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👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart. This is Warner, founder of AvA. Connect with me here.
🎥 Catch up on our new show AvA LIVE that airs every Wednesday at 12:30PM PT / 3:30PM ET LIVE on YouTube.
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📰 Grand Theft Auto 6 crashed Netflix after a 13 year long wait. The box office posts its best performance in YEARS. Olivia Rodrigo is living the dream with her new collab, and more..
💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter.
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⭐ Grand Theft Auto 6 debuted 27 minutes of in game footage on Netflix, but a bigger storm is brewing.
The easy story is despite fans waiting 13 years for GTA 6, it crashed the platform’s servers. But there is a bigger war happening..
Netflix is now paying creators like Alan Chikin Chow and Nick DiGiovanni millions to release their videos on Netflix and YouTube simultaneously. Netflix’s current creator partners represent more than 500 million YouTube subscribers, as it has already made deals with Mark Rober, Ms. Rachel, Salish Matter, Mythical Kitchen and the Stokes Twins, and is reportedly circling Hot Ones.
YouTube has finally decided it’s a problem. It’s now offering top creators millions for timed exclusivity, along with production financing and cuts of major brand deals. Creators who still work with Netflix could also lose access to YouTube marketing, events and certain brand campaigns. So, very chill and not personal at all.
Why it matters: Netflix wants the creators and cultural moments that made YouTube the homepage of entertainment, from those internet stars to this six-hour GTA 6 exclusive. YouTube spent years assuming creators would post first on its platform, and now it’s forced to pay them not to leave. Welcome to creator free agency (we should trademark that), where the contracts are getting bigger, and the custody battle is getting as messy as college athletics.
⭐ Olivia Rodrigo is teaming up with Taco Bell for her own Baja Blast flavor and it’s debuting at her Daisy Chain Fields Festival.
I don’t know what the younger me exactly pictured as ‘success,’ but I know Baja Blast and music was at least 60% of what was on my mind at the time. Huge congrats to her and love everything about this fest.
⭐ The NFL is ending the Pro Bowl after 75 years of operations but the awards will still be given to 88 individuals each season
⭐ BMI hosted their R&B/Hip-Hop awards show last night. Nas received the highest honor of the BMI Icon Award
⭐ For this installment of ‘Film Industry Friday’…
The 2026 box office surged to $7 billion and is up by 20% compared to last year, making it the most successful year for movies post-pandemic so far
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ officially became the 2nd highest grossing film domestically of all time, behind only ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’
The film also is now the 5th best performing movie globally of all time with $2.2 billion and counting — bringing it within $100 million of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ in 3rd
Every week we drop our favorite podcast & book recs.
Today we have Quinlan Walther on The Jefferson Fisher Podcast to break down some big lessons around how we can communicate more effectively in our various relationships (a very important skill as you can imagine.)
This is a great watch or listen for anyone who wants to understand the hidden signals behind relationships and the forces we rarely see that shape how we show up across our lives.
Another amazing conversation facilitated by the team at Central Talent Booking.
Some of our fav moments from the episode here:
🧠 “Look at the person five to ten years ahead of you. If you envy their life, it's probably worth sticking out the part that sucks.”
- Jack Raines Author and Investor @ Slow Ventures
🧠 “See a problem before it becomes a problem and get in front of it.”
-Chris Pearson Senior Sports & Entertainment Exec @ Publicis Groupe
🧠 “Don’t rush to college if you don’t know what you want to do. Take a break, work, and figure it out.”
-Daniel Mac Host of "What Do You Do for a Living?”
🧠 “Be willing to learn, be willing to stay late, don’t ask for a raise every time you get a new area. Just keep doing it.”
-Debra Lee Former CEO @ BET Networks
🧠 “Posting online is inherently cringe, and you just have to cross that.”
-Macy Gilliam Creator of ‘Out There' @ Morning Brew
Our new job board features 240+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Talent Manager - G&B Digital Management - Apply Here
💼 Creator Programming & Education Assistant - G&B Digital Management - Apply Here
💼 Music & Comedy Touring - CAA - Apply Here
💼 Partnerships - Twitch - Apply Here
💼 Content Creator - Fox Entertainment - Apply Here
💼 Marketing - Amazon MGM - Apply Here
💼 Social Media - Warner Bros. Discovery - Apply Here
💼 A&R Admin - Sony Music - Apply Here
💼 Media Buyer - AEG - Apply Here
💼 Business - Sony Pictures - Apply Here
💼 Comedy Tour Marketing - WME - Apply Here
💼 Marketing - Too Lost - Apply Here
💼 Media Operations - Mattel - Apply Here
💼 Production - Live Nation - Apply Here
💼 Marketing - BritBox - Apply Here
💼 Account Manager - Rolling Stone - Apply Here
💼 Talent Assistant - CAA - Apply Here
🎒 Short Form Marketing Intern - Mythical - Apply Here
🎒 Communications Intern - MUBI - Apply Here
👋 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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