The AvA Connection

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Get smarter, be inspired and laugh (hopefully) with 30 minute interviews brought to you by AvA.

Mix of career advice, peeling the curtain of how the industry really works, and wild Hollywood stories.

This week Mark Indelicato (Damien from Hacks!) reads fan submitted assistant stories plus I interview the Festival Director for Bonnaroo who digs into the role of an Assistant, advice for the next generation and the craziest thing that’s ever happened at the festival.

🌃 Bring AvA IRL To Your City

Our ‘Funemployed’ event and Assistants x Interns party in L.A. this month both sold out (stay tuned next week for a tix giveaway), but we are expanding to new cities very soon. Help us plan events by clicking below:

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🐝 The Weekly Buzz (4 things you need to know)

1) Olivia Rodrigo & Lewis Capaldi are officially doing the most (in the best way possible) when it comes to prioritizing mental health.

• Olivia paid for therapy for her entire crew for the duration of her Guts World Tour. (This was for 102 shows and included loads of people – big ups to her.)

• Lewis Capaldi is teaming up with BetterHelp to provide 734,000 free hours of therapy. This announcement came after his return at Glastonbury, and gives fans yet another reason to keep rooting for his success and good health.

2) A24 is set to release the top grossing animated film ever in the US. China’s ‘Ne Zha 2’ shattered records by grossing over $2.2 billion worldwide, and A24 is spearheading the english language version that will be released in August.

3) The HITS Act has officially been passed as a law in huge win for independent artists. This means that the legislation will enable artists to deduct up to $150,000 in recording expenses. It’s sort of complicated to explain in just a few sentences, so read a full breakdown by the Recording Academy here.

4) The Recording Academy introduces 3,600 new members for 2025. This includes a mixture of musicians and industry professionals, with some of the more notable names being Addison Rae, Nikki Glaser, and KATSEYE. Full list here.

🏃 Industry Moves

1) Amazon MGM poaches veteran Warner Bros. EVP Charlie Coleman. Coleman will be MGM’s new Head of International Theatrical Marketing, and this helps Amazon take another step closer towards major Hollywood studio status.

2) Former Warner Music Exec Paul Sinclair joins AI music making platform Suno after two decades with WMG. Sinclair will be their new Chief Music Officer, and he notably has worked with stars like Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Charli xcx, and more.

3) Meta poached an Apple engineer for its Superintelligence efforts with a package of over $200 Million. Yes you read that right.

👋 Enjoy the weekend, and see you back here next week

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This newsletter is written by Warner Bailey and edited by Riley Furey

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