The AvA Connection

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🍸 We are putting on Happy Hours around the world this Thursday 🌍

All events are free, and all are welcome to attend.. yes even your boss.

Huge shoutout to our AvA Ambassadors, now in 30 cities, who helped bring this to idea to life in just 7 days.

We are announcing 3 more cities later today. Stay tuned to our IG.

Hi Everyone, Dominik here (I run growth/product for AvA),

I was dispatched to the opening of The Lighthouse in Brooklyn this past week.

The Lighthouse is a new in-person space for creators and their teams to work in person, a division of Whalar.

The panels included everyone from Julia Fox and advertising legend David Droga to Substacker Casey Lewis and the CBO of the NY Liberty Shana Stephenson.

New York Nico showed his film about the NYC marathon and discussed how he was granted special access to the event because the previous year he snuck onto the finish line and his secretly captured clips went viral.

🧠 Two Big Takeaways:

-The entertainment industry is fracturing, and power is shifting toward creators who already own their audiences. The next wave of growth will come from those who build direct relationships, as opposed to just distribution deals.

-We’re entering a moment where the best ideas don’t need permission and can be launched quickly. Projects used to have to filter through expensive development cycles, now they can be posted, tested, and iterated in real time.

The future is IRL. Thanks Lighthouse for having me!

1) As Hollywood loses features and TV shoots, it looks to be moving into its short-king era

As traditional shoots slow down in L.A., a wave of veteran execs (and some very famous talent/creators) are betting big on microdramas:

60 to 90 episodes per season
Phone-first “soap operas”
Budgets in the range of $100k-$300k per series/season
The U.S. microdrama is projected to reach $350 million
The Chinese market has more than 830 million viewers already
A bunch of companies are racing to own the market share

Here are some of the companies leading the charge that I’d be exploring opportunies at if I were just launching my career:

ReelShort, DramaBox, Holywater, My Drama, GammaTime & MicroCo

Credit: The Hollywood Report

2) Netflix paid Sony a $15 million cash bonus for ‘KPop Demon Hunters.’

This means Sony’s cash payout for the first film is now $40 million, instead of the original $25 million.

🏊 Deeper Dive: The $25 million included a $20 million fee, plus $5 million for first-option rights for Netflix to retain the pic on the platform. Netflix also notably covered the entire $100 million budget of the project.

It’s unconfirmed what Netflix’s profit has been so far, but considering the Grammy nominations, retail deals, a sequel in the works, and record breaking watch numbers, it feels to be the next billion $ franchise in the making.

3) A few more fun facts from the Grammys

Timothée Chalamet was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, meaning he could potentially win a Grammy before an Oscar.
Country music was shut out from the 4 biggest categories: Album, Song, & Record of the Year & Best New Artist.
Wasserman had the most nominations in “major categories” of any agency.

4) YouTube is delivering up to $200M in payouts to users for the Disney blackout on YouTube TV.

YouTube is crediting each subscriber $20 as Disney is losing $5 million every day

Some simple math: YouTube TV has 10 million subscribers. $20 gets you to $200 million total dished out if all eligible subscribers claim the credit.

Paramount poached Lionsgate’s Co-President of Theatrical Distribution, Shaun Barber. His new role will be as the Head of Domestic Theatrical Distribution in another blockbuster move stemming from the Skydance merger.
AXS also stole from a rival by bringing in former Live Nation exec to be the new Managing Director for all of their European operations.
Leda Chang is joining Warner Music Group as SVP, Global Brand & Audience for its Global Catalog division. She’ll lead a new artist-focused strategy aimed at boosting fan engagement and uncovering growth in WMG’s legacy acts.