Australasian Films is an Australian film distribution and production company formed in 1913 that was wound up in the 1930s to merge into Greater Union. Together with Union Theatres it formed the "Combine" which dominated the Australian film trade of the 1910s and 1920s.[1]
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In 1912, West's Pictures merged with Amalgamated Pictures and Spencer's Pictures of Charles Cozens Spencer to create the General Film Company of Australasia. The following year this company merged with the Greater JD Williams Amusement Co, a large exhibition and film supply outfit, to create Union Theatres and Australasian Films.[2]
Spencer encouraged Australasian to enter feature production with The Shepherd of the Southern Cross but the film was not a success at the box office and Spencer was forced out of the company.[3] Thereafter Australasian only produced movies sporadically until the mid-1920s when the company came under the stewardship of Stuart F. Doyle. In 1925 they purchased the Centennial Roller Skating Rink site at 65 Ebley St, Bondi Junction and converted it into a film studio.[4] They used it as a skating rink during the night and a studio during the day.[5]
For the next few years, Australasian produced a number of features, including works from director Raymond Longford. Their most expensive productions were For the Term of His Natural Life (1927) and The Adorable Outcast (1928), both which featured American stars and director, and lost an estimated ₤30,000.[6] The company soon withdrew from production although later it re-emerged as Cinesound Productions.