Sky to co-chair The Irish Industry Trust
October 9, 2023
The Irish Industry Trust has confirmed a new line-up for its Membership Board, with Mark Carpenter, Director of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs – EU & Ireland at Sky, becoming co-chair, effective immediately, having previously sat as a board member.
Alongside Carpenter is a growing board of representatives, including fellow co-chair Martin O’Grady – The Walt Disney Company, Barbara Murphy – Sony Pictures Entertainment, Nick Costello – NBCUniversal, Patrick Boylan – Warner Bros Discovery & Trish Long – The Walt Disney Company and will co-lead the charge to promote and carry out industry-wide initiatives against intellectual property theft, while also assisting, encouraging, supporting, and contributing to research and development work in connection with the development of the protection of intellectual property rights.
Speaking about his appointment as co-chair, Carpenter said: “With television and film content so readily available across multiple platforms, the work of the Irish Industry Trust has never been so important. The Trust was established to safeguard the rights of content creators and owners and combat piracy so that the Irish creative industry can continue to grow – an industry renowned for its storytelling worldwide. It is a great honour for me to be appointed co-chair of the Trust, and I look forward to working with my fellow board representatives and Trust members.”
Carpenter takes over from previous co-chair Stephen McConkey, Head of Retail – Ireland at Warner Bros Discovery, who remains a board member, having already made invaluable contributions to the industry-shifting campaigns and research initiatives delivered by the Trust team over the past few years.
McConkey said: “It has been a privilege to serve as co-chair these last few years, and I have complete confidence in Mark and Martin’s ability to lead it forward to bold new places. I look forward to staying part of the continued growth of the Irish Industry Trust through ongoing new partnerships and memberships across the industry. I encourage distributors, retailers and broadcasters to contact the team to learn more.”
James Gallagher, Senior Marketing Manager, at The Irish Industry Trust, added: “I’m delighted to have Mark as our new co-chair, who brings over a decade of experience across regulatory affairs and public policy; his promotion will mean the Irish Industry Trust will continue to grow in scope and voice. My huge thanks to Stephen for his tenure as co-chair of this group and his continued dedication to IP protection.”
The Irish Industry Trust is a dedicated local content protection team supported by the British Association for Screen Entertainment (BASE), with Liz Bales, Chief Executive, at BASE saying: “Empowering local communities is the cornerstone of sustainable growth for the Irish Industry Trust, where collective effort shapes a resilient industry response. Together, we forge a path towards progress and effective legislation for all stakeholders.”
The Irish Industry Trust seeks to educate and empower the Irish film, TV and sports sectors and is working collaboratively to address core local piracy issues with a new cross-sector strategy and action plan set up across the year.