Latest in Chris Dodd

EXCLUSIVE: The Motion Picture Association has renewed the contract of chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin for another three years, starting on January 1. Rivkin joined the MPA in September 2017 as CEO and, after a transition period, also became chairman in January 2018. Before joining the trade organization, he was the…

Donald Trump was a showman whose election in 2016 was in part due to his fame from The Apprentice, but President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will come into office with much closer ties to the entertainment industry. The new administration will likely usher in a much more receptive vibe from…

The Motion Picture Association paid Chris Dodd $2.4 million in severance payments in 2018, while its latest financial results also reflected the sale of most of the ownership stake in its Washington, D.C. headquarters. Dodd, who left the organization at the end of 2017, was paid $2,400,842 along with $11,000…

Hollywood and Silicon Valley seem to have found common ground on an effort to attack online piracy. Some 30 content creators — including all of the major TV network owners and digital powers led by Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu — unveiled today a global coalition called the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE)…

After six years as head of the lobbying arm of major Hollywood studios, Christopher Dodd is stepping down as chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America. The organization announced today that the former U.S. senator will exit his position as CEO on September 4 and from his position as chairman at the end of…

Global box office sales stalled in 2016 as a 2.4% increase in North America barely offset a 0.4% decline overseas, according to the MPAA’s latest annual Theatrical Market Statistics report released today. (It’s available here.) Theaters worldwide generated $38.6 billion in ticket sales, a new high but up just 0.5%…

It waited over the weekend, but today the studio-backed MPAA sent out a signal that corporate Hollywood is not happy with Donald Trump’s executive order signed Friday that halted entry into the U.S. for citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations. In a statement released today, MPAA boss and former Democratic senator Chr…

The federal government is out today with its annual review of “notorious markets,” which highlights “online and physical marketplaces that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting.” And this year, a familiar name is back on the list for the first time since 2012: Ali…

BREAKING: On the heels of its new alliance with Dalian Wanda designed to better launch its global tentpole films in China, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman tonight unveiled a Writers Initiative where the studio will host emerging and established writers from China. They will meet established…

Years in the making, the Trans-Pacific Partnership was signed in New Zealand today by a dozen Pacific Rim countries. The ratification process is next. President Obama calls it “a new type of trade deal that puts American workers first.” The MPAA Chairman and CEO Chris Dodd weighed in on the news today: "Today's…

This should rev up the speculation that Joe Biden plans a presidential run, with an entree to Hollywood. The MPAA’s chief spokesperson, Kate Bedingfield, just moved to the Veep’s office to serve as his Communications Director. She succeeds Shailagh Murray, who’s now a Senior Advisor to President Obama. Bedingfield…

Looks like all’s forgiven from the MPAA’s delayed response last year to the Sony hack attack — and the lobby group’s failure in 2012 to persuade Congress to pass a tough anti-piracy bill. Hollywood studios renewed to 2018 former Sen. Chris Dodd’s contract to serve as chairman and CEO of their chief trade organization …