The Mail Cart: Monday, October 12th

👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart.

Are you working today? Hope not, but knowing who reads this newsletter… assuming you’re ~living the dream~ at the office rn. Connect with me here

BREAKING: My two favorite MBs join AvA LIVE this week

Tom Holland becomes the highest grossing actor of all time at the ripe age of 30…

Plus Netflix makes announcements on layoffs and AI (bad combo), Taylor Swift hits 100 weeks spent at the top of the Billboard 200, Cornell University cancels their homecoming concert, and an Oscars / Grammys award show radar.

AvA Job Board

💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Today we highlight jobs from Spotify, The Recording Academy, WME & Disney. 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.

Hollywood is changing. Where are the opportunities for the next generation?

Hollywood is changing. Where are the real opportunities for the next generation? There is so much discourse on the future of Hollywood, but rarely from the perspective of the people just starting to build a career in it. This week on AvA LIVE, I’m having on The Town and Puck’s Matthew Belloni to talk about what mergers, consolidation and continued fragmentation mean for assistants, students, coordinators and people trying to get their foot in the door.

We surveyed 2,000 entertainment assistants. 86% rated the state of Hollywood as bad, 80% said the “pay your dues” culture is unfair or never was a fair deal, and 74% said the job negatively affects their mental health. Yet 57% still said they couldn’t imagine working in another industry.

People still want to build their careers in our industry, and there’s a reason for that. The desire to tell stories, discover talent and make things people care about hasn’t gone away. The question is where that ambition can take you as the industry changes.

We’ll talk about where the opportunities actually are, whether the traditional path still makes sense, and what Matt would do if he were starting out today. Have a question you want answered live? Email me back.

Plus:

⭐ THE QUEEN HERSELF MARY BETH BARONE who is gunning for a GRAMMY..

⭐ Buchwald’s VP of Talent, Sheri Talkovsky will dive into working with Tony-Award winning young actress Maleah Joi Moon, who just starred in Netflix’s reboot of A Different World (which also just got picked up for a season 2).

⭐ Jake Motyl joins to discuss FOX’s Baywatch global trailer campaign he is spearheading

🎞️ Netflix is potentially planning to lay off 5% of their workforce, and they revealed use of AI in 300+ films on their platform… not a great headline combo.

Looking a bit closer and the real story is growth. Engagement is up just 2% year over year, nowhere near the tech style growth Netflix has trained everyone (Wall Street) to expect. The company is racing to fix that with creator content, video podcasts, and more live events.

Wall Street began to ask questions when Netflix made its run at Warner Bros., which was effectively an admission that it needed a new growth model. The layoffs protect margins in the meantime, but cutting 5% of staff doesn’t add viewers. Don’t be surprised if theatrical releases are the next big shift.

📽️ Sony Pictures just hired former YouTube exec Fede Goldenberg to run Screen Gems, its genre film label. He spent 15 years at YouTube, including nine leading TV and film partnerships, and helped land the deal to bring the Oscars exclusively to the platform starting in 2029. AMAZING article from Press Publish.

🎬 Tom Holland officially passed Zoe Saldaña to become the highest grossing actor of all time by earning over $15.5 billion at the box office.

🎵 Taylor Swift hits her 100th week total spent at the top of the Billboard 200

The next closest solo artist is Elvis Presley at 67, with The Beatles holding the all-time record at 132 weeks.

🎓 Cornell University cancelled their homecoming concert due to fallout from the recent court case. It’s been incredible to see people use their platforms to speak out about the horrific nature of this case, and many many others. We will continue to do the same.

🏆 Award Show Records Radar

Olivia Wilde could become the first woman to direct herself to an acting nomination at the Oscars (20 men have accomplished it, with 8 earning noms for both)
Malcolm Todd and Audrey Hobert have the chance to be the first siblings to be nominated for Best New Artist at the same time at the Grammys