The AvA Connection

❤️ Valentines Day is tomorrow. I should probably be selling these cards I made, but in the meantime go screenshot them and text it to your favorite coworker (before you ask them for a favor that will ruin their day).

🐝 The Weekly Buzz

Kanye West was dropped by his talent agency for his recent string of antisemitic remarks, and his Super Bowl ad. Good.

In “response” to Kanye’s actions, a group of celebrities including Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Mark Zuckerberg and Drake posted a video wearing T-shirts with a ‘middle finger to Kanye’…. or did they? After the video went viral, it became pretty clear this was a total misuse of AI, and Scarlett Johansson (one of the celebrities “in” the video) spoke out against the video. While Johansson obviously opposes Kanye’s actions, she declared the “potential for hate speech multiplied by AI is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it.” She is now calling for legislation to be passed to limit the use of AI. 

In our last AI topic of the day, a fraudulent ODESZA album created purely with AI popped up all over streaming services and was actually published under their official streaming profiles. They very much had nothing to do with it, and I’m glad because it uhhh sucked.

YouTube viewing on TV has officially passed both mobile and desktop mediums in the US. The streaming platform has been around for two decades now, and it is beginning to take up a significant share from the film and TV specific services.

Deeper Dive: In December 2024, YouTube viewing on connected TVs in the U.S. increased to capture a record 11.1% share of TV usage among streaming platforms ahead of Netflix (8.5%), Prime Video (4.0%), Hulu (2.5%) and Disney+ (2.1%), according to Nielsen.

Netflix streaming boom has slowed down, and the company’s next move is likely video-based podcasts. With the average Netflix watch time stuck at 60 minutes, the move would look to capture a more engaged, “lean-in” audience. 34% of Americans listen to an average of 8.3 podcast episodes per week, and 23% spend over 10 hours listening weekly. Globally there are now 500 million podcast listeners.

Netflix also allegedly took a run at Alex Cooper before she ended up striking a $125m deal with SiriusXM.

With 12.8 million viewers, Puppy Bowl XXI was the highest-watched ever. Hell yea.

Universal Music Group is building on their 4-year partnership with Music Health Alliance to launch the Music Industry Health Fund. This comes on the heels of Chappell Roan putting her money where her mouth is by donating $25k to non-profit Backline’s We Got You campaign which “supports accessibility of health care for artists.” Her labelmate Sabrina Carpenter joined Charli xcx, Noah Kahan, Live Nation, AEG, Wasserman, Hinterland Music Festival who have all since matched her $25k donation. No word yet from Jeff Rabhan!

Sony Group dropped their Q4 earnings:

• Total revenue hit $28.6B (+18% YoY)

• Their Gaming division pulled their weight. Revenue: $10.92B (+16% YoY)

• Music did as well thanks to streaming. Revenue: $3.12B (+14% YoY)

• Sony Pictures did not. Revenue was up 9% YoY but their income dropped 18% YoY due to higher marketing costs for their theatrical releases.

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) has launched the State of Live survey—the first national economic research study of independent live entertainment venues, promoters, performing arts centers, and festivals. Participants will help shape policies and funding initiatives that secure the future of live entertainment. Complete it here: stateoflive.org (Survey closes February 18.)

📞 How to get a job at Netflix?

Truth be told I hate LinkedIn. OK hate is a strong word, but I find 75% of it pretty obnoxious. It’s become a weird place of self-promo BUT sometimes I stumble on a great post. Today was one of those days.

Back in 2015, the ex-Head of Partner Experiences at Netflix dropped some wisdom on what he learned from interviewing at Netflix for that role. Truth be told there is no formula to landing a job. It’s a mix of luck, timing, skillset, and perseverance. While things have certainly changed since 2015, I thought there were some great pieces of advice that still ring true today.

• Think of what parts of your experience match the requirements of the position and what gaps there may be as well. Think about what you have accomplished in these areas as well as the struggles you have had. What problems did you fix? What mistakes did you learn from? How could you bring value to Netflix because of these experiences? Which teams did you interact with to succeed and how did you collaborate? When I reviewed the job description for my current role, it helped frame my understanding as well as develop the questions I could ask to get the information I needed to determine whether or not this position was the best fit for me.  It also helped me select from my experience the parts that were the most relevant to the job. This will not only give the interviewers the information they need, but help you figure out if this role is the right match for you.

• Once you get the list of people who will be on your panel of interviewers, take this information as an opportunity to get to know the group before you meet them in person. There are multiple sources out there where you can find information about the people who will be interviewing you. Knowing which college the interviewer graduated from or which football team they support will not affect the outcome of the interview, but this will help you build rapport and further develop your relationship in a short amount of time. For example, I discovered in my research that one of the interviewers was from San Diego and a Chargers fan, like me. This made a great ice-breaker at the beginning of the discussion. Knowledge of their professional experience will also help you to calibrate your answers to the interviewer. Just remember, you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.

• During the interview, make sure you avoid giving answers that sound rehearsed. Take your time and don't be afraid to tell the interviewer you need a minute to figure it out. Your analytical skills are a big part of the interview. Feel free to use the whiteboard if you need to. I know I did when explaining an experience at a previous company where I implemented a technology solution that ultimately failed. In the end, it is better to arrive at a clear articulated answer, then spurting out the first example that you’ve come prepared to talk about. After all, there are no bonus points for the fastest response.

👋 See you back here on Tuesday for news and a bunch of open jobs in Entertainment.

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

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