Variety 11/30/2022

Rocket Man, Dua Lipa and the next generation of musical superstars — this is what we have packed into the pages of our annual Hitmakers issue, which puts a spotlight on the artists, labels, executives, producers, publishers, sound mixers, engineers, managers and marketing mavens behind the year’s 25 most consumed songs. Variety’s mighty music team has taken Hitmakers, now in its sixth year, to new heights. The issue provides a 360 view of how the business actually works. From the first stirrings of beats and lyrics to the promotional campaigns and TV syncs that put a new (or vintage) tune over the top, we tell the tales of how huge hits were born. Whatever your earworms were, we’ve got the back-story on 2022’s signature platters, including Harry Styles’ “As It…

Variety executive editor of music Shirley Halperin profiled Ebonie Ward and Amy Coles and curated our exhaustive Hitmakers edition: “I start working on the Hitmakers list in June; while people are kicking into gear for summer, I’m already winding down the year!” In March, deputy music editor Jem Aswad was at Madison Square Garden watching Dua Lipa perform “Cold Heart” when he realized Elton John was probably playing the same song five miles away at Barclays Center. Therein lies a tale, he thought. Distracting himself from the countdown to Record Store Day Black Friday, senior music writer and chief music critic Chris Willman talked with Hitmakers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. Photographer Peggy Sirota captured Elton John and Dua…

Observers believe Netflix left millions on the table by restricting the theatrical run of “Glass Onion” to one week. Ahead of Thanksgiving, cinema owners, increasingly dismayed by the lack of compelling movies to screen and painfully aware that the fall’s only blockbuster, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” wouldn’t match the stratospheric grosses of its predecessor, approached Netflix with a plea. Would it be possible, they asked, for “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” the sequel to 2019’s box office hit “Knives Out,” to play in more theaters … and for a longer period of time? But Netflix held firm to its one-week exclusive theatrical run in roughly 600 North American locations — far fewer venues than the typical major new release — believing that would be the best course of action…

A few days after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo are in the green room of a Beverly Hills performing arts center, talking about their big night. “Eight minutes and 30 seconds!” exclaims Giraldo, talking about the exact length their performance had to be. “They busted our balls: ‘You can’t have 8:38; you have to have 8:30.’ So we had to make a little medley, and Patricia said, ‘How are we gonna ever remember [the alterations] when we’ve been doing these songs for 35 years?’ We’re old now — we just want it to be automatic,” he confesses. But the newly inducted husband-and-wife duo are busy with a project underway born out of the desire not to hear the same songs the…

EXECUTIVE SHUFFLE John Matts has been appointed chief financial officer at Hallmark Media, where he will lead the development and execution of short- and long-term finance strategies. Prior to joining Hallmark, he was CFO for the Golf Channel at NBCUniversal. Courtney Sexton has been named executive VP of documentary film and TV at Participant Media. She spent the past nine years at CNN Films, where she was senior VP. Earlier in her career, Sexton helped Participant launch the docu division during her eight-year run. Dana DeSanto has been appointed senior VP of sales and marketing at 1895 Films, where she will oversee partnerships and branded content and focus on short-form expansion. She had served as VP of marketing and network partnerships for the Smithsonian Channel. Steve Carlston has been tapped senior…

Despite music industry pledges of equality and inclusion in recent years, the coveted “carve-out” — an employment deal that allows executives to continue to work and profit from side hustles, such as managing an artist — remains mostly out of reach for women in high-ranking positions. The list of male executives with such sweetheart deals is a long one, but often it’s a senior A&R hire who’s likely to come in with a big management client on the side. Gordan Dillard, who recently joined Capitol Music Group as executive VP of A&R and artist development, is a prime example, as he continues to manage Doja Cat (signed to RCA) via SalXCo. “A&R has always been the straightest line to the C-suite,” says a top female executive. “For years, women were…