Cinema staff from across the UK were rewarded last week for their vigilance in tackling film theft at their respective sites.
As part of the ‘reward’ scheme operated by the Film Content Protection Agency (FCPA) – as a specialist unit dedicated to safeguarding theatrical releases in the UK and Ireland – and supported by the Film Distributors’ Association, the 25 staff received cash sums for their work in successfully disrupting attempts to record films in cinema theatres.
Those recognised, just a few of whom are shown here, came from across a range of UK cinema operators – and UK Cinema Association members – including Cineworld, ODEON, Picturehouse, Showcase and Vue. In many cases their parent company matched the reward offered by the FCPA.
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, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning P1, Oppenheimer and Barbie.
The recipients travelled to London from cinemas as far away as Edinburgh, Dublin, Eastbourne and Plymouth to receive their rewards at a ceremony hosted by the FCPA and featuring the World-renowned voice artist Redd Pepper.
Commenting on the awards, Simon Brown, Director 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.’
More details on the FCPA scheme can be found here.