Paramount+ is lining up a new music documentary about boy bands, featuring Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, 98 Degrees, and New Kids On The Block. These groups dominated the 90s and early 2000s, creating quite the interesting cultural phenomenon. This untitled documentary is being produced by Johnny Wright and Van Toffler. Tamra Davis (“Billy Madison,” “Half Baked“) is set to direct.
Wright was the former tour manager for New Kids On The Block. He then went on to manage Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Toffler is the current of Gunpowder & Sky, which is producing with MTV Entertainment Studios. He also spent 28 years at MTV, including as President of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group between 2008 and 2016. That was a time when MTV was still playing music videos, many of which were from the above mentioned artists.
This documentary will give a deep dive into the many aspects that made the boy band era what it was. It will include interviews from key players and archive footage from the time. This will be the latest music documentary from Gunpowder & Sky to be featured on Paramount+. Gunpowder & Sky previously produced “I Wanna Rock: The ’80s Metal Dream” and “Sometimes When We Touch,” the yacht rock doumentary.
“The ’90s boy band era made an indelible impact and will be forever woven into the pop culture landscape. Boy bands remain bonafide global sensations to this day, as seen in the fan frenzy heard around the world during *NSYNC’s on-stage reunion at this year’s VMAs and the ever-spreading domination of K-Pop’s biggest groups like BTS, Stray Kids and TXT,” said Bruce Gillmer, President of Music, Music Talent, Programing & Events, Paramount and Chief Content Officer, Music, Paramount+.
Wright and Toffler also added their own praises as the look forward to this new documentary. “The ’90s boy band era was an extraordinary chapter in music where harmonies and beats came together, along with talented vocal artists who captivated the hearts of millions,” Wright said.
“If you think back to groups like The Jackson 5, who paved the way for boy bands, this music has dominated the charts for decades, but there’s always been a stigma attached. The reality is, there are insanely talented guys who let the requests each week when I was running TRL in the ’90s and early 2000s,” said Toffler.
