MPA’s Latest IRS Filing Shows $2.4 Million Severance Payment To Chris Dodd; Revenue Impact From Sale Of Building

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 retirement and $4,336 in nontaxable benefits, according to the latest filing to the Internal Revenue Service. The former COO of the MPAA, Diane Strahan, who also left in 2017, was paid $788,931 in severance and benefits.

The organization finished 2018 in the black, with a balance of $628,489. But its total revenue declined to $68.7 million, from $76.2 million a year earlier. That was largely due to the sale in 2017 of an 80% stake in its Eye Street headquarters, just a few blocks from the White House, which gave the MPA a one-time boost. As part of the sale, developer Trammell Crow redeveloped the property into a modern glassy office complex, shedding a Brutalist style that dated to the days of Jack Valenti. The MPA moved back in to the renovated building in September, and has begun to host screenings in a new theater on the ground floor.

The MPA’s expenses in 2018 were $68.1 million, compared to $71.8 million a year earlier.

MPA Chairman Charles Rivkin, who succeeded Dodd, collected $2.3 million in compensation for 2018, including almost $2 million in base pay, $250,000 in bonus and incentives and almost $38,000 in other compensation.

The MPA collected membership dues during the year of $52.2 million, compared to $38.3 million a year earlier. The dues in 2017 were offset by the sale of the Washington building.

The 2018 figures also included $8.8. million in revenue from the Alliance for Creativity in Entertainment, the global organization set up to fight piracy and protect copyright.

The largest grant that the MPA gave was to Carnegie Mellon University, which received $1 million. The university launched the Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics, which researches issues related to piracy and intellectual property.

One name not reflected in the 2018 figures is Netflix, which joined the MPA in January.

The Motion Picture Association of America rebranded as simply the Motion Picture Association earlier this year in an effort to unify its global presence.

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