What is the deal with the tomatoes on that pizza?
If you listened to pop music in the late 90s/early 00s (and I really hope you did) then you know of Lou Pearlman’s work. He didn’t sing any songs, he wasn’t in the spotlight much but his work in the music industry changed everything.
Pearlman was the man who put together and managed several boy bands, including Backstreet Boys and NYSNC, among others. He certainly didn’t look like someone associated with such groups: he was a large older business man who would stick out like a sore thumb at an LFO concert. But he knew what the kids wanted and put in the work to create music tailor-made for young audiences.
He also created a massive Ponzi scheme and ended up dying in prison a few years ago. So, yes, the man was complicated.
And now he’s getting his own biopic. Rolling Stone is reporting that a slew of producers, including Edward R. Pressman and Greg Basser, have bought the rights to a Vanity Fair piece about Pearlman, as well as the rights to Tyler Grey’s book The Hit Charade: Lou Pearlman, Boy Bands, and the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in U.S. History. They plan to turn that work into a movie called Transcon, based on the name of his company Trans Continental.
I remember being a young music fan and seeing Pearlman pop up periodically on MTV. He managed his boy bands with an iron fist but was seemingly revered by the young men he made into stars. Of course years later they would all come out and say it was a scam and how Pearlman was ripping them all off. His fall from grace was rapid and catastrophic but honestly not too surprising. He always seemed…weird. There was something odd about him, something that felt almost predatory. I’m sure Transcon will get into all of that and paint an honest picture of the man.
Side note: while reading about Pearlman for this piece, I found out that 1) Pearlman’s first cousin was Art Garfunkel and 2) he was obsessed with and sold blimps as a youth. Blimps! Okay, THAT’S what the movie should be about.