MPAA Chief Charles Rivkin Hopeful for Growth Amid Piracy Concerns

[Len]

As the MPAA’s new chairman and CEO, Charles Rivkin is tasked with trying to solve one of Hollywood’s most vexing problems: IP theft. “Fighting piracy will be part of our mission for many, many years, but I think we are starting to win that battle,” Rivkin says. The exec, who succeeded Chris Dodd last year as the industry’s chief global champion, makes the case for optimism in a host of areas, including worldwide box office, trade and content protection, despite an era of disruption.

The studios have tried for years to find the magic formula to reduce piracy, whether through public service announcements, legislation or online “copyright alerts.” Lost revenues from online piracy are projected to soar to $52 billion by 2022, almost doubling in the span of six years, according to a recent report from British firm Digital TV Research.

But Rivkin notes the rapid growth of legal streaming options helps counter illegal sites, while the studios have teamed up with dozens of companies, including Netflix and Amazon, in a global coalition to battle piracy. “We are fighting them hard,” he says.

Rivkin is the former CEO of the Jim Henson Co. and WildBrain Media; his most recent career arc has been in a much different field — diplomacy. He was U.S. ambassador to France in President Obama’s first term and then, in his second, went to the State Department to serve as assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.

That experience in international markets is one reason the studios tapped him for the job, and he’s been adept at rattling off statistics about the industry’s global reach.

“We export four times what we import,” Rivkin says, noting that the movie and TV business has a $12 billion to $13 billion surplus.

That’s a message that could resonate with President Trump. Dismayed by the U.S. trade deficit, Trump has recently threatened tariffs on countries like China.

The threats have come as U.S. trade officials have been negotiating with China to update a 2012 memorandum of understanding that set China’s quota for foreign films and other access issues. Rivkin says that there has been some delay with a reorganization of China’s film and television bureau and the pending appointment of a new head of its film bureau, but as soon as the reorganization is in place, “I think we’ll be able to get quickly back on track.”

China is on pace to become the No. 1 box office market in the world “within a year,” Rifkin says. “China wants our product,” he notes. “It’s building 25 screens a day right now, and they love American blockbuster films.”

None of the major studio chiefs publicly backed Trump in the election. Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger even quit a presidential business council.

Trump, though, has raised the issue of intellectual property protection in trading relationships, something that makes the major studios very happy, Rivkin says.

“He clearly understands that issue and how important it is to our economy, and we are thrilled, because protecting copyright is one of our most important objectives.”