MPA Names Kathy Bañuelos New Top State Government Lobbyist, Vans Stevenson To Serve As Senior Adviser

The Motion Picture Association has named Kathy Bañuelos as senior vice president of state government affairs, as Vans Stevenson moves to a senior adviser role.

Stevenson has led the MPA’s state government affairs department for 26 of his 32 years at the trade association. The work has included advocacy and lobbying for state tax credits for film productions, which have become a central part of film finance.

Bañuelos will start on March 21 and be based in Los Angeles. She and Stevenson will report to Patrick Kilcur, the MPA’s executive vice president of U.S. government affairs.

Bañuelos previously was vice president, government affairs for NBCUniversal for the past 11 years. She represented the company on issues like taxes, intellectual property, land use and labor and employment agreements. She previously served as counsel to the California Senate Judiciary Committee in Sacramento and worked as employment litigator at Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton in Los Angeles.

Stevenson has led the state government affairs department since 1995. In addition to tax incentives, he’s worked on First Amendment, right of publicity and labor issues, among other matters. Before joining the MPA in 1989, he was vice president of corporate affairs for Blockbuster Entertainment Corporation, and was director of public affairs and corporate projects for Erol’s, a video store chain acquired by Blockbuster.