Becker Entertainment

Background

Becker Entertainment was an Australian film and television distribution company that was a part of the Becker Group (formerly R.A. Becker and Co. until 1993). The Becker Group has its roots all the way back in 1965, where it was founded by Australian commercial television pioneer Russell Becker. It later acquired the Australian branch of The Fremantle Corporation in the late 1970s. In 1987, R.A. Becker formed two subsidiaries: PRO Films, to expand to the United States, and REP Distribution, to expand to theatrical films. In 1993, the company expanded into the home video market by forming Becker Entertainment; both PRO and REP would later be folded into this company by the early 2000s. Becker would later acquire the TMS Distribution library as well as the Dendy cinema chain. In 2007, Richard Becker (whose father, Russell, had passed away not long ago from cancer) stepped down from the company, and Becker Entertainment alongside the entire Becker Group was sold and absorbed into Prime Media Group, with Icon Productions acquiring the film business. Richard later went onto form Becker Film Group in 2008.

Logo (November 7, 1996-2008)

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  Standard

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  Enhanced

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  International version

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  International version #2

Visuals: On a cloudy blue sky background, there is a golden filmstrip zooming out and moving to the right. The filmstrip then half dissolves and gold letters "BECKER" appear in its place. A ray of light then shines forming the word "E N T E R T A I N M E N T" in Futura. The background turns to black as the logo then shines until it fades out.

Later Variant: Later releases have no cloudy sky and the logo is enhanced.

Variants:

• On releases outside Australia, the logo is in black and white and is all on one line. "INTERNATIONAL" replaces "ENTERTAINMENT". Another variant has the full logo, but it is slightly animated differently, and "FILMS INTERNATIONAL" replaces "ENTERTAINMENT".
• A short version exists on TV shows.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None, or the opening theme of the movie. On game shows, like Battle of the Sexes, Download and the Australian revivals of Now You See It and Concentration, the logo is accompanied by an announcer spiel.

Availability: Seen on Australian releases, most notably Rabbit Proof Fence. Can also be found on Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, following the MTM logo. The international version can be found on a few movies like Control. Was also seen alongside the Magna Pacific logo on some of their releases that were released by the latter. The early version can be seen on the 2001 Australian Magna Pacific DVD releases of Fairytale: A True Story and Emma. The early version was also found at the start of SBS's print of the TV documentary, 42 Up. The later version can also be seen on the Australian Magna Pacific DVD releases of Scream: Collector's Edition and The Magdalene Sisters.