Senior MPA Executive to Lead Key Growth Region While Retaining Corporate Board Liaison Role    

SINGAPORE, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Motion Picture Association (MPA) today announced Urmila Venugopalan, currently Executive Vice President of Strategy & Global Operations, will become the MPA's new President and Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, effective January 31, 2025. She will succeed Belinda Lui, who is retiring after five years of leading the MPA in the region.

Venugopalan joined the MPA in 2017 and has worked to align the association's U.S. and international teams, streamline global operations and increase coordination between the legal and policy functions. In her new role, she will continue to expand MPA members' access to local markets, promote production in new areas, and strengthen advocacy, operations, and personnel across the Asia-Pacific region. Working closely with the MPA's anti-piracy arm, the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), she will also focus on protecting the commercial and creative interests of local screen communities. Venugopalan will retain her current responsibilities as the MPA's corporate board liaison.

"Urmila is a veteran leader who thrives at the complex intersections of business, public policy, and global affairs," said Charles Rivkin, Chairman and CEO of the MPA. "Urmila joined the MPA at a time of critical change and helped revitalize and realign its structure and priorities, strengthening our organization from the inside out. I have full confidence that her deep experience working with every aspect of our global business operations, coupled with her existing corporate board liaison responsibilities, will advance our members' objectives across the Asia Pacific and beyond."

Based in Tokyo, Venugopalan will report to Gail MacKinnon, MPA Senior Executive Vice President, Global Policy & Government Affairs.

"I am thrilled to welcome Urmila to my team.  She is a trusted advisor who has earned the respect of colleagues and member companies. Her work has already touched every part of our organization, and she maintains a wide-angle lens on key political and sectoral trends – all while remaining laser-focused on how we can best tell the story of a creative industry that drives local economies, creates jobs, and connects communities everywhere. With her at the helm of our APAC operation, I am confident the MPA will achieve even greater impact in the fastest-growing region," MacKinnon said. "I am also grateful to Belinda for her effective stewardship and counsel, which has greatly benefitted the MPA and our member studios in the region."

"The Asia-Pacific region has already played an important part in the history of our industry – and is set to assume a starring role in the future of great storytelling," said Venugopalan. "At this critical juncture for the film, television and streaming industries, MPA members are more excited than ever about the vitality of this region – its enthusiastic and engaged audiences, its relentless dynamism, and its immensely talented casts and crews. I look forward to supporting our member studios and their local partners in their collective efforts to fuel local economies and enrich cultures across the region."

Prior to joining the MPA, Venugopalan served as a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. and as a senior consultant at the Albright Stonebridge Group. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from McGill University and a Master's Degree from the London School of Economics & Political Science.

About The Motion Picture Association

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) serves as the leading voice and advocate of the motion picture, home video, and television industries. It works in every corner of the globe to advance the creative industry, protect its members' content across all screens, defend the creative and artistic freedoms of storytellers, and support innovative distribution models that bring an expansion of viewing choices to audiences around the world. Its member studios are: Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery. Charles Rivkin is Chairman and CEO.