MPA Posted $2 Million Surplus In 2023 With Increased Revenue From Content Protection Initiative And Member Dues

EXCLUSIVE: The Motion Picture Association posted a surplus of just over $2 million in 2023, reflecting increased revenue from dues and a content protection initiative, as well as other sources.

According to the most recent filing from the Internal Revenue Service, the trade association also reduced some costs, including those going to grants to other organizations and groups.

According to the filing, MPA revenue rose to $79.2 million, from $74.5 million a year earlier. Membership dues reached $62.3 million, from $58.7 million in the previous year. A portion of the funds are for tenant improvements at the trade association’s Sherman Oaks office, according to the MPA. Costs will be depreciated over seven years rather than expensed in 2023, according to the trade association.

The MPA also saw a boost in revenue from the Trusted Partner Network, a film and television content protection initiative, with $3.3 million, from $1.22 million a year earlier. The MPA’s film rating service collected $5.5 million, from $5.7 million a year earlier. Revenue from the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, an affiliated network to fight piracy, was $5.4 million, from $6.19 million a year earlier.

The MPA’s member studios are Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal, Warner Bros. Entertainment and Netflix. Amazon joined the MPA earlier this year.

MPA chairman Charles Rivkin‘s compensation rose by about 4% to $4.3 million, including base pay of $2.4 million and bonus and incentive compensation of $1.9 million. Overall, salaries for officers, directors, trustees and key employees rose to $9.54 million, from $8.77 million the previous year.

As a 501(c)6 nonprofit, the MPA and other trade associations are required to make public filings with the IRS each year, listing such things as revenue, salaries and contributions to other organizations and political committees. The total MPA global budget is higher than that shown on these 990 forms, which reflect only MPA’s domestic operations, the Classification and Ratings Administration and rights management. International MPA operations are reported on separate for-profit tax returns.

The amount given to grants was down by about $800,000, due primarily to the timing of payments to the Republicans and Democratic governors and attorneys general organizations, as those contributions were made in January 2024, rather than December, 2023, according to the MPA.

The largest recipient of grants from the MPA was again Carnegie Mellon University, which has been doing research on piracy and technology, and received $750,000, which was down from $1 million a year earlier. Other grants went to the Copyright Alliance, which received $402,572, down from $525,000 the previous year; the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program, $272,000; the George Mason University Foundation, $190,000; the International Intellectual Property Alliance, $200,000; and the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies, which received $100,000. Other grants went to industry groups like the American Film Institute, progressive organizations like the National Action Network, and a host of conservative and free market groups including Americans for Tex Reform, the Center for Individual Freedom, the Committee for Justice and the Free State Foundation.