Motion Picture Association PAC Donates To Gavin Newsom Anti-Recall Effort

The studios are continuing to line up against the effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom, with the latest contributions coming from the Motion Picture Association’s political action committee along with that of MPA’s chairman, Charles Rivkin.

The MPA California PAC donated $10,000 to Stop the Republican Recall of Governor Newsom, a primary committee set up to defend the governor, according to a filing from the California Secretary of State. Rivkin also contributed $5,000.

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Some of the members of the MPA also have made their own contributions to the anti-recall effort, including Paramount Pictures, which donated $40,000. Reed Hastings, the co-CEO of Netflix, chipped in $3 million in May, the largest single contribution to keep the governor in office.

It’s likely that contributions will spike now that a date for the special recall election has been set: Sept. 14. Although polls show voters rejecting efforts to oust Newsom from office, a number of political observers say that Newsom should be concerned over turnout, given the energy on the side of the recall that successfully gathered signatures and secured an election. But Republicans face a potentially long list of contenders, with no one standing out and captivating voters in the same way that Arnold Schwarzenegger did during the last recall in 2003.

Newsom already has drawn a long list of entertainment contributors for his 2022 reelection fund, including Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and J.J. Abrams.

Newsom drew on a long list of industry donors in his first campaign, and has, among other things, recently proposed adding $30 million to the state’s film and TV tax credit program.

The Stop the Republican Recall of Governor Newsom was launched earlier this year with backing from the California Democratic Party and labor groups.

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