The AvA Connection

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

1) Which agency booked Coachella? (S/o ROSTR)

How diverse was the lineup?

Industry Move:

2) Christopher Nolan was unanimously elected as the President of the Director’s Guild of America. He will be leading the 19,000 members of the union, and even though he ran unopposed, would anyone else have had a chance against The Dark Knight?

3) Is it harder than ever to get a job in Hollywood? 

Why It Matters: Hollywood’s job market, from a legacy company standpoint, is rough. Decades-long vets are out of work, mid-levels are boxed out, entry-jobs require more and more experience, and even Emmy winners are scrambling. The “streaming gold rush” has flipped into a drought, and cutting your teeth here has never been harder.

NOW THE GOOD PART:

Where the Opportunity Is: Chaos & a fragmented landscape = cracks in the system. Independent projects, creator-driven ventures, global productions, and side-door skills (animation, consulting, branded experiences, experiential, creator-led production studios) are now the fastest ways to break in, stand out, and actually get paid.

We will bring on people from the inside of those companies over the next few weeks in our interview series and on virtual calls, and will continue to highlight open jobs 3 times a week with daily updates on our Job Board.

4) 400 Celebs have now joined with ACLU to protest Disney’s Kimmel suspension. Disney’s stock took a nosedive late last week, losing $3.8 billion from their market cap as boycott grows.

💼 AvA Job Board

Our new job board features 128+ early career roles in Entertainment:

Some standouts:

💼 Editorial Assistant - Rolling Stone - Apply Here

💼 Touring Project Manager - AEG - Apply Here

💼 Marketing Coordinator (Disney Music Group) - Disney - Apply Here

💼 Assistant to Music Agent - UTA - Apply Here

💼 Channel Manager - Mythical - Apply Here

💼 A&R Assistant (Pop/Rock/Country) - Warner Music Group - Apply Here

💼 Digital + Social Video Producer - Associated Press - Apply Here

💼 Music Coordinator - Wasserman - Apply Here

💼 Business Operations Coordinator - Warner Bros. Discovery - Apply Here

💼 ACE Marketing Coordinator - Atlanta Braves - Apply Here

💼 Broadcast/Streaming Specialist - Paramount - Apply Here

💼 Executive Assistant - Fuzzy Door - Apply Here

💼 Music Programming Coordinator - SiriusXM - Apply Here

💼 Content Marketing Coordinator (Global) - MUBI - Apply Here

📞 The Call Log: An Anonymous Member of Production Assistants United 👀

AvA: How do you think the culture of the next generation of Hollywood is changing?

Anon: I think there are a few major changes happening at once. First of all, "following your dream" is now prohibitively expensive. Looking around me, it's becoming apparent that most people who are able to stay in the game are those who can afford to. The rest of us are working that much harder and longer, often doing multiple jobs at once, in order to afford our places in this generation and keep our dreams alive.

But also, with the current labor movement in the United States, I think the next generation is becoming more familiar with their rights as workers (and US citizens, for that matter), and more comfortable demanding them. Courageous people are speaking up, and abuses in the industry have been brought to the public eye. Our understanding of our rights, in addition to public knowledge of the transgressions of those in power, empowers us to reject fear in favor of forming community and organizing. 

AvA: What made you feel now was the time to organize?

Anon: The time to organize is always now, but the need to organize is more urgent now than ever as the Trump administration threatens workers' rights every day. We urgently need to cement our rights and create more difficult conditions for them to be robbed from us. 

I also feel deeply that change on a global scale starts with organizing on a small scale. Looking out for each other starts with your local community, which often includes co-workers. In a time of such stark division, it also feels important to find common ground with fellow Americans. To me, this common ground is our collective rights as workers. It's a priority for so many of us, whether you're talking to a MAGA republican or a leftist. I think honest conversation and meaningful change can be born from this movement. 

I think it's important to say that we're very lucky that our organizing campaign is so strongly supported by the Entertainment Union Coalition - IATSE, Teamsters, Laborers, SAG, WGAW, AFM, and the DGA. It cannot be overstated how valuable this support is for a group demanding recognition, which helps the right time to be right now.

AvA: How did the sentiment on PAU evolve over time during the campaign?

Anon: One thing I've noticed in my time spent organizing is that an effective tool that keeps workers from unionizing is lack of information. Many people don't know how labor unions work, and this enables a culture of fear mongering around organizing and unions in general. From my experience, once people learned about PAU and what a union really is, they were absolutely elated to join the fight.

AvA: Do you have any advice for other production assistants out there?

Anon: My advice for PAs and assistants is to listen, learn everything you can, work hard, find genuine friends in your co-workers, look out for each other, know your rights, watch The Pitt, and reach out to Production Assistants United. 

📚 AvA Recs 🎧

A weekly series from Dominik, who leads our Strategy, Growth and Product.

We hear a lot about local media, its promise, perils, and importance? In the ever-scaling world of digital, what does its place look like? Well, Peter Kafka, chief correspondent at Business Insider, sat down with the Patch CEO who seems to have found his answer… AI?

AND on the completely other end of the spectrum, TBPN (the technology business programming network), a daily tech live show that's on X, YouTube, well really every platform, did College GameDay-style coverage of a Meta corporate event?

Both these stories have something in common… Peter Kafka covered them and they made me ponder the future of media in our incredibly niche digital era. The takeaway from both is clear: the internet is a big place so go super specific in whatever it is you are working on, there is always more runway than you think.

👋 See you back here on Wednesday

Want this newsletter in your inbox every week?

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

Get in touch! Email us at [email protected].

Want to partner with us and reach 210k+ music and entertainment professionals? Email [email protected]