Becker Group, formerly R. A. Becker & Co., was an Australian independent film and television distribution company founded by Russell Becker. It was established in 1965 and sold to Prime Television in 2007.
In 2008, a new company, Becker Film Group, was created by Richard Becker. In 2018, Becker formed a new film distribution company with Robert Slaviero, called R & R Films.
Becker Group was established in 1965 as R. A. Becker & Co. [1] by Russell Becker. [2] In 1976, his son, Richard Becker took over the Australian unit of Fremantle International, and went on to expand into television production in 1977. [3]
In 1987, the company's group was expanding into two subsidiaries, PRO Films, to produce films in the Los Angeles area and REP Distribution (stood for Richard Entertainment Partners) to distribute films locally in Australia. [3] [4] [5] The group then formed Becker Entertainment in 1995 by combining the assets of Becker Group's Australian entertainment subsidiaries into a single unit. [4]
In 2002 it took over Dendy Films and became known as Dendy/Becker; however, both continued to operate separately. It also owned OnSite Broadcasting, Moonlight Cinemas, [6] [2] and Dendy Cinemas, [1] and had offices in New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore and London. [2]
In April 2006 Richard Becker, the managing director and son of Russell, announced he was stepping down and the chief operating officer and finance director Tim Keens would become the managing director on 1 July 2007. [6] In June 2007 the group was sold to Prime Television. [7] [8] The Dendy chain was sold off to Icon Film Distribution around the same time. [9]
In 2008 Richard Becker started a new company called Becker Film Group, [10] [11] and was managing director of the company. [1]
In 2018, after Richard Becker had decided to "put Becker Films to the side", he asked Robert Slaviero, former CEO of Hoyts Distribution (which was sold to StudioCanal in 2012 [12] ) to join him in a new venture, a distribution and consultancy company called R & R Films. [13] The company was registered as R & R Films Pty Ltd in April 2018, and as of April 2022 [update] is still operational. [14] The focus of the new company is Australian films, [15] to date distributing both feature films for the cinema, such as Black Water: Abyss , H Is for Happiness , [16] and The Wishmas Tree ; [17] and DVDs and digital media ( Angel of Mine ). [18]
Becker Group was involved in the production or distribution of the following films: [19]
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the namesake division of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-oldest film studio in the United States, and the sole member of the "Big Five" film studios located within the city limits of Los Angeles.
Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures, is an American film production and distribution company owned by NBCUniversal, which is a division of Comcast.
United Artists Corporation (UA) was an American production and distribution company founded in 1919 by D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios.
StudioCanal S.A.S. is a French film production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world. The company is a unit of the Canal+ Group, owned by Vivendi.
The Hoyts Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes Hoyts Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards.
Fremantle Limited is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in 1994. Pearson Television was renamed FremantleMedia on 20 August 2001, following the 2000 merger of Pearson Television and Bertelsmann's CLT-UFA to form the RTL Group.
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatrical and home entertainment formats in Australia and New Zealand.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony.
Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, GU Film House, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle, is the largest movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, with over 140 cinema complexes currently operating worldwide.
Becker Entertainment is an Australian production company.
Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family.
Village Cinemas is an Australian-based multinational film exhibition brand that mainly shows blockbusters, mainstream, children and family films and some arthouse, foreign language and documentary films. Since 2003, its Australian sites became a joint venture between Village Roadshow and Amalgamated Holdings, forming Australian Theatres. Previous to this, Village Cinemas was the founding entity of parent company, Village Roadshow from 1954 when the first drive-in theatre was established, and from 1988 Warner Brothers owned a one-third share in the chain.
Icon Productions is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey, which, unlike most other independent production companies, funds most of its development and production costs, allowing it to retain creative control of its projects. Its headquarters are in Santa Monica, California.
Grand Cinemas and Ace Cinemas are independent Western Australian chains of cinema multiplexes. The chains formerly co-operated under The Movie Masters banner, but as of 2022 they no longer operate under this arrangement.
EVT Ltd is an Australian company which operates cinemas, hotels, restaurants and resorts in Australia, New Zealand and Germany.
Dendy Cinema Pty Limited is an Australian cinema chain. Dendy operates in Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Its main competitors are Hoyts, Village, Event, Wallis Cinemas, Palace Cinemas and Reading. It is a subsidiary of Icon Productions.
The Wishmas Tree is a 2019 Australian 3D computer-animated adventure film written and directed by Ricard Cussó from a story by Peter Ivan. Financed by Screen Queensland and Screen Australia, it is the first film in Like a Photon Creative's The Tales from Sanctuary City franchise. The film stars Miranda Tapsell and Ross Noble. It had its world premiere at the Brisbane International Film Festival on 5 October 2019, and was released in Australian cinemas on 27 February 2020.
R&R Films or R & R Films may refer to:
Ozone Theatres Ltd, formerly Ozone Amusements, was a cinema chain based in Adelaide, South Australia, from 1911 until 1951, when it sold its theatres to Hoyts. It was founded by Hugh Waterman and was jointly run by him and seven sons, including Clyde Waterman and Sir Ewen McIntyre Waterman. S.A. Theatres and Ozone Theatres were subsidiary companies, and the chain was referred to as the Ozone circuit.