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Lou Pearlman was the man behind NSYNC, Backstreet Boys and O-Town … and fucked most royally.
It is this complicated dichotomy that is at the heart of the producer Lance Bass and director Aaron Kunkel's new YouTube Originals documentary, "The Boy Band Con: The Story of Lou Pearlman," which tells the unique story of Pearlman, the resounding success of those he's directed and the way it was ultimately defeated by totally dark business practices.
Before the premiere of the documentary at SXSW this week, TooFab has been talking to Bass and Kunkel about why they decided to tell Lou's story now, in a way that emphasizes both the good and do not ignore the dark side of things.
"My goal was to tell the true story of the birth and death of Lou Pearlman with just facts," Bass said. "We just wanted to tell the true story of the people who lived it and offer an excellent warning to children who want to integrate the entertainment industry. I hope it's a great bet. on guard for them and their parents. "
After helping to make them famous, NSYNC and Backstreet forged close ties with Pearlman when they discovered the flight on a road with which he escaped through their contracts. Other people, such as O-Town, LFO and Innosense, continued to work with him, but made other allegations about the perpetrator, accusing him of sexual misconduct .
In the end, it was a massive Ponzi scheme, defrauding investors over $ 300 million, who jailed him for 25 years in prison, where he finally died at the age of 62 in 2016 .
"It was really interesting to make a movie about these people who were very smart and who could still get ripped off by this guy, and how and why he did it," Kunkel added.
AJ McLean and Lance Bass / YouTube
To launch the documentary, Bass had to appeal to many friends of the pop star. The NYSNC Bass brothers are present throughout the sequence with their own testimonies on their relationship with Pearlman. JC Chasez and Chris Kirkpatrick, AJ McLean, Ashley Parker Angel of O-Town, Nikki DeLoach of Innosense and the mothers of Lance and Justin Timberlake.
"Lance has been so successful in convincing everyone and building that level of trust that we are going to tell the right story," Kunkle said.
"I have to say it was pretty difficult with something like that, because it's such a story that has affected so many people in a very negative and very different way," Bass said after spending these phone calls. "People often do not want to dwell on the past."
He added that some feared that the documentary would be a hit, but Bass assured them that "all aspects of the story can be told". Finally, they had artists on board and were then able to use these initial interviews to get others to sign as well.
Of course, not everyone said yes. "Many people – from group members to people who worked with Lou" have all refused, according to Bass. Joey Fatone even appeared in the documentary, telling Bass that he "did not feel comfortable talking about it", but had a change of heart after seeing the first cut.
Although he was not in the film, he joined SXSW filmmakers for a question-and-answer exchange after the premiere.
"It really makes you grateful to everyone who says" Yes "to want to relive a lot of that," added Kunkle. "Go back and think about memories that may not have been the best and discuss this story, and you must be grateful for that."
About Pearlman, many documentaries also provide viewers with interesting information about the debut of "TRL" pop stars. Anyone who grew up at the time knew that you had to be either a NSYNC fan or a Backstreet Boy fan, a rivalry that Lou himself created between two of his own bands.
"All of our career, we knew that Lou opposed us and we thought it because the competition is healthy, Coke and Pepsi, the competition is really good," said Bass, who also accused Pearlman of having his own motives. . their. "We did not understand that the real reason he wanted us to separate was not to compare our stories and discover all the lies he told us, how we all got scammed."
According to the documentary, NSYNC was the first to realize that its recording contracts were not as lucrative as they should have been. After selling over 10 million albums, their first paycheck cost only $ 10,000 each. AJ explained that the sums allocated to BSB were not sufficient either, some of them having trouble paying for their car or their apartments. In the end, NSYNC explained to the Backstreet Boys their money problem during a celebrity basketball game and toppled the lawyers, which ultimately allowed the two groups to permanently separate from Pearlman.
"Our two lawsuits are back-to-back," added Bass, "We helped each other a bit in understanding the story and quite quickly."
Another time, the guys inadvertently shook each other, that's when BSB pulled out of a Disney gig at the last minute, leaving NSYNC to replace him. After being filmed, the special show Mouse House had a major turnaround on Disney Channel, giving the group a helluva launch pad.
The documentary also does not fear some of the charges of sexual misconduct against Pearlman, including her alleged behavior with young men.
Ashley Parker Angel claimed that Pearlman would claim to have studied physiotherapy at the university before offering "delicate massages" to give her "muscles a pump". He also said Lou often told the guys to "show" their abs by taking off their shirts during rehearsals before telling a particularly sinister story. Rich Cronin told Howard Stern. Cronin died in 2010 after a battle with cancer.
Cronin claimed that Pearlman once told them about a nabob in Germany who could make them stars if he let him touch their genitals. Pearlman allegedly claimed to be able to "exercise" on him first.
Nikki DeLoach also accused Pearlman of recording the Innosense girls when they went to the tanning bed at home, and said he would show some of her boys the video "to gain their trust". Aaron Carter, however, categorically responds to this demand and all allegation of abuse, saying angrily: "Where is this sequence? Why did not she sue it? These are lies." He added that his parents had even "searched" the tanning bed before allowing him to use it.
"As a confined person, I just thought he was gay and that's why he behaved so weird sometimes," Bass said in the doc. "He would give you a massage, he was very nervous, he was a sensitive guy."
Pearlman himself refusal of allegations of sexual misconduct before his death.
O-Town, Innosense, LFO (L-R) / Getty
"We would be crazy if we did not mention it," Bass said of the many allegations in the doc, in which he also points to the lack of material evidence. "In all honesty, we have no proof of that and that's why we especially wanted Aaron, his name is always mentioned when you talk about it and we wanted to hear what he said and you hear what he said and trust him and believe him. "
Kunkel admitted that Carter had been "in a difficult situation in his life" when he had interviewed the film, but that his reaction had also highlighted the complex relationship that almost everyone had with Pearlman. "Lou was a father figure for many people and especially considering Aaron's youth when he started working, it would have been difficult for him not to see Lou as an important father figure," he said. he declared. "In the end, I think that's why he was so protective of someone he considered a positive person and providing him with the career that he has." "
Kunkel also added, "I think we are at a time, in a very good way, people have a platform to talk and tell the truth and I think we wanted to make sure do it too. "
In the end, Bass said that he knew that viewers would feel "somehow in conflict, since we were all watching the final product and we might let it go." I do not know if I should hate him, if I had to feel sorry for him. "For viewers, he promised that he was" 100% "with them.
"The only thing I can say is that I forgave him," he added. "I feel that my conscience is clear and, you know, I do not have a grudge about it."
"The Boys' Trouble: The Story of Lou Pearlman", a film by Pilgrim Media Group and Lance Bass Productions, will debut on YouTube on April 3rd.
Kunkel and Bass (L-R) / YouTube
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