It looks like Amazon is going to have to finally make good on those big theatrical promises: Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios have been selected as the seventh member of the MPA (Motion Picture Association).
The Amazon companies will formally join the MPA on October 1. They are the first additions since Netflix in 2019. The other MPA members are Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“The MPA is the global voice for a growing and evolving industry, and welcoming Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios to our ranks will broaden our collective policymaking and content protection efforts on behalf of our most innovative and creative companies,” said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. “MPA studios fuel local economies, drive job creation, enrich cultures, and bolster communities everywhere they work. With Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios among our roster of extraordinary members, the MPA will have an even larger voice for the world’s greatest storytellers.”
“Amazon’s mission is to entertain customers around the world with compelling film and television. In order to do that, we must support storytellers, while also helping to sustain a robust entertainment industry that works for both studios and our creative partners,” said Mike Hopkins, Head of Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios. “We are proud to join the MPA and its member studios in their collective efforts to protect creators, content, and consumers worldwide.”
The MPA works to “advance the industry, protect members’ content, defend the creative and artistic freedoms of storytellers, and support innovative distribution models that expand viewing choices for audiences everywhere,” according to its mission statement.
Amazon has had some involvement here before: it was “worked with” the MPA since 2017 as a governing board member of its Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), the MPA’s leading anti-piracy coalition. MGM itself was a member of the association from 1928 until 2005.
