NYPAA News

Neil Jacobson, the president of Geffen Records, is leaving the Universal Music Group company to start his own venture. Called Crescent Drive Productions, it will operate as an independent music management firm, publishing company and record label. Jacobson had been with UMG for 17 years. He also manages the careers of producer and songwriters Jeff Bhasker (Bruno Mars, Harry Styles), Emile Haynie (Lana Del Rey, Eminem) and Brendan O’Brien (Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam). Jacobson is also a key architect in bridging music rights owners and Wall Street. Earlier today, it was announced that the Hipgnosis Songs fund acquired Bhasker’s catalog.

Said Jacobson in announcing his exit: “For the past 17 years, I have been fortunate to work here at Interscope. I’ve made lifelong friends and have had the privilege of working with many of the world’s most talented artists. Being the President of Geffen Records over the last three years has been the greatest honor of my career.  There is no way to put into words how much my time here has meant to me, but after much reflection, I’ve decided to start my own venture, Crescent Drive Productions, an independent music management, publishing and record label. As our industry continues to grow and evolve through technology, music consumption, and artists’ direct relationships with their fans, I am excited about my new venture’s contributions to serve artists and fans worldwide.”

In a letter to staff, Interscope Geffen A&M chairman John Janick praised Jacobson as “driven, smart, insightful and incredibly passionate about the music industry.” Read it in its entirety below.

To all IGA,

Nearly 10 years ago, while running Fueled By Ramen, I struck up a friendship with Neil Jacobson. He struck me as driven, smart and insightful and incredibly passionate about the music industry.  He told me he was setting out to learn every aspect of the music business and that’s exactly what he did.  At Interscope alone, over the past 17 years he has worked in international publicity and marketing, management and A&R.

When Neil agreed to take on the role of President of Geffen Records, he shared my vision of continuing the storied legacy of the Geffen brand.  His vast knowledge of the business and keen eye for talent were essential as he moved the label forward. Neil did all of this buoyed by an intense entrepreneurial spirit, something we both share.

Recently, Neil came to me expressing his desire to leave Geffen to follow his entrepreneurial passions. Given my history, I feel compelled to support his decision and not stand in his way.  Neil will remain at the company until the end of the year and will continue to assist through the transition.

We have an incredible team at Geffen who will be integral to the company moving forward.  Over the next several months we will be announcing exciting new things for Geffen, a label which remains vital to the continued success of IGA.

John

https://variety.com/2019/music/news/neil-jacobson-geffen-records-crescent-drive-productions-1203433316/

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The only direction that Harry Styles is going is up.

That was clear when the One Direction heartthrob pulled charming and cheeky double duty while serving as both host and musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” last month. Now the 25-year-old Brit continues to prove he’s a solo star with his second post-1D album, “Fine Line,” out Friday. While the LP is not as revelatory as 2017’s surprisingly sublime “Harry Styles,” it certainly cements the fact that not only did he have the best hair in One Direction, but he also had the most talent.

Here are five highlights that will have ladies of all ages — and no doubt some fellas, too — wild about Harry.

“Golden”
The sun-kissed opener kicks off the album with a burst of ’60s-pop radiance. “Take me back to the light/I knew you were way too bright for me,” sings Styles, revealing his broken heart on this deceptively shimmery track.

“Watermelon Sugar”
Like “Adore You” and “Lights Up” — the other two tracks released before the album dropped — this single is more straightforward soul-pop than the rest of “Fine Line.” But when the groove and the melody are this sweet, it hardly matters.

“She”
Styles works his falsetto powers on this romantic reverie about a girl who “lives in daydreams with me.” There’s a woozy beauty to Beck-y tracks such as this one, which ends with an extended guitar solo — because that’s what real rock stars do.

“Treat People With Kindness”
This message might seem a bit cheesy coming from anyone other than one of the hippest and hottest young dudes on the planet. But in Styles’ all-embracing hands, you can’t help but be swept up in the feel-good spirit that harks back to his Brit-pop granddaddies, The Beatles.

“Fine Line”
The title tune is a dreamy ballad that gets you lost in swirling atmospherics, showing you just how much Styles is all about the mood. When he croons “We’ll be all right” at the end of an album that has ached to get over that thin line between love and hate, you believe him.

https://nypost.com/2019/12/11/harry-styles-new-album-fine-line-is-fine/

When Jane Musky signed on as production designer for “Hustlers,” she had the luxury of spending four weeks discussing the film with its director, Lorene Scafaria. The main challenge, she says, was “how do we let everyone know that this is not a story about girls stripping, even though they do strip?” Her goal was not to create a cliched world, one that had been seen in other such films.

“Hustlers” stars Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez as strippers working in a Manhattan club frequented by the wealthy men of Wall Street. When the economic crash of 2008 hits, Ramona (Lopez), Destiny (Wu) and the other women in the club take matters into their own hands and empower themselves through their hustle.

It’s a gritty and empowering film about strong women gaining the upper hand. Janet Jackson’s “Control” plays at the beginning of the film, underscoring that point.

The club’s design was a culmination of color, class and fun.

“It was my choice to make it slick and full of texture,” Musky says referring to the club. “When they are stripping, it should look magnificent. It should not be the seedy strip club.”

Once the women stepped off the stage, it was a different vibe. Musky says the area was like a locker room, cramped and not warm. “It’s work. It’s tough. It’s like the “Black Swan” of stripping.”

A noticeable tonal shift happens in the film when the Great Recession takes place in 2008. “The strip club took its turn and there was less money to be made. It got seedier and their lives started falling apart,” says Musky.

At the height of their earning power, the women are living the ultimate in luxury. Destiny buys a house in the suburbs to live in with her daughter, and drives an expensive SUV. She buys expensive handbags, just because she can. The film’s location manager, with some luck, found the ideal place near Manhattan’s Hudson Yards to serve as Ramona’s penthouse.

“The apartment happened to be a model apartment for a brand new building. So we got the top floor, emptied it out and dressed it,” explains Musky, who wanted to achieve a “crazy, over-the-top” vibe. “That way we knew they had succeeded in scamming these guys. They were heroines in a way. They had been treated so poorly for so long, now was the time to get back at these guys.”

https://variety.com/2019/artisans/awards/hustlers-jennifer-lopez-constance-wu-1203430113/

Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp teamed up for two duets; Debbie Harry and DMC (Darryl McDaniels) collaborated on an epic rap collaboration; and the Eurythmics reunited for a set at Sting and Trudie Styler’s 30th annual Rainforest Benefit at the Beacon Theater in New York City Monday night (Dec. 9).

The event  was hosted by actor Robert Downey Jr., who showed vocal chops of his own with a cover of Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” and cracked several ’80s themed jokes while gently chastising the crowd about cell phone use. The evening also featured performances by Sting, James Taylor, Bob Geldof, Shaggy, Ricky Martin, MJ Rodriguez, Adrienne Warren (star of the new Tina Turner Broadway musical “Tina”), Joe Sumner (Sting’s son, who fronts his own band, Fiction Plane), and Zucchero with a house band that included musical director Narada Michael Walden, bassist Will Lee, guitarist Felicia Collins, and former Rolling Stones backup singer Lisa Fischer, who shined brightly with a front and center showcase on Sting’s “We’ll Be Together.” The solo classic also served as the centerpiece for the evening.

Formerly held at Carnegie Hall, the event changed to the Beacon Theater because, Sting told Variety, “It was booked. I had my birthday here eight years ago, and I loved it. It’s more of a rock and roll venue.”

Ever the gentleman, Sting credited his wife, Trudie Styler, with handling all the logistics of the bill. “Behind every man is a good woman,” he said. “We are creating a community here with people who are concerned about the same issues we are, and it’s a lovely feeling. We are only going to solve this problem as a community.”

And while Sting served as a master of ceremonies, joking with Downey or taking a moment to remember performers from past Rainforest lineups who have passed away, it was Styler who made the call to action with a passionate speech that took a swipe at Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro’s accusations that actor Leonardo DiCaprio is responsible for the destruction of the Rain Forest. “You can’t make this s–t up,” she said.

The lineup of socially conscious artists included Band Aid organizer Geldof, who couldn’t resist seizing the moment to make a political plea. “Welcome to Boomerstock,” said Geldof, who performed the Boomtown Rats hit, “I Don’t Like Mondays.” (He cracked afterward, “I’m so f–king sick of doing that song.”) “We’re the old guys and girls with guitars and keyboards that still think it’s possible to change things,” he added. Although he did not name President Donald Trump by name, he did express hope that “by next year you will be rid of that man” before launching into a cover of the anthemic, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love and Understanding.”

Other highlights included Mellencamp delivering a captivating acoustic version of “Jack and Diane” before summoning Springsteen to join him for a taut “Pink Houses.” With both men trading verses and bringing the house to its feet. Mellencamp was particularly spry, working the crowd while Springsteen went to work on guitar. The two later united for “Glory Days” (Springsteen sound-checked “I’m on Fire,” but it was cut for time), that was still ebullient despite a missed cue and Springsteen declaring, “We f–ked up!”

Debbie Harry made a statement during her brief set, donning a red cape that read “Stop F–king the Planet” (she wore a similar black jacket with the same message on the carpet). She was joined by rapper DMC of Run DMC mid-way through the seminal 1980 hit, “Rapture,” with DMC rapping to leave “the Rainforest alone.”

James Taylor was delightfully engaging with the crowd, seated simply with an acoustic guitar for “Your Smiling Face” and cheating a little bit with the theme with “a song from the early Sixties” with a sweet interpretation of the Carole King and Gerry Goffin penned hit for The Drifters, “Up on The Roof.” He even joined DMC in a a quick mic moment on the RUN DMC/Aerosmith collab “Walk This Way.”

Shaggy fully embraced the theme with Eddy Grant’s 1982 hit “Electric Avenue.” Said the Jamaican star: “As a Caribbean boy, Eddy Grant was somebody I looked up to!”

But it was the Eurythmics reunion of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart that stole the show with a trio of pop perfection, opening with “Would I Lie to You,” an exquisite “Here Comes The Rain Again” (appropriate for the rain drenched New York City evening), and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Lennox owned the moment with rock star precision, her voice a fine tuned instrument against Stewart’s lustrous instrumentation. It begged the question–could this act be repeated?

Speaking to Variety on the red carpet, Lennox explained that, although the duo hadn’t performed together since 2014, the invitation to reunite for the cause was too important to pass up.

“Sting and Trudie were visionaries back in the day and this is going to be the last concert of it’s kind, but I believe the Trust will continue, so for us to finally be here tonight is a historical event,” she said. “It’s hugely significant because we all know, as do most people with any intelligence understand, what is happening in the Amazon at the moment and the huge destruction that has been going on for decades. … I just feel so privileged to be a part of it tonight, and be able to contribute a very small part to what I hope will be a huge fundraising event and will continue to make a supportive impact especially on the indigenous tribal people whose lives have been devastated and all the animals. The benefit of the jungle is it is the lungs of the planet, and we are all a part of this big picture.”

In a way, the event was a reunion of artists from the 1987 album “A Very Special Christmas,” which included contributions from Sting, Springsteen, Mellencamp, Run DMC and The Eurythmics, all holiday staples as radio station everywhere.

The show concluded with a group cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” (with a reprise of DMC’s freestyle rainforest rap) a treat for invited guest Neal Schon who sat in the crowd (“There’s a lot of good friends here,” Schon told Variety earlier), which included actors Chazz Palmentari, Val Kilmer, Clive Davis, Julie Chen, Brian Stokes Mitchell, billionaire hedge funder Ray Dalio, “Lion King” writer Irene Mecchi,  and Chic legend and produce Nile Rodgers, who praised Sting’s efforts on the red carpet.

“I performed here with Sting for many years,” Rodgers recalled. “The last time was six years ago, and I unfortunately had two bouts of cancer since I played last, but I am here and I am well and I am cancer free,” he said. “I have been supporting the cause for a long time and it’s sad to me that we still have to do this. It seems like the world is slow to get the message.”

Sting is set to receive the Global Citizen Artist of the Year Prize, honoring a creative individual or group who uses their platform and their work to create change not only through conversation but meaningful impact. The Rainforest Foundation could get another financial shot in the arm, as the award includes a $150,000 prize paid to the organization through which the individual has achieved impact.  Set to air 8 p.m. Dec. 20  on NBC from London’s Royal Albert Hall, the “Global Citizen Prize” special will also feature appearances by Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Raphael Saadiq, Stormzy, Chris Martin and H.E.R with presenters Connie Britton, Emma Bunton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jason Derulo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leona Lewis, Himesh Patel and Kal Penn.

https://variety.com/2019/music/news/sting-bruce-springsteen-john-mellencamp-80s-rainforest-benefit-1203431994/

Variety will honor “Joker” director Todd Phillips at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 3 as a part of its annual 10 Directors to Watch brunch, presented by AT&T.

Phillips, who also co-wrote and produced the box office smash, will receive the annual creative impact in directing award.

The prize celebrates Phillips’ work on the groundbreaking Warner Bros. pic starring Joaquin Phoenix. Since the drama’s release, “Joker” has racked up a lengthy list of accolades, namely receiving the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time. On Monday, the film garnered four Golden Globe nominations for drama, director, actor and original score.

“Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker’ is one of the most provocative, celebrated films of the year, with an extraordinary lead performance by Joaquin Phoenix,” Variety editor-in-chief Claudia Eller said. “Todd’s unique vision and masterful creativity showcases iconic artisan work, from the memorable stairs sequence to the re-imagining of Gotham as 1980s New York City.”

In his 25-plus-year career, Phillips has received one Academy Award nomination. His directorial work includes “The Hangover,” “Borat” and “War Dogs.” As producer, Phillips had a hand in “Project X” and the Academy Award-winning film “A Star Is Born.”

Previous recipients of Variety‘s creative impact in directing award include Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”), Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”), David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”), Charlie Kaufman (“Anomalisa”), Jeff Nichols (“Loving”) and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will be held Jan. 2 through Jan. 13.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/todd-phillips-joker-creative-impact-directing-award-1203431581/

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