Movie association might consider expanding membership

Big changes may be coming to the Motion Picture Association of America, which nearly lost one of its largest members due to the Sony Pictures hacking scandal, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that Sony nearly pulled out of MPAA because of what it viewed as the organization's slow response and lack of public support for the studio after hackers broke into its systems last year.

Sony ultimately agreed to stay on, but the incident prompted industry executives to start discussing changes to MPAA's governance and structure.

Just what changes may be in store wasn't clear. Sources told the Times they remain satisfied with the performance of MPAA CEO Chris Dodd, whose current contract extends to spring of next year. However, the high cost of maintaining MPAA apparently is starting to grate some studio executives. The association has six studio members. http://nyti.ms/1ugewFX

Trade publication Variety, following up on the New York Times report and also citing sources, said one possibility being discussed is bringing in new members from other areas, such as companies that produce shows for cable and online. http://bit.ly/1yQyWCg

MPAA is a $62 million-revenue organization with more than 200 staff, according to its most recent tax filings. Dodd's salary was $3.2 million.

Late last year, hackers broke into Sony's computer network and stole thousands of personal emails and other documents in retaliation for the release of "The Interview," a Sony Pictures comedy about the fictional assassination of North Korean lead Kim Jong-un.

U.S. officials eventually said the attack came from North Korea, although some security experts have since questioned that conclusion.

Dodd wasn't silent amid the scandal. In a Dec. 19 statement, he blasted the media for publishing personal emails of Sony executives leaked online.

"This situation is larger than a movie's release or the contents of someone's private emails," he said. "This is about the fact that criminals were able to hack in and steal what has now been identified as many times the volume of all of the printed material in the Library of Congress and threaten the livelihoods of thousands of Americans who work in the film and television industry, as well as the millions who simply choose to go to the movies."

The scandal recently led to the resignation of Sony co-chair Amy Pascal, who was criticized for emails she had written joking about President Barack Obama's race.