The boy group boom of the 1990s ignited the music industry and popular culture. Lou Pearlman is a key designer driving this phenomenon. He recruited young and eager singers, assembled just the right personalities, and created some of the most successful musical groups of the time, including NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. He effectively defined the soundtrack of the era. He was also the mastermind of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history.
Boy Band Con: The story of Lou Pearlman’s downfall of an innovator who achieved meteoric rise. This is not an easy task.
Many interviewees, including musicians Lance Bass and Aaron Carter, emphasized the man’s complexity. Many refused to speak ill of him and went to great lengths to explain his apparent duality. Others thought he was the most outrageous liar they had ever seen.
Operating out of Orlando, Florida, Pearlman taps the area’s ambitious young talent, many of whom are employed as entertainers at the city’s popular theme parks. He has a vision, and he attracts teenagers who would otherwise have global success in no time. This vision will pay off in the billions.
Pearlman doesn’t fit the mold of your typical music mogul. Sociable, buxom without being pretentious, he likes to have confidence in anyone he meets. He was practically part of her family. As soon as the first checks came in, that foundation began to falter. Despite selling out stadiums around the world and selling millions of records, the band members barely earned minimum wage. What is ultimately unraveled is a tangled web of deceit, treachery and massive financial fraud.
The film chronicles Pearlman’s beginnings as a misfit outcast, his shady tactics to win over his young clients, and the FBI investigation that ultimately brought him down. It’s a captivating portrait of a devious criminal mind, set against a dazzling backdrop of global celebrities and all their finery.
Directed by: Aaron Kunkel
