Moving Picture Institute
{{#badges:SPN|AEX}} The Moving Picture Institute (MPI) is a New York-based 501(c)(3) organization and a former associate member of the State Policy Network (SPN).[1] According to its mission statement, MPI "produces and promotes films that make an impact on people's understanding of individual rights, limited government, and free markets, and supports freedom-oriented filmmakers at every phase of their careers."[2]
MPI was founded by Thor Halvorssen, who was President & CEO of the Human Rights Foundation as of August 2016[3]. He is also a co-founder and former Executive Director & CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.[4]
Contents
News and Controversies
Sponsored Film Smearing Environmental Activists
Moving Picture Institute sponsored the 2006 film "Mine Your Own Business," which criticizes environmental activists for opposing mining projects across the world.[5] The film's website claims that the film is "a journey through the dark side of environmentalism. It demolishes the cosy consensus that environmentalists are well meaning agenda free activists and shows them to be anti-development ideologues who think the poor are happy being poor..."[6] The film's directors Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer also directed the pro-fracking film "FrackNation" and the climate change-denying film "Not Evil, Just Wrong."[7] According to the New York Times, "Mine Your Own Business" was "financed by Gabriel Resources, a Canadian mining company."[4] In response, "Greenpeace and other environmental groups denounced the film as corporate propaganda."[4]
Funding
Donors Capital Fund donated $358,000 in grants to the Moving Picture Institute (MPI) from 2010-2014, and DonorsTrust donated $484,025 in grants during the same time period.[8][9] The Charles Koch Foundation donated $6,500 to MPI in 2014.[10] The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation donated $500,000 in grants to MPI from 2007-2015. From 2006-2013, the Searle Freedom Trust donated $600,000 in grants to MPI.
Core Financials
2014[11]:
- Total Revenue: $2,951,640
- Total Expenses: $2,492,870
- Net Assets: $2,534,823
2013[12]:
- Total Revenue: $1,849,143
- Total Expenses: $1,681,145
- Net Assets: $2,076,053
2012[13]:
- Total Revenue: $1,518,238
- Total Expenses: $1,627,181
- Net Assets: $1,908,055
2011[14]:
- Total Revenue: $1,579,857
- Total Expenses: $1,526,593
- Net Assets: $2,016,998
2010[15]:
- Total Revenue: $2,787,121
- Total Expenses: $1,418,865
- Net Assets: $1,963,734
2009[16]:
- Total Revenue: $1,214,662
- Total Expenses: $749,982
- Net Assets: $595,478
Personnel
Board of Directors
As of August 2016:[17]
- Rob Pfaltzgraff, President, Treasurer, & Secretary of the Board (former Vice President of marketing, development, and management at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education)
- David Thayer, Chairman of the Board
- Michael J. Friedman (former partner at Winston & Strawn LLP)
- Kevin Harper
- Marc Leader (financial executive at SunGard Availability Services)
- Rebekah Mercer
- Stephen Modzelewski (also on the boards of the Reason Foundation and the Institute for Justice)
Staff
As of August 2016:[17]
- Erin O'Connor, PHD, Executive Vice President
- Maurice Black, PHD, Executive Vice President
- Adam Guillette, Vice President of Development (founder of the Florida chapter of Americans for Prosperity and former "distinguished faculty member" at The Leadership Institute)
- Lana Link, Vice President of Marketing (former Fellow at the Pacific Legal Foundation)
- Stacie Fulcher, Director of Talent Development (former employee at Club for Growth and Americans for Tax Reform)
- Jason W. Pompilio, Director of Business Operations (former Program Manager at DonorsTrust)
- Hannah Earl, Educational Marketing and Distribution Associate
- Carter Fowler, Development Associate (former Development Coordinator for James Madison Institute)
- Claudia Murray, Social Action Associate (former attorney at the Institute for Justice)
Contact Details
Moving Picture Institute
375 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (646) 926-0674
Website: http://www.thempi.org/
Email: info@thempi.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theMPI
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MovingPictureInstitute
References
- ↑ State Policy Network, New York, organizational website, accessed August 24, 2016.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, Mission, organizational website, accessed August 24, 2016.
- ↑ Human Rights Foundation, HRF Staff, organizational website, accessed August 25, 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 John Strausbaugh, "A Maverick Mogul, Proudly Politically Incorrect," International New York Times, August 19, 2007.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, Mine Your Own Business, organizational website, accessed August 25, 2016.
- ↑ Mine Your Own Business, About, film website, accessed August 25, 2016.
- ↑ Steve Horn, "Exposed: "FrackNation" Deploys Tobacco Playbook in Response to "Gasland 2"," Desmog, June 3, 2014.
- ↑ Donors Capital Fund, 2014 Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 16, 2015
- ↑ DonorsTrust, IRS form 990, November 16, 2015.
- ↑ Charles Koch Foundation, 2014 Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 17, 2015.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, 2014 Form 990, organizational tax filing, July 28, 2015.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, 2013 Form 990, organizational tax filing, June 25, 2014.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, 2012 Form 990, organizational tax filing, June 10, 2013.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, 2011 Form 990, organizational tax filing, June 1, 2012.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, 2010 Form 990, organizational tax filing, June 20, 2011.
- ↑ Moving Picture Institute, 2009 Form 990, organizational tax filing, June 21, 2010.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Moving Picture Institute, Staff & Board, organizational website, accessed August 24, 2016.
