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🌟 Happy (one of the last) Summer Fridays to all who celebrate. Is everyone back from Europe yet?? No? Ok moving on.
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COOL OPPORTUNITY ALERT!!! If you are an artist (or if you work with one), TikTok Live and All Things Go teamed up to give one act a chance to perform at ATG in New York at the end of September.
Go land that dream gig here.
⭐ Fox’s Creator Bet Is Starting to Look Real
I’m going to be honest: when Fox Studios first announced it was investing in creator-led IP, I wasn’t fully bought in. Every studio was making a similar promise and chasing something hot. But one thing changed my mind: Billy Parks. I’ve gotten to know Billy pretty well over the past 2 years. He bought me my first Apple Pan burger, and I am forever grateful for that. He now leads the Creator Studios division at Fox, and that guy simply wins.
Before taking over Fox’s Creator Studios division, he helped lead creator investments at The Chernin Group (Barstool) and Slow Ventures (Diary of a CEO). Unlike a lot of execs begging their employees to find the next Curry Barker in Reddit Threads, Billy understands this world because he’s actually been inside of it. And he’s been making real bets on creators, and not to just check a box for stressed studio heads.
Wednesday night, I moderated a panel with Josh Richards and his CrossCheck Studios partner Chris Sawtelle for the Season 2 premiere of their show Read the Room. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from a digital sketch-comedy series created, produced by and starring my niece’s celebrity crush.
It hit. It feels like a modern creator-era Key & Peele with early-SNL energy and the production quality of a major studio project. Yes, I know Key & Peele is still modern, but I binged it hungover in college a decade ago, and some of you are barely old enough to drink. They self-funded the season for mid-six figures, then sold it to Fox for Season 3 and beyond. Each side will own 50% of the IP which is the standard for these types of deals. More importantly, this doesn’t feel like Fox is doing this to overpay internet talent for a land grab, and shove them into an old Hollywood box.
They made a similar bet on a-friend-of-the-program Alice Ma, who runs Mad Realities, and her show Picky Eaters. It’s ripping on socials. Ma told me “The most interesting thing to me is that 100% of people who watch to 40s in watch the remaining 2 minutes to the end.” For all you non-nerds, that’s an insane stat in a world without an attention span.
The guests mix includes the sceniest chefs, New York characters and tastemakers, mixed with oddly normal people who are simply picky eaters in a very fun and blended mix. 2.5m views so far across first 6 episodes. It’s working.
Lil exclusive (ice cream) scoop for you: upcoming episodes include a 5yo kid Picky Eater (!) and folks like Chef Kwame behind Tatiana (RIP for any of you assistants trying to land this rez in NYC), Lindsey Metselaar (We Met At Ace), Sophia Roe & J Lee (Feed Me).
The creator economy isn’t replacing Hollywood, and Hollywood isn’t going to absorb it. The real opportunity is combining what each side does best: creators bring the audience, taste and proof of concept. Studios bring the resources, infrastructure, experience and scale. But it only works if Hollywood stops treating creators like talent to plug into its system by dumping them on their 4-letter streamer, and starts treating them like actual partners building the next one.
⭐ The proposed Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger could put 4,500 direct film and TV jobs in Los Angeles County at risk over three years.
Paramount allegedly has a new home picked out in Austin: “The Bluebonnet Business Center houses a 415,000-square-foot mega facility, making it a bigger commercial space than Paramount's current 360,000-square-foot home in Los Angeles.”
Moving the entire operation, including its historic studios, still feels wildly improbable. Moving its headquarters, though? Oddly realistic.
⭐ Universal Music Group signed a licensing deal with AI remixing platform Hook that is claiming to protect artists
Artists retain their rights, while fans get a legal and more ethical way to remix their music. They clearly paid for this ad article. Hit me with your thoughts.
⭐ Bonnaroo is taking a gap year ☹
⭐ Apple Music joins the party and will be labeling AI created tracks on their platform later this year
⭐ Film Industry Friday is back and we have some big updates for you
‘The Odyssey’ is officially the highest grossing rated R film ever with $1.35 billion, dethroning ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ became the fastest movie to reach $800 million domestically and it’s about to be the 7th most successful project of all time
This week on AvA LIVE we broke down how to build a media company in 2026, how to get noticed by agents, and how to get a job in Hollywood.
Plus some amazing advice:
Cole Walliser (glamBOT): “Be kind. You never know where people are going to end up.”
Ari Shaffir: “Find your own talent. Build your crew early and grow together.”
Charlotte Owen (Editor-in-Chief of Bustle) : “Find something singular that only you can do, then develop your own voice around it.”
JT Barnett: “Don’t approach a brand asking what you should make together. Build the concept first, then show them exactly why they belong.”
Kira Upin (Camera Operator): “Say yes to as many positions on set as possible. The better you understand how every role works together, the better you’ll become at your own.”
Matt Quinn (Mt. Joy): “Make stuff you love, make stuff your friends would love, and don’t worry about anyone else.”
Netflix poached Katie Martin Kelley from Warner Bros. Discovery as their new VP of Communications. She was at WBD since 2023, and starts her new role in September. Love to see some tea in this section and we hope she secured the $$.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences elected new Chair & Vice Chair positions for the next one year cycle, including Sean Baker and Rita Wilson across different committees.
UTA Music is adding six executives and promoting 11 staffers across offices. New hires include former CAA agent Anthony Brown, LPO veteran Becky Drouet and four Los Angeles executives.
Our new job board features 240+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Programming Manager - Proctors Collaborative - Apply Here
💼 Social - Spotify - Apply Here
💼 Assistant The Cut - Vox Media - Apply Here
💼 Assistant to Co-Head of Touring - UTA - Apply Here
💼 Music & Business - NBA - Apply Here
💼 Assistant - Sony Music - Apply Here
💼 BA Assistant (Creators & TV) - UTA - Apply Here
💼 Tour Marketing - Live Nation - Apply Here
💼 Community - CAA - Apply Here
💼 Assistant - BBC - Apply Here
💼 Business Affairs - NBCUniversal - Apply Here
💼 Marketing - Audible - Apply Here
💼 Sr. Producer - Paramount - Apply Here
💼 Account Rep - BMI - Apply Here
💼 Creative - Warner Music - Apply Here
🎒 Prost Production Intern - A24 - Apply Here
🎒 AEG just posted a handful of internships including Activations, Business, and Partnerships
👋 See you back here on Monday
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The Mail Cart is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey and Dominik Sansevere.
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