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Beckett Motion Picture Looking at the future of content creation through the eyes of an old sprocket jockey Starting in 1956 with our proprietary Masterlite lighting system. John P.

Beckett Motion Picture Equipment Company was, for many years, a service company. This light weight, low-power lighting system enabled low budget producers to shoot in practical sets. The merits primarily were that it was cheep, portable and able to produce studio lighting quality without the infrastructure of a major studio. The breakthrough Masterlite system anchored the early days of Beckett Equ

ipment. The systems were manufactured here in Hollywood and rented worldwide. In the early sixties, riding a wave of independent production, the company added a camera department and acquired the Vine Street Video Center, along with the former Allied Artist Studios adding major studio capability to Beckett's offerings. Armed with these facilities, the company positioned itself to offer vertically integrated packages of facilities. The company became the go-to vendor for low-budget, off the major lot movies. Packaging the tools for content creation has been the direction and passion for the company from its early beginnings. In 1971 Charles Beckett, the company's founder, died leaving his son to run the company. "Jack" Beckett had started at Beckett Equipment as a resentful, cable-wrapping quarry slave and had grown with the company, gaining vast experience, traveling the world lighting sets, and becoming a director of photography, but, most importantly, developing humility and a profound respect for the talented people who make and tell stories. Jack managed to get the company teamed with Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Philips Semiconductor in the creation of the first cinema CCD (1992). Beckett was accepted into the Technical Affiliates program at JPL allowing the company to gain valuable information in the making and deployment of high-performance imaging systems. This tenure at JPL allowed Beckett to see the making of high value content in the context of digital development, infusing the company with a unique vantage point. In 2000 Beckett was chosen by Occidental Studios to characterise the first dynamic tracking and compositing environment to be deployed in Hollywood. The resulting "SmartStage" served the community for over six years pioneering the use of virtual backgrounds. Beckett Motion Picture has long ago given up the packaging of Motion Picture facilities, but now design tools that call upon the latest technology, tools that are likely to change, yet again, the playing field of content creation. Beckett

10/06/2021

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It was that plastic stuff with the holes in it for a long time.

Beckett Motion Picture Equipment Company was, for many years, a service company. Starting in 1956 with our proprietary Masterlite lighting system and continuing today with patents in digital imaging. In 1956 a lightweight, low-power lighting system enabled low budget producers to shoot in practical sets. The system’s merits were it was cheep, portable and able to produce studio lighting quality without the infrastructure of a major studio. This breakthrough Masterlite lighting system anchored the early days of Beckett Equipment. The systems were manufactured here in Hollywood and rented worldwide. In the early sixties, riding a wave of independent production, the company added a camera department and acquired the Vine Street Video Center. By adding this video facility to the former Allied Artist Studios lot added earlier gave Beckett’s menu of services major studio capability. Armed with these facilities, the company positioned itself to offer vertically integrated packages of facilities. The company became the go-to vendor for low-budget, off the major lot movies. Packaging the tools for content creation has been the direction and passion for the company from its early beginnings. In 1971 Charles Beckett, the company's founder, died leaving his son to run the company. John P. "Jack" Beckett had started at Beckett Equipment as a resentful, cable-wrapping quarry slave and had grown with the company, gaining vast experience, traveling the world lighting sets, and becoming a director of photography, but, most importantly, developing humility and a profound respect for the talented people who make and tell stories. Jack managed to get the company teamed with Lockheed Martin, Honeywell and Philips Semiconductor in the creation of the first cinema CCD (1992). Beckett was accepted into the Technical Affiliates program at JPL allowing the company to gain valuable information in the making and deployment of high-performance imaging systems. This tenure at JPL allowed Beckett to see the making of high value content in the context of digital development, infusing the company with a unique vantage point. In 2000 Beckett was chosen by Occidental Studios to characterise the first dynamic tracking and compositing environment to be deployed in Hollywood. The resulting "SmartStage" served the community for over six years pioneering the use of virtual backgrounds. Beckett Motion Picture has long ago given up the packaging of Motion Picture facilities, but now design tools that call upon the latest technology, tools that are likely to change, yet again, the playing field of content creation. John P. Beckett