MPA

What MPA does

The Motion Picture Association (MPA), founded in 1922 and headquartered in Washington, DC, is a private trade association that represents the major US film, television, and streaming studios. Its membership comprises seven enterprises: Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Skydance, Netflix, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, and Amazon MGM Studios. The organization was rebranded from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to the Motion Picture Association in 2019 to reflect its global mandate.

MPA operates three core platforms: the voluntary film rating system administered through the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), with G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 designations; the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global anti-piracy coalition coordinating legal action against illegal streaming operations; and the Trusted Partner Network (TPN), a content security assessment program for pre-release content protection. The PG-13 designation is a registered trademark. Supporting platforms include The Credits (industry publication), the Streaming Innovation Alliance (distribution advocacy), and regional wholly owned entities covering Canada, APAC, EMEA, and Latin America.

The business model is membership dues from its seven member studios, with no consumer-facing products or pricing. The primary go-to-market is bipartisan advocacy and lobbying before US federal and state legislatures, regulatory agencies, and international governments, alongside industry events (CinemaCon, SXSW), policy filings, and commissioned economic research (e.g., Oxford Economics study on South Korea, Deloitte study on India). Charles Rivkin serves as Chairman and CEO. The organization is governed by its member studios rather than external investors.

Name

MPA

Legal name

Motion Picture Association, Inc.

Website

https://mpaa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1922

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Motion Picture Association is a US trade association founded in 1922 that represents the seven major Hollywood film, television, and streaming studios, operating the CARA film rating system, the ACE anti-piracy coalition, and the Trusted Partner Network through member dues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Association / Film Industry Advocacy

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212), Public Relations Agencies (54182)

SIC

Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro primary industry

Anti-Piracy, Content Protection & Enforcement (MPADALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Security Testing & Compliance (Pen Testing, Studio/TPN/MPA Readiness) (MPAHAMAK), QC, Compliance & Certification (Technical/Editorial, Platform Specs) (MPAHALAI)

Keywords

• Film rating system
• Content protection
• Anti-piracy enforcement
• Industry advocacy
• Copyright protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Sherman Oaks

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: The MPA is funded by membership dues from major film and television studios including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Netflix, Sony Pictures, Universal, and Amazon MGM Studios. As a trade association, revenue comes from these member contributions rather than direct consumer sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MPA is the leading trade association of the film, television, and streaming industry, representing major studios including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal, and Amazon MGM Studios. It administers the voluntary U.S. film rating system (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17) through its Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), conducts global anti-piracy enforcement through the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), and provides content security assessments via the Trusted Partner Network (TPN). The organization primarily advocates for its members' policy, copyright, and trade interests before U.S. and international governments.

Product overview

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is a trade association representing major film, television, and streaming studios including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, and Amazon MGM Studios. The MPA operates as a platform-plus-advocacy organization offering the voluntary Film Rating System through CARA, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) anti-piracy coalition, and the Trusted Partner Network (TPN) content security assessment program. Additionally, the MPA publishes The Credits industry content platform and partners with the Streaming Innovation Alliance on distribution advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Credits: Industry publication/blog covering film, television, and streaming industry news and interviews
• MPA America250

Products and services

• Film Rating System (CARA) The MPA's Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) administers the voluntary U.S. film rating system used by studios to assign G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 classifications to films. The service helps parents make informed viewing decisions and provides studios with a trusted, standardized rating framework. The MPA-owned PG-13 trademark represents over 60 years of brand recognition with American parents.
• Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) MPA's global anti-piracy coalition that coordinates legal action, technological enforcement, and industry cooperation against illegal streaming services. ACE conducts operations against pirate streaming sites — such as the takedown of pirate site HDFull's Discord server (approximately 33,000 members) — and protects MPA member studios' content from digital theft.
• Trusted Partner Network (TPN) A content security assessment program providing studios and content owners with standardized, independent security audits of vendor facilities, workflows, and technologies handling pre-release content. TPN prevents pre-release content leaks across the digital supply chain for MPA member studios.

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Copyright Alliance: US advocacy organization for creators and copyright holders, with overlapping anti-piracy and copyright policy missions; narrower scope (broader creator community) but functionally comparable advocacy mandate.
• Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA): Trade association for independent film/TV producers and distributors, providing advocacy and market access support; comparable trade association structure but focused on the independent segment rather than major studios.

Direct peers

• Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA): The closest analog to MPA: a US trade association representing major music labels (Universal, Sony, Warner), operating an anti-piracy enforcement program and serving as the unified policy voice for the recording industry. Same structural role in a parallel creative industry.
• Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB): US video game rating body operating a voluntary age/content rating system analogous to MPA's CARA; comparable consumer-facing rating function serving parents and adopted across an entertainment industry.
• British Board of Film Classification (BBFC): UK film and video classification body operating a parental rating system functionally identical to MPA's CARA; directly comparable rating administration function in a different geography.
• IFPI: Global music industry trade body that performs the same advocacy, anti-piracy, and market data functions for recorded music worldwide that MPA performs for film/TV/streaming. Direct functional and structural parallel at international level.
• National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO): US trade association representing cinema exhibition, with parallel advocacy, industry events (ShowEast/CinemaCon), and policy engagement functions alongside MPA, addressing the same theatrical value chain from the exhibitor side.

Others

• Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA): Talent union representing performers in film/TV with substantial industry advocacy and IP protection activity; adjacent player rather than direct competitor, operating on the labor side of the same industry.
• Motion Picture Association of Canada (MPAC) - Note: subsidiary of MPA, separate entity class: Canadian counterpart to MPA performing parallel trade association functions in Canada; included only as ecosystem reference.
• Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI): Joint venture of the major studios that sets technical standards for digital cinema; comparable industry-wide coordination role with overlapping membership and mission around protecting theatrical content.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/motionpictures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MPA