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 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

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.

History

Becker Group was established in 1965 as R. A. Becker & Co. by Russell Becker. In 1976, his son, Richard Becker took over the Australian unit of Fremantle International, and went on to expand into television production in 1977. In 1987, the company's group was expanding into two subsidiaries, PRO Films, to produce films in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area and REP Distribution (stood for Richard Entertainment Partners) to distribute films locally in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The group then formed Becker Entertainment in 1995 by combining the assets of Becker Group's Australian entertainment subsidiaries into a single unit. 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,Becker Group
Film & TV Database,

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and Dendy Cinemas, and had offices in New Zealand, Indonesia,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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. In June 2007 the group was sold to

. The Dendy chain was sold off to

Icon Film Distribution Icon Productions, also formerly referred to as Icon Entertainment International, is a production company founded in August 1989 by actor/director Mel Gibson and Australian producing partner Bruce Davey. Icon Productions LLC's headquarters were ...

around the same time.

Becker Film Group

In 2008 Richard Becker started a new company called Becker Film Group, and was managing director of the company.

R & R Films

In 2018, after Richard Becker had decided to "put Becker Films to the side", he asked Robert Slaviero, former CEO of

Hoyts Distribution 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. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

(which was sold to

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

in 2012) to join him in a new venture, a distribution and consultancy company called R & R Films. The company was registered as R & R Films Pty Ltd in April 2018, and is still operational. The focus of the new company is Australian films, to date distributing both

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s for the cinema, such as '' Black Water: Abyss'', ''

H Is for Happiness ''H is for Happiness'' is a 2019 Australian family film directed by John Sheedy, written by Lisa Hoppe, and starring Daisy Axon, Wesley Patten, Richard Roxburgh, Emma Booth, Joel Jackson, Deborah Mailman, Miriam Margolyes, Alessandra Tognini. ...

'', and ''

The Wishmas Tree ''The Wishmas Tree'' is a 2019 Australian animated adventure film written and directed by Ricard Cussó from a story by Peter Ivan. Financed by Screen Queensland Studios, Screen Queensland and Screen Australia, it is the first film in Like a Photo ...

''; and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

s and digital media (''

Angel of Mine "Angel of Mine" is a song by British R&B girl group Eternal from their first compilation album, ''Greatest Hits'' (1997). It was written by Rhett Lawrence and Travon Potts, produced by Lawrence, and released on 29 September 1997. The song beca ...

'').

Films

Becker Group was involved in the production or distribution of the following films: * ''

Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of ...

'' (1994) * '' Scream'' (1996) * '' Two Hands'' (1999) * ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. One of the most successful independent films of all time, it is a " found footage" pseudo-docume ...

'' (1999) * '' Emma'' (1996) * '' FairyTale: A True Story'' (1997) * '' Rabbit Proof Fence'' (2002) * ''

Margin Call ''Margin Call'' is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor in his feature directorial debut. The principal story takes place over a 24-hour period at a large Wall Street investment bank during the initial stages of the ...

'' (2011) * ''

Amélie ''Amélie'' (, , ) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story ...

'' (2001) * ''

Brassed Off ''Brassed Off'' is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor. The film is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure ...

'' (1997) * '' Black Dog'' (1998) * ''

An American Werewolf in Paris ''An American Werewolf in Paris'' is a 1997 comedy horror film directed by Anthony Waller, screenplay by Tim Burns, Tom Stern, and Waller, and starring Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy. It follows the general concept of, and was originally c ...

'' (1997) * ''

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...

'' (2001) * ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' (2000) * '' Swingers'' (1996) * ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal ...

'' * '' A Simple Plan'' * ''

Primary Colors Primary colors are colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a broad range of colors in, e.g., electronic displays, color printin ...

'' * ''

Supersize Me ''Super Size Me'' is a 2004 American documentary film directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. Spurlock's film follows a 30-day period from February 1 to March 2, 2003, during which he claimed to consume o ...

'' * ''

Wonder Boys ''Wonder Boys'' is a 1995 novel by the American writer Michael Chabon. It was adapted into a film with the same title in 2000. Plot summary Pittsburgh professor and author Grady Tripp is working on an unwieldy 2,611-page manuscript that is me ...

'' (2000) * '' Waking Ned Devine'' (1998) * ''

Candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

'' (2006) * ''

Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

'' * ''

Like Minds ''Like Minds'' is a 2006 Australian thriller film written and directed by Gregory J. Read. The film was produced by the South Australian Film Corporation. It debuted in Australia on 9 November 2006. The psychological thriller is the first Au ...

'' * ''

December Boys ''December Boys'' is a 2007 Australian drama film directed by Rod Hardy and written by Marc Rosenberg and adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by Michael Noonan. It was released on 14 September 2007 in the United Kingdom and the United ...

'' * '' Feed''

References

External links

* Film distributors of Australia Mass media companies established in 1965 {{Australia-company-stub