Hollywood Assistants Finally Get the Spotlight at Inaugural AvA Awards: “You’re Going to Run This Place Some Day”

After the Oscar nominations were announced before the sun was up on Thursday, the day concluded with a very different set of awards being handed out that night.

Assistants vs. Agents, the popular Instagram account that highlights the struggles of being a Hollywood assistant, hosted its inaugural awards show in L.A., in what appears to be the first honors ever recognizing the young people who keep studios, agencies and sets on track and on time.

The AvA Awards, held at the El Rey Theater and livestreamed on YouTube, drew a sold-out crowd of 450 assistants and crammed tons of the account’s signature humor into the hourlong ceremony. It kicked off with video messages from Rhett and Link, Robby Hoffman, Jake Shane, Ariana Madix, Matt Belloni and Atsuko Okatsuka and was hosted by creator Connor Wood, who told the room, “Get to know each other, shake some hands, because you guys are all about to work at Netflix. You guys are coworkers now, this is your first all-hands. I’m kidding, I’m joking. Some of you might work at Skydance; it’s great to have options.”

Wood also led with a roll call for the different assistant categories, which made clear that agency/management assistants were the majority of attendees, followed by studio assistants and a number of production assistants, personal assistants, music assistants, writers assistants, mail room workers and casting assistants as well.

Adding to the theme, a copy machine served as the evening’s podium and a cubicle photo booth was set up for those who felt they had been away from their desks for too long. Eight assistants were presented with Assistant of the Year honors: Erica Barry (UTA), Hawa Jobateh (WME/IMG), Wendy Hernandez (UTA), Alexa Rozansky (SMAC Entertainment), Liv Castro (LiveNation and Amplify Her Voice), Arman Yaghmai (Verve), Shannon Moran (CAA) and one from the crowd, Drew Cortopassi (Aggregate Films).

There were also a number of more lighthearted categories, including worst corporate buzzword (“Synergy”), best overpriced salad in L.A. (the Chinese Chicken Salad from Joan’s on Third), worst text to receive from your boss (“Call me”), most impossible task that you find a way to do anyways (“Drive from Glendale to Culver City during rush hour”) and client signing of the year (UTA’s signing of Parmigiano Reggiano).

The show was sprinkled with video messages from special guests, including Trixie Mattel and Nikki Glaser, the latter of whom teased it was “probably the gayest awards show after the Las Culturistas Culture Awards” but took the time to give assistants a pep talk.

“You’re so important to this industry, I know that gets said a lot but we really feel it. We know you’re going to run this place some day,” Glaser said. “Hang in there. I know it’s rough, I know you work for some serious monsters. My advice is just write down everything they say, write a book some day, or even better, when you get in a position of power, remember who was rude to you and just fuck them over in any way.”

The AvA Awards are the brainchild of Warner Bailey, a former WME assistant who founded the Assistants vs. Agents account in 2018 and in the last year has been focused on bringing the online community he’s built into the real world.

“I’m pretty sure tonight is the largest voluntary gathering of Hollywood assistants in one room, which means that at this moment, there are several powerful execs that are locked out of their laptops with no one to yell at because they forget their password,” Bailey — who is repped by UTA — joked from the stage at the start of the show. “You are the backbone of this industry. You are the tastemakers of today and the decision makers of tomorrow. So to honor you all, I decided to put on the first annual awards show honoring the hardest working people in our industry.”

In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bailey said he decided to put on the awards about three months ago and had over 1,000 nominations for the Assistants of the Year Awards, which were meant to honor not only work in the office but those making a positive impact in their communities. Nominations came courtesy of both peers and bosses, and winners were chosen by the Assistants vs. Agents team.

The event also featured a charitable element, with all ticket proceeds and donations going to MPTF, Save the Music Foundation, the L.A. Dodgers Foundation, Backline and Support + Feed, along with the Bee Kind Project, a foundation established in honor of Emma Huke and Kendall Fortner, two Sound Talent Group assistants who died in a plane crash last year.

With plans to continue the awards in future years, Bailey added, “I think the interesting part for this is that most award shows will celebrate outcomes on a public scale; what we’re trying to do is celebrate the infrastructure behind it, these junior execs, coordinators, assistants, who are doing the work behind the scenes. Instead of talent being recognized, talent is recognizing people in the industry.”