The AvA Connection

🚨 The AvA Job Board Is Officially Live! 🚨

My goal since starting AvA has been to provide the resources and community I wish I had when I was just starting my career. Today is another step in that direction. Say hello to the AvA Job Board.

Tons of new entry and mid-level jobs each week. Curated list, with additional resources coming soon (resume advice from hiring managers, online summits etc.) to help you not only find out about new jobs, but actually get the job.

Link is below. Go take the first step in escaping your intolerable boss.

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

1) Paramount is stepping into the octagon with a seven-year, $7.7 billion UFC deal. Starting next year, every fight will stream on Paramount+ and CBS, scraping pay-per-view fees.

Industry Insight: In David Ellison first major move as CEO (outside of a major restructuring and a promise of $2B in cost savings, he hopes the UFC increases its 2% U.S. streaming share, which trails Netflix (8.3%) and YouTube (12.8%).

2) Warner Bros. Discovery posts Q2 profit of $1.58 billion. Far cry from their nearly $10 billion loss in the same Quarter just a year ago. Warner Music’s total revenue for Q2 is also up by +7% year over year.  

💥 When a 22-Year Old Receptionist Gave Uninvited Notes on Spike Lee’s Script
 
Three days later, those notes helped her land a job, launching one of the most legendary careers in Entertainment.

Let's rewind a bit:
When the legendary Bozoma Saint John ("Boz") was 22, she got her first role in Entertainment: a temp receptionist at Spike Lee’s agency.

One day Boz spotted him holding a script for Bamboozled. Most people in her position would've kept their head down and gone back to work. Or at least pretended to look busy.

She boldly asked to read it. Spike said yes, probably thinking she wouldn’t follow through. Three days later she handed it back covered in red pen with notes.

I know many people in Hollywood who would have fired her on the spot. Not Spike Lee.

NOTE: There is also a zero percent chance I had the 🍒 to do that when I was an assistant at WME, but back to the story.

Shocked at first, he gave her notes a chance and an hour and a half later said "you made some good notes. You should stick around. I think we can find a job for you.”

That bold, probably a bit reckless, move turned a temp gig into a permanent role, launching one of the most remarkable careers in marketing.

Boz has since led global brand strategy at Apple Music, PepsiCo, Uber, was the CMO of Endeavor, and recently served as Netflix’s CMO.

💡 Her takeaways: 
"Do that one extra thing that you may not be qualified to do, even if it’s accidental. Taking that initiative is so key."

"It really doesn't matter where you're sitting.. how much education you have.. what your experiences are.. Because me, a completely unexperienced 22 year old woman, who was just trying to beg for a job to eat her next lunch, had made comments on Spike Lee's film and he though they were good."

💡 My takeaway:
Stop asking for permission. Playing it safe keeps you employed. Taking a bold risk can put you on the map. Every great leader has had many moments in their career where they spoke up or went against the grain when the safer move was to stay quiet or simply do what was in their job description. Fortune indeed favors the bold.

📚 Book and Podcast Rec:

Each week, I highlight a new book and podcast I’m into. This week is When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines. Back to the OG media, magazines, the book is the memoir of Graydon Carter, former editor of Vanity Fair starting in 1992. “Carter…planted a flag in Los Angeles with the legendary Vanity Fair Oscar party” and honestly, the stories from that era are just as over the top as you’d think.

And check out The Rise of Cinematic Creators on My First Million, where they discuss how video is (1) the language of the internet and (2) how video is becoming more and more highly produced across the web.

👋 See you back here on Wednesday for a brand new selection of Entertainment jobs

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This newsletter is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey and Dominik Sansevere.

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