👋 Welcome to The Mail Cart. This is Warner, founder of AvA. Connect with me here + follow our IG page for daily resources.
🎥 We are announcing May’s Assistants Of The Month live on today’s AvA LIVE episode which features Bad Bunny’s agent, the founder of Overtime & ex-Head of Digital @ WME, the duo who ran PR for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and the writer for Colin & Samir’s newsletter.
📝 A24’s ‘Backrooms’ was first spotted by an Assistant. Madison Square Garden and AMC both post records. And two major industry moves from Spotify & CAA.
💼 Looking for open Entertainment jobs? Scroll to the bottom of this email.
Our Job Board now has 220+ early career Entertainment roles as well.
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📹 Tune in to AvA LIVE today at 12:30 PT
⭐ 12:30 Dan Porter - Previously Founder & CEO @ Overtime and Head of Digital @ WME
⭐ 12:45 Ashley Hansen - Managing Partner @ Forward Global LA, previously Global Press Secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry & Meghan Markle)
⭐ 12:45 Kyle Boulia - Managing Director @ Forward Global LA, previously Global Press Secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Prince Harry & Meghan Markle)
⭐ 1:00 Syd Cohen IN STUDIO!!! - Writer @ The Publish Press, covering the business of creators with Colin & Samir
⭐ 1:15 Jbeau Lewis - Partner & Agent @ United Talent Agency, representing Bad Bunny, Karol G, Rauw Alejandro, Rawayana & LANY. Jbeau was set off to become a doctor before a chance encounter via John Mayer & his agent that set him off on the agent path.
Want your question asked live on the show? Submit one HERE for our guests!
Here is a thirst trap of me and my dog (who is currently wearing a cone on his head) to make you watch:
His name is Cub and he’s currently unsigned
⭐ A24’s ‘Backrooms’ would never have happened without a 27-year old Assistant
Everyone in Hollywood is taking credit for the insane success of Backrooms. The real winner here is Kane Parsons, who uploaded the series to YouTube in 2022 and is the mastermind behind the series. Chernin Entertainment (big player in the media space) and A24 co-financed the film for under $10 million. But who scouted it first?
According to Matt Belloni in his Puck article, “Shawn Levy’s production company assigned a young staffer to monitor YouTube for potential talent.” That young staffer, a 27-year old assistant named Lucas Ford, brought it to the company and the rest is history. Well ongoing history, as it’s since grabbed $118 million worldwide with the youngest ever Director to reach the top spot.
Credit: IMDb
Syd Cohen from The Publish Press and I are doing a deep dive on this on AvA LIVE today. She joins live at 1pm.
⭐ Madison Square Garden has over 100 shows slated for this Summer, making it the most packed lineup for the venue in 60 years
🎫 Fun & Related Side Note: Phoebe Bridgers announced a $1 pop up show at MSG for tomorrow with all proceeds going to the Community Justice Exchange’s National Bail Fund Network.
IRL is the new luxury good. Don’t believe me?
⭐ AMC had its best May since 2019
Its theaters welcomed more than 25.5 million people to it’s red chairs in May fueled by Backrooms, Devil Wears Prada 2, The Mandalorian, and Michael.
⭐ Bad Bunny is on a generational run, and so are the resale prices for his World Tour
No U.S. dates pushed American demand into international markets, and while last minute prices tend to soften, we haven’t seen this much demand since Taylor Swift. Today I’m sitting down with his agent and one of my favorite people in the industry Jbeau Lewis on AvA LIVE at 1:15pm PT to understand how artists and their teams are trying to navigate my least favorite people in the world: scalpers.
Source: Sarah Chen / NMQIDA
⭐ SiriusXM penned a deal with Tubi for podcasts by Conan O’Brien, Trevor Noah, and more to be viewed on their platform
Tubi has been on a run lately scooping up IP as they push to become a legitimate player in the space. I still am not sold on how successful these deals will be in the longterm (for the streamers) but every major company is having FOMO and overpaying for land grabs in an attention market.
⭐ Steph Curry has left Nike!
He just signed a 10-year endorsement deal with China’s Li-Ning, which will certainly expand his brand globally (isn’t it already prettyyyy expanded?) across basketball accessories, athleisure, and of course, shoes.
⭐ Spotify’s longtime Global Head of Editorial Sulinna Ong has parted ways to join the band U2’s management team alongside Jeffrey and Irving Azoff
“What’s struck us about Sulinna is the flair, finesse, and clarity she brings to both the art and the audience.”
Fun fact: The very first video interview I ever did was with Sulinna Ong. It’s still floating around the internet somewhere and I thought I was so cool wearing this sweatshirt I bought from an Instagram ad.
More industry moves below…
CAA is adding Kendall Ostrow to its Creators division to steer business development and digital strategy across film, TV, sports and beyond. Ostrow brings more than 20 years in digital media, with stops at Ellen, ID PR, UTA, Candle Media and YouTube.
Netflix’s Communications Chief Emily Feingold is departing the company after 8 years with the streamer. Dani Dudeck will be her successor and has been with the company since late 2025.
Sony Music’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel Julie Swidler is stepping down after holding the role since 2008. This was notably a ‘long planned departure’ with no announced replacement yet.
CNN brought on former Peacock executive Anna Frost as their new Head of World Marketing. She also had a previous stint with CNN, but that only lasted for around a year due to CNN+ being shelved.
CBS News recently overhauled the majority of the ‘60 Minutes’ team as a product of the Paramount Skydance takeover. Lots of ins and outs for the project.
Our new job board features 220+ early career roles in Entertainment, including:
💼 Executive Assistant to CEO - Live Nation - Apply Here
💼 Events Manager - The Lighthouse - Apply Here
💼 Strategic Content & Partnerships - CNBC - Apply Here
💼 Partnership Manager - TikTok - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant - Betches Media - Apply Here
💼 Social Media Manager (Sports) - SiriusXM - Apply Here
💼 Executive Assistant (Creative) - Fox Entertainment - Apply Here
💼 Creator Partnerships Associate Manager - The-Team - Apply Here
💼 Media Sales Coordinator - TKO - Apply Here
💼 Associate Media Manager - Prime Video - Apply Here
💼 Social Media Manager - Sony Music - Apply Here
💼 Membership Specialist - The Academy - Apply Here
💼 Associate Account Manager - Pandora - Apply Here
💼 Licensing Coordinator - Fanatics - Apply Here
💼 Director of Digital Marketing - Back Blocks Music - Apply Here
💼 Podcast Producer - Dear Media - Apply Here
💼 Digital Content Distribution Manager - Fox Entertainment - Apply Here
💼 Finance & Admin Coordinator - Sony Music - Apply Here
🎒 2026 Films Fall Internship Program - NFL - Apply Here
👋 See you back here on Friday
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The Mail Cart is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey and Dominik Sansevere.
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