01-04-2025
MPA Chief Charlie Rivkin Assures Theater Owners 'We Stand With You,' Highlights Incentives, Push For U.S. Production
Motion Picture Association President and CEO Charlie Rivkin had words of solidarity for theater owners, telling the group assembled at CinemaCon that 'we want what you want — great movies that draw big audiences to your theaters.'
At his annual keynote, he recalled the recent pledge by the MPA's latest member, Amazon MGM Studios, to release 12-14 films in cinemas next year in a commitment to theatrical exhibition.
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That said, 'I recognize that our path can seem uncertain right now – that we're all feeling a bit of volatility on the road ahead. We get it. We hear you. And just know that the MPA remains your partner.'
The exhibition industry has been rattled by a shaky first quarter and a growing feeling that studio partners need to shed practices that started during Covid and step up.
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Rivkin's remarks focused on the MPA's work as the leading voice for the motion picture industry worldwide and its efforts 'to bring more films to theaters across the globe.' Leading that push is the group's push on incentives that 'bring production to our hometowns and reinforce our country's competitive edge – to get more storytellers, producing more stories, in more places, which translates into more films coming to a theater near you.' The U.S., he said, should be more competitive.
'The MPA is out making the case to policymakers in Washington D.C. and U.S. state capitals that film production matters. That production is worth their time and attention. That production is a boon to their constituents – and a down payment on our nation's future.
'We talk to them about how a major motion picture will pump, on average, $1.3 million per day into the local economy when we're in production – paying over $17 million in wages to nearly 1,600 local hires on location, all of them doing jobs that pay 64 percent higher than the national average,' he said. 'We shed light on the ways that hubs of production become hubs of economic activity. '
He noted a sweetened package working its way through California, where runaway production has squeezed the industry. The state just announced a record 51 films set to receive tax credits – a slate that'll lead to nearly $580 million in economic activity, he noted. The MPA is working with the legislatures in New York, which has sweetened incentives in its latest budget proposal, and other states.
'When done right, incentives bring production. Production brings jobs. Jobs bring paychecks to local households and opportunity to local businesses. All of it brings movies to your theaters and injects growth into the communities that buy tickets at your box offices,' he said.
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But 'there's more the MPA can and should do if we want to sustain a future of American leadership in production. So together with our Union and Guild partners, we will be pushing for greater action at the federal level this year. We will keep fighting to extend tax measures that encourage investments by studios. We will explore new policies designed with a singular goal in mind, to ramp up filmmaking and create jobs for our workforce.'
'We are standing with you,' he told theater owners, 'and we always will, in pursuit of our shared mission: to bring the next generation of remarkable movies to your theaters; to build robust hubs of production in your communities; to create a thriving culture of creativity everywhere and a dynamic industry for audiences, casts, crews – for everyone.'
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