The Motion Picture Association is proud to present its 2025 MPA Awards to leaders across U.S. creative, policy, and law enforcement communities – all of whom play a vital role in strengthening and safeguarding the film, television, and streaming industry. Read MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin’s remarks from the event.
2025 Honorees
MPA Creator Award
Jon M. Chu
Jon M. Chu is known for his visually stunning blockbuster films, as well as his kinetic work across various genres from groundbreaking series to commercials and films. His unique storytelling ability has earned him the honor of inclusion on the Hollywood Reporter’s Power 100 list as well as Variety’s New Hollywood Leaders.
Most recently, Chu directed Universal Pictures’ critically acclaimed Wicked, starring Oscar-nominated actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, which garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Part 1 of the feature film adaptation released in theaters on November 22, 2024 and quickly became the highest-grossing Broadway musical adaptation in box office history. His memoir, Viewfinder, is his journey from growing up in Silicon Valley to transitioning to Hollywood and helming major studio projects, released Summer 2024.
His recent projects include the critically acclaimed adaptation the musical In The Heights for Warner Bros. as well as the worldwide phenomenon Crazy Rich Asians, which was nominated for numerous awards, including a SAG Award, a Golden Globe and a PGA Award. It was the first contemporary studio picture in more than 25 years to feature an all-Asian cast and opened a new chapter in Asian American representation in Hollywood.
Chu is in post-production on Wicked: For Good, which is set to release on November 21, 2025, and is attached to develop to direct the highly anticipated biopic for Britney Spears based on her memoir, The Woman in Me, with Universal as well as Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go! with Warner Bros and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot. His previous films include GI. Joe: Retaliation, Now You See Me 2, Just Bieber’s Never Say Never and many more representing over 1.3 billion dollars in the worldwide box office.
Read the interview in The Credits
MPA Creative Protector Award
Ivan Arvelo, Director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center
For more than two decades, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center has led the government’s actions that combat global intellectual property theft and enforce trade laws. Comprised of federal agencies, international law enforcement, academia, and private sector partners, the IPR Center develops initiatives, coordinates enforcement actions, and shares information related to intellectual property theft and trade fraud. The center was established to address the theft of innovation that threatens economic stability and places the public’s health and safety at risk. The IPR Center, where Protection is our Trademark. Read more.
MPA Industry Champion Award
Senate Majority Leader John Thune
John Thune serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Finance Committee. He also serves as the Senate Majority Leader, and has previously served as the Senate Republican Whip from 2019-2024, chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2009–2011, and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference from 2012-2018. Read more.
MPA Industry Champion Award
Senator Chris Coons
A U.S. Senator for more than a decade, Chris Coons has worked hard to find bipartisan solutions to the issues facing Delaware, the country, and the world.
As the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Defense, and Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Senate Human Rights Caucus, Senator Coons is committed to promoting and protecting fundamental American values around the globe. He also sits on the Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Small Business, and Ethics Committees. As a member and former chair of the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Senator Coons is focused on fostering American innovation, encouraging investment in research and development, and deterring IP theft to maintain America’s position as a global economic leader. A longtime champion of the creative community, Senator Coons is the author of the bipartisan, bicameral Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, which would protect all Americans’ voice and likeness from unauthorized AI-generated recreations. Recently, he also introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow U.S. courts to block foreign online piracy websites.
Senator Coons earned his law degree from Yale Law School and has a master’s degree in Ethics from Yale Divinity School. Prior to entering public service, Senator Coons worked as in-house counsel for Delaware-based W.L. Gore & Associates, a global materials science company. Senator Coons served as president of the New Castle County Council from 2001 to 2005 and as New Castle County Executive from 2005 to 2010.
Senator Coons lives in Wilmington with his wife, Annie. They have three children.
MPA Industry Champion Award
Chairman Darrell Issa
Congressman Darrell Issa represents the people of California’s 48th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
The 48th District encompasses the central and eastern parts of San Diego County and a portion of Riverside County, including the communities of Fallbrook, Bonsall, Valley Center, Ramona, Escondido, Santee, Poway, Lakeside, Alpine, Temecula, Murrieta and the mountain and desert areas of the San Diego-Imperial County line. Read more.
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In The News
- MPA Awards to Honor ‘Wicked’ Director Jon M. Chu, Senate Majority Leader John Thune
- Jon M. Chu Talks Of What ‘Wicked’ Says About The Courage To Speak Out As He Accepts MPA Award Before D.C. Lawmakers And Lobbyists
- 2025 MPA Awards Honor Filmmaker, U.S. Policymakers, and Digital Piracy Combatant
Past MPA Awards:
- J.A. Bayona Honored in Madrid as MPA Awards Held Abroad for First Time (Variety | Jaime Lang)
- MPA Honors J.A. Bayona, Spanish Industry at First Global Awards Ceremony in Madrid (The Hollywood Reporter | Scott Roxborough)
- J A Bayona among Spanish winners of Motion Picture Association awards (Screen Daily | John Hazelton)
- The Motion Picture Association (MPA) Holds Its First Awards Ceremony In Madrid (Cine & Tele)
- Hollywood Rewards Spanish Film And Television Industry At The 2024 MPA Awards (Rubik Audiovisual)
- First Global Awards Ceremony Commends Spanish Industry, says MPA (The Pipa News | Matt J)
- Motion Picture Association Recognizes Juan Antonio Bayona With The Creator Award (Kinotico)
- Bayona, Calviño And The National Police Are Recognized For Defending Cinema (Diario de Leon)
- Charles Rivkin, The Great Boss of Hollywood Cinema: “Spain Has Become The European Leader In Audiovisuals and The Figures Confirm It” (El Mundo | Luis Martinez)
- Bayona, Calviño and The National Police Are Recognized For Defending The Film Industry (La Vanguardia)
- Bayona, Nadia Calviño and The National Police, MPA Awards From The Film and Television Industry (Europa Press Culture)
- JA Bayona, Nadia Calviño and The National Police, Awarded In Madrid By The Motion Picture Association (Audiovisual451)
- Bayona, Calviño and The National Police Are Recognized For Defending The Film Industry (Infobae)
- JA Bayona Receives The Motion Picture Association Creator Award (Enfoque | Fernando Garcia Martin)
- Bayona, Nadia Calviño and The National Police, MPA Awards From The Film and Television Industry (Diario Siglo XXI)
- “Motion Picture Association Ceremony Honors Industry Creator and Global Policymakers with Second Annual MPA Awards” (Source: motionpictures.org, 2023)
- “MPA Honors ‘Batman’ Senator And ‘Nanny’ Director At First Awards” (Source: deadline.com, 2022)
- “Motion Picture Association Honors Creator and Policymakers with Inaugural MPA Awards” (Source: motionpictures.org, 2022)