Amazon Joins Motion Picture Association, as Entertainment and Tech Converge

Amazon will become the newest member of the Motion Picture Association next month, adding its tech industry clout to the Hollywood lobbying group.

Amazon is both a streamer and a traditional studio, operating Prime Video and MGM Studios, which it bought for $8.5 billion in 2021. Its decision to join the MPA is a symbol of the convergence of entertainment and Big Tech, which were separated by a sharp divide not that long ago.

“Amazon’s mission is to entertain customers around the world with compelling film and television,” said Mike Hopkins, the head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “In order to do that, we must support storytellers, while also helping to sustain a robust entertainment industry that works for both studios and our creative partners. We are proud to join the MPA and its member studios in their collective efforts to protect creators, content, and consumers worldwide.”

Amazon will become the seventh member of the MPA, which already includes Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros., NBCUniversal, Paramount and Sony. Netflix joined in 2019.

MGM was a member from 1928 until 2005, when Sony bought the company in an ill-fated merger.

Amazon has already worked alongside the MPA as a member of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a broader entity that seeks to go after digital piracy. It also participates in the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which handles collective bargaining on behalf of the major studios.

The MPA is the industry’s voice in Washington, D.C., advocating on issues like copyright and piracy. The organization also has a presence overseas and in state capitals, where it lobbies for state tax incentives to lure production.

“The MPA is the global voice for a growing and evolving industry, and welcoming Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios to our ranks will broaden our collective policymaking and content protection efforts on behalf of our most innovative and creative companies,” Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in a statement. “MPA studios fuel local economies, drive job creation, enrich cultures, and bolster communities everywhere they work. With Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios among our roster of extraordinary members, the MPA will have an even larger voice for the world’s greatest storytellers.”

The MPA briefly had seven members in 2019, but was reduced back to six when Disney merged with Twentieth Century Fox.