The Mail Cart: Friday, October 16th

👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart.

I have to come clean… we sold out… THE WILTERN!!! Holy F. Working with the venue to open up a few more tix. Add your email to the waitlist.

I went to my first show in LA there 10 years ago so that's pretty cool I guess. See you Sunday & thank you for all of the support. NYC next??

A24 outperformed BOTH Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery at the Summer box office…

CAA, WME, and UTA all are pushing for a law to make streamers focus on indie productions, Indie film distributor Bleecker Street was the latest company acquired by a billionaire, Universal launched a new film composers initiative, and Reese Witherspoon bought back her production company Hello Sunshine with some friends.

AvA Job Board

💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Today we highlight jobs from UTA, Overtime, Disney & Live Nation. Scroll to the bottom of this email, or visit our Job Board, which now has 225+ early career Entertainment roles.

Follow our IG page for daily resources, standout jobs (staff picks vibe), and niche industry facts to impress your boss.

Where are the actual opportunities in Hollywood?

I made Mr. Hollywood himself, Matt Belloni (Founding Partner of Puck & Host of The Town) play “Career Ladder” on AvA LIVE, asking which career paths he’d pursue if he were starting today. Here are some of his picks:

⭐ Represent creators, brands and podcasts: The growing parts of the agency business he’d gravitate toward.

⭐ Talent management: He called management companies “a great springboard” where you build personal relationships (the most important thing you can do in 2026 to get a job and be promoted).

⭐ Writing for TV/Film: A tougher market, but he still sees demand for people who have original and fresh ideas. My advice is to be flexible. Write wherever and in whatever format you can. One article, short or even a friggin’ LinekdIn post can land you a deal.

⭐ Journalist? (He’s one): His advice for an aspiring journalist: learn the craft, then consider building something yourself. A strong opinion alone isn’t enough, you need ideas or reporting people can’t get elsewhere.

And yes, before you ask.. he still recommends the agency mailroom:

I still think the best way to enter the business is through the mailroom. The bottom of a talent agency.. You get a broad education on different aspects of the business. You make connections with people you'll know for the next 30 years. However, if you have an idea of what kind of agent you'd like to be, ask to specialize in that as soon as possible.. Make relationships with people in that world

— Matt Belloni

⭐ Netflix won the streaming wars. Its employees are still losing jobs. Peter Rice (Former Disney TV chairman) who previously ran Fox Searchlight) is replacing content chief Bela Bajaria a day after roughly 1,000 layoffs, with slowing engagement growth putting pressure on the company.

The takeaway: Being Hollywood’s biggest buyer doesn’t make Netflix a stable employer, and a new content boss means fresh uncertainty for the people pitching to it, too.

🎬 A24 beat out both Paramount AND Warner Bros. Discovery in domestic earnings at the Summer box office (pre-merger).

That’s a major win for A24 and worth celebrating. It also says a lot about where Skydance is right now… FWIW: its stock-market value is now less than half what Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery were worth combined before the merger.

📝 CAA, WME, and UTA are leading a coalition with ‘the goal of passing a law that will force streamers to spend half of their content budgets on indie productions.’

This is what we like to see agencies doing with those sweet sweet commission dollars.

🎥 Indie film distributor Bleecker Street was just bought out by Outerlight Entertainment. With companies like Letterboxd exploring a sale, independent film entities are becoming more and more scarce.

💿 Universal launched its 4th Film Composers Initiative class which is designed to seek out and amplify rising talent in the industry.

☀️ Reese Witherspoon is buying her company ‘Hello Sunshine’ back from Candle Media with the support of Mediawan for a fraction of the original $900 million deal.

This is the latest example of a series of down rounds, and closures of celebrity or influencer forward companies where the key asset (the attention) is not owned by the parent company but the high-profile founder. Transferring that attention to the assets, in this case films/tv, is a delicate act many do not accomplish (not to be too gloomy on this sunny LA day).