, fashion and industrial design, he created quirky destination hotels tailor-made for the Instagram era.”
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Mark Douglas
(Director)
Mark Douglas joined Reading International in January 1999, and was appointed Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, in July 2018. Comprising both cinema and property divisions, Reading Cinemas operates 36 cinema locations with 248 screens across both Australia and New Zealand. Reading Properties, in addition to several smaller centres, owns and operates the prestigious Newmarket Village shopping centre in Newmarket, Queensland and the Cannon Park entertainment centre in Townsville, also in Queensland, Australia.
Reading Cinemas emerged from the original Reading railways company, forever immortalized as a railway station on the monopoly board. From 2005 to 2018 Mark worked in the company’s property division holding numerous roles including Director Property Development, Development Manager and General Manager Property. During this time, Mark was involved in the acquisition of the Cannon Park entertainment centre, design and construction of the 8 screen Reading Cinema and ancillary retail shops at Newmarket Village shopping centre, advanced the company’s cinema expansion program and oversaw the large format screen re-investment strategy, which is ongoing.
In recent times Mark has pioneered the company’s divergence into the arthouse market via the leasehold acquisition of the iconic State Cinema in Hobart Tasmania, being the foundation to launch the company’s signature Angelika Film Centre art house brand in Australia. Prior thereto, Mark worked in the company’s finance team, then moving into the role of National Operations Manager for the company’s Reading Cinema division in 2001. Prior to joining Reading International Mark worked for Myer Stores, a retail department store chain, in various business management and administration roles. Mark earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Deakin University, Geelong Victoria, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree also from Deakin University, Geelong Victoria, and is a registered Certified Practicing Accountant with CPA Australia.
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Ross Entwistle
(Director)
Ross Entwistle has been exhibiting and distributing motion pictures for more than 35 years, with experience in 18 international territories as an exhibitor, and having worked on over 150 films as a theatrical distributor in Australia. Ross is the Founder and CEO of Limelight Cinemas Pty Ltd, an independent multiplex operator he established in 2009.
He is a former a Board Member of Screen Australia and has previously held senior executive positions across the Exhibition and Distribution landscape, including Managing Director of AHL Entertainment, Managing Director of Sony Pictures Releasing (Australia), and Director of International Film Buying with Village Roadshow.
Ross is a former President of the Society of Australian Cinema Pioneers and former Chairman of the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA). In 2008 he was named the ‘International Exhibitor of the Year’ at Showest (now CinemaCon), the world’s largest convention for the motion picture exhibition Industry. In 2012, along with fellow Exhibitor Barry Peak, Entwistle was honoured by Independent Cinemas Australia (ICA) with the inaugural Mark Sarfaty Award for outstanding contribution to Independent Cinemas, for his work in negotiating deals with the major Hollywood Studios to help transition Independent Cinemas from Analogue to Digital.
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Damian Keogh
(Director)
President & Chief Executive Officer, The HOYTS Group
Damian was appointed President and CEO and The HOYTS Group in January 2014, with responsibility for HOYTS Entertainment and Val Morgan Advertising. The HOYTS Group owns and operates 54 cinemas throughout Australia and New Zealand with 472 screens.
As part of the Chinese owned Wanda Group, which owns 12% of the world’s cinemas, Damian has overseen a dramatic re-investment program in the HOYTS cinema circuit. More than 80% of the circuit has been upgraded to powered recliner seats in every cinema. In the process HOYTS has grown market share and been recognised as the leader in cinema innovation in Australia. He has also overseen the rebranding and redesign of their premium cinema offering to LUX.
Previously Damian was CEO at Val Morgan from 2011 to 2014 and worked in media and marketing roles with Multi Channel Network and the Seven Network.
Damian currently serves on the Boards of the National Association of Cinema Operators-Australasia (NACO) and Creative Content Australia.
He was Chairman of the Cronulla Sharks NRL team from 2013 – 2017, including the club’s first premiership in 2016.
A former professional sportsman, he enjoyed a distinguished basketball career in the NBL and represented Australia on over 200 occasions in basketball including three Olympic campaigns.
He is married to former Olympic basketballer Maree White and they have four children.
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Clark Kirby
(Director)
Clark Kirby is the Chief Executive Officer of Village Roadshow Group. Clark was previously CEO of Village Roadshow Theme Parks and Village Roadshow Studios before his appointment to Group CEO in January 2020, expanding his portfolio to include the Village Cinema circuit and Roadshow Film and Television Distribution and Production. Prior to joining Village Roadshow, Clark worked for UBS Investment Bank in the Technology and Media M&A team in Melbourne, Sydney and New York.
Clark completed a Master of Applied Finance and Investment at Macquarie University in 2005 and also holds a Bachelor of Information Technology from Bond University. Clark is the Vice Chairman of the peak Tourism Body of the Gold Coast, Destination Gold Coast as well as a founding Board member of Major Events Gold Coast. Other Board positions include the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.
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Luke Mackey
(Director)
Luke Mackey is the Director of Entertainment at EVT, a top 200 ASX listed company in Entertainment, Ventures and Travel. Luke has over 27 years of experience in the Entertainment industry and is a respected senior executive, overseeing the largest cinema chain in Australia – Event Cinemas, State Theatre Sydney, Moonlight cinema, Edge Digital and more. EVT has an entertainment team of over 3,000+ and has an annual turnover of – $1Bn with a market cap of – $2Bn. As a graduate of the Macquarie Business School, Luke has honed his unique skill set, focusing on developing and retaining key talent to achieve better results for each business.
His ongoing mentoring has helped individuals achieve their full potential, resulting in sustainable year-on-year growth for the company. Luke’s passion for driving sustainable growth in the industry is evident in his work with the EVT Group. He has played a key role in the expansion and redevelopment of Event Cinemas locations nationwide, revolutionising the cinema experience with offerings such as ‘Your Cinema, Your Way’, 4DX, Event Boutique, Event Junior and ScreenX. Under his leadership, the Entertainment division has also led innovation in e-commerce with the Number 1 Cinema website and business transformation through the development of proprietary software such as ’Service to Seat’ and intelligent payroll systems.
In addition to his work with the EVT Group, Luke is an active member of several industry organisations, including the National Association of Cinema Operators-Australasia (NACO), the Global Cinema Federation (GCF) and The Society of Australian Cinema Pioneers. He is also a former board member of the Parramatta Riverside Theatre Advisory Board and a Councillor for the Motion Picture Industry Benevolent Society (MPIBS).
Natalie Miller AO
(Director)
Natalie Miller AO is a visionary leader in the Australian screen industry. She has made and continues to make an astounding contribution to the film community through her distinguished career spanning over forty years.
A passionate supporter of independent films and filmmakers, Natalie has brought quality art house cinema to Australia through her leadership at the Longford Cinema, as co-founder of Cinema Nova, one of Australia’s greatest independent cinemas, and as Executive Director of Sharmill Films, the only distribution company in Australia established and run by a woman. Natalie has served on many boards and committees in the screen industry, as well as other cultural organisations, and is currently a Director of the Board of the National Association of Cinema Operators (NACO).
In recognition of her many achievements, Natalie has been awarded an OAM and an AO for her contribution to the Australian film industry and for her mentoring of other women. The French government also made her a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her promotion of French culture in Australia. And for her outstanding service to the screen industry, she has received lifetime achievement awards from the Independent Cinemas Association of Australia and the Screen Producers Association of Australia.
The Natalie Miller Fellowship was established in 2011, to recognise and nurture the next generation of female leaders in the Australian screen community and inspire them to reach the very top of their fields.
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David Pye
(Director)
ACE Cinemas
ACE Cinemas was established in 1955 after John Pye returned from a film buying trip to the US excited about a new development he had seen in Los Angeles – drive-in theatres.
After failing to convince his employer to build the state’s first drive-in, John Pye left their employ and established the original incarnation of ACE in late 1955, which was called Australian Cinema Enterprises Pty Ltd (or ACE for short), later the ACE Group.
He convinced some investors to join him and built the state’s first drive-in theatre on a site fronting the Albany Highway in Bentley Perth.
It was a massive success from the day it opened in 1956. The same film screened twice nightly with both sessions often filled, especially on weekends.
They grew quickly and at their peak ACE had 15 drive-in theatres throughout the Perth metro area as well as many larger regional towns.
ACE diversified into cinemas, acquiring the lease of The Mayfair Cinema on Hay Street, which they refurbished and launched as The Capri Cinema and Café.
In the meantime, John Pye’s eldest son David had joined the Group in 1964 aged 20 in the Programming and Marketing Departments.
In the early 70s ACE entered into a joint venture partnership with Village/Roadshow which gave the company the opportunity to sell and supply film to every cinema in WA and this deal ran into the 80’s. During this period another joint venture was developed and called Roadshow Home Video which David headed up in the West.
The ACE group wanted to extend their hardtop cinema presence in Perth. Therefore, along with Hospitality Inns another company John Pye had formed which required a reasonably sized Perth hotel base to accommodate the customers they’d attracted from their regional motels they jointly built the 82-room Town House Hotel and the 600-seat Town Cinema on an excellent site in Hay St Perth they had purchased.
After the success of the Town Cinema, ACEs’ next city venture involved the purchase of the former Federal Taxation building on the corner of Barrack and Murray Streets and the building of Perth’s first multi-screen cinema complex, The Cinecentre.
The state-of-the-art complex also featured the Cinecellars Tavern, operated by ACE’s sister company Hospitality Pty Ltd and a shopping arcade.
ACE’s Cinecentre opened on December 10 1974 and enjoyed a very successful period of operation. The Cinecentre closed on February 1 2006 and was finally demolished in July 2016.
The Ace Group also developed cinema complexes in Kalgoorlie and Busselton which had very good runs. ACE sold its interest in these locations some years ago but are still running successfully. Busselton recently won a National Tourism award for its CinefestOz Festival which Ace was involved with in its early formation.
When the ACE Cinema Group closed down in 1987, David Pye spent a number of years in executive roles with Roadshow in Melbourne before returning to Perth and picking up his cinema career with his family, and the new ACE Cinemas was born.
ACE opened Midland Five at 181 Morrison Rd in 1992, which they then redeveloped and reopened as Ace Midland Cineplex on 1 April 1999 with 2 additional mega-stadiums. During this time, David’s son Jeremy joined his father in the cinema business and is now the GM of ACE Cinemas and proudly continuing the family tradition.
ACE formed a joint venture with Palace Cinemas and opened Subiaco Cinemas, a new 4-screen, 900-seat complex on Hay St Subiaco on April 3, 1997.
David had been watching and assessing trends in the movie business all his life, this led ACE into the shopping centre Megaplex age by sealing a deal with the owners of Midland Gate shopping centre to build an ACE version of the shopping centre multiplex with an upmarket Gold Lounge cinema, which has been enormously successful for ACE.
ACE Midland Gate Cinema, an 8-screen Megaplex, opened on December 15, 2006 that has since been regularly upgraded and updated, and enormously profitable for both the tenants and landlords.
ACE then did a similar deal with the same owners to build an 8-cinema Megaplex, including a much larger Gold Class cinema, at the Rockingham City shopping complex. ACE Rockingham Cinemas opened on September 10, 2009.
These state-of-the-art shopping centre cinema complexes, housing 1400 people in traditional cinema seats and 100 Gold Class seats, set a new standard for cinema in Perth.
In 2003 after the screen advertising contractor Val Morgan closed down their WA office to concentrate the business on the east coast David saw the opportunity to form and open the screen advertising company Cineads. This company was established to service advertising to hundreds of business’s and provide revenue to cinema operators throughout West Australia and other parts of Australia. This company became highly successful so much so that in 2014 Val Morgan bought it back.
ACE has a long established and well patronised loyalty program with 85,000 ACEcard members who enjoy benefits that befit their regular patronage
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Terry Jackman AO
(Board Advisor & AIMC Chairman)
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Cameron Mitchell
(Executive Director)
Cameron has worked in the entertainment industry for 25 years, initially in various regional operational roles across Australia, before joining Majid Al Futtaim Cinemas as CEO (VOX Cinemas) in January 2007. During his tenure as CEO VOX Cinemas, the company delighted over 200m guests, expanding the cinema circuit from 40 screens (1 country) to 650 screens (8 countries), with countless more screens in development. The company expanded into film production and distribution, producing Arabic titles to support the region, and distributed hundreds of films annually, partnering with the some of the world’s most creative film studios. VOX Cinemas led the development of cinemas across the MENA region, being proudly recognized by CinemaCon in 2017 with the Global Achievement in Exhibition, and more recently with re-establishing cinema across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In September 2017, Cameron took on the additional responsibility of CEO of Majid Al Futtaim’s Leisure and Entertainment businesses, refining and evolving the Leisure portfolio (1 Waterpark, 2 Ski Slopes, 32 Family Entertainment Centres & 7 Bowling Centres) and launching Dreamscape in the Middle East. The company operates the world renowned Ski Dubai at the iconic Mall of the Emirates mall in Dubai (voted best indoor Ski Facility globally for 5 consecutive years) along with Ski Egypt in Mall of Egypt Cairo. The company additionally operated a large F&B business that supported the Cinema and Leisure businesses, whilst also developing and operating standalone Cafes and Restaurants, including Fast Casual and Dine In facilities.
In 2019, Cameron was voted a 2019 Variety500 Honoree, an index of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry. Cameron relocated to Australia’s Gold Coast in 2021, and aside from his NACO responsibilities, is a Director of Creative Content Australia, and consults on Cinema & Entertainment globally.