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| Author | Mia Blakeney |
Vigilant members of staff from cinemas across the UK and Ireland were formally recognised and rewarded for their work in disrupting and preventing film piracy.
The twenty-five staff members were handed their rewards at a presentation in Central London, hosted by the Film Content Protection Agency (FCPA). The FCPA was formed in 2016 by Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) as a specialist unit dedicated to safeguarding theatrical releases in the UK and Ireland.
During the event FCPA welcomed their special guest Redd Pepper. Redd is one of the UK’s best loved and most prolific voiceover artistes and known as 'Mr Movie Trailer Man' from the sheer number of Hollywood blockbusters his voice has trailed. He addressed the audience with his unique and famous voice and also presented the rewards.
The recipients travelled from cinemas as far away as Edinburgh, Dublin, Eastbourne and Plymouth, and included employees from Cineworld, Odeon, Vue, Showcase and Picturehouse cinemas.
Collectively they represented twenty-four incidents, seventeen of which police attended. Their successful efforts helped to protect UK releases including Avatar: The Way of Water, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Little Mermaid, Elemental, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One and Barbie.
With 90% of pirated films being sourced directly from cinemas around the world, the FCPA programme supports and safeguards the UK film industry and ultimately the choices available to filmgoers themselves.
A key task of the FCPA programme is to develop the awareness and vigilance of cinema staff UK-wide by providing them with anti-piracy training, current best practice guidelines and other resources. These include an online learning quiz on the FDA’s website, which refreshes the detailed knowledge needed to identify and disrupt illegal recording activity. Participating staff members are eligible for a prize of £1000.
Simon Brown, Director of FCPA, said: “There has been some further fantastic anti-piracy awareness and vigilance by staff in cinemas across the UK and Ireland in recent months, leading to significant and successful disruptions of the activity. Today’s event focusses on acknowledging the great work done by some of those staff. We take this opportunity to say thank you and ask for continued high levels of vigilance to protect our films from piracy at source.”