MPA’s Emilie Anthonis to Lead in Europe, Middle East and Africa

Hollywood lobbying and advocacy group the Motion Picture Assn. has appointed Emilie Anthonis as president and managing director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, effective Jan. 1. She will take the reins from Stan McCoy, who is stepping down after more than a decade in the role.

The MPA represents the interests of its members, which are Paramount Global, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery, Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios and Netflix.

“Emilie is a veteran of the MPA and the European audiovisual sector, and she’s earned a strong reputation as a powerful advocate for the creative industry, an expert in policymaking, a respected voice in European capitals, and a leader of integrity,” said Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA. “Emilie is ready to take the reins of our operations and serve as an effective voice for our industry across this region, and I have full confidence in her ability to keep advancing the MPA’s priorities, leading our policy engagements and accompanying our member studios’ partnerships with stakeholders throughout Europe and beyond.”

Based in Brussels, Anthonis will report to Gail MacKinnon, senior executive vice president, global policy and government affairs.

“I am looking forward to serving the MPA members in this new capacity while continuing the spirit of teamwork that Stan has inspired across all of our MPA EMEA operations,” said Anthonis. “Europe is such a key market for the MPA’s members, and they have a very long history of storytelling and partnerships in the region.”

“I’m proud to pass the baton after an exciting decade leading what is undoubtedly the EMEA region’s most skilled trade association across public policy, antipiracy, and all its other fields of expertise,” said McCoy, a former senior U.S. trade official who is leaving the MPA to return to his native Washington DC area.

Prior to joining the MPA in 2017, Anthonis was director of legal and public affairs at the Association of Commercial Television in Europe. Before ACT, she served as in-house counsel at Viacom. She began her career as an IP lawyer in a Brussels law firm focusing on copyright and media law. Anthonis studied law at the Universities of Leuven and Antwerp and received additional master’s degrees in both European and intellectual property law at the University of Brussels.