MPA Studio upgrades trusted partner network to increase security in supply chain

The Motion Picture Association is upgrading a platform that evaluates the content protection protections of producers and their suppliers.

The Trusted Partner Network, where members’ content security is measured against a set of best practices, will now include software and cloud security assessments, adding to physical locations and home workspaces. The purpose of the Trusted Partner Network, relaunching as the TPN+ platform, is to hold a set of standards for vendors as a way to prevent incidents like pre-release leaks of footage from major blockbusters.

The new platform is designed to help members manage and communicate their content security status, including non-TPN security certifications such as ISO and Soc2, while adhering to a set of updated MPA best practices. The trusted partner network includes small companies and large pre- and post-production companies, as well as content owners.

MPA launched the Alliance for Creativity in Entertainment, a global network of companies to combat piracy, in 2017. The Trusted Partner Network was launched the following year. MPA has long had a set of content security best practices, but under the Trusted Partner Network, a vendor’s security measures are verified and studied by third-party evaluators. It is up to content owners to make their own decisions about which vendors and suppliers to use based on a risk assessment.

Karin Temple, senior executive vice president and global general counsel at MPA, said, “We like to talk about the fact that with trusted partner networks, plus ACE, we’re protecting content from script to screen, with 360-degree content protection. Security pipeline to ensure legal markets for film, television and streaming can thrive.

Terry Davis, president of TPN, said that until recently, the program only assessed physical security for things like cameras and locked doors. But the pandemic has brought a greater urgency to update the program. “With Covid, of course, the industry’s transition to the cloud accelerated significantly, because all the buildings we were evaluating had to be closed,” Davis said. “So what we’re rolling out now is application and cloud security assessment.”

The upgrade is designed to provide greater functionality and flexibility to the platform. The Trusted Partner Network was created as a way to streamline the process of setting a vendor’s level of security protection, rather than having all content owners duplicate that process.