A STAR SEARCH

New music reality series begins filming in Orlando

A new music reality series has begun filming in Orlando.

“Pop Star Studio” will showcase and groom singers ages 13-19 as they audition, are cast and progress through a variety of tasks, such as choreography, recording, media training and more.

The show is looking to form a group of five, and some of the potential candidates hail from Florida, according to Wright. It will also feature celebrity mentors, guest stars and music industry executives.

Orlando’s KDS Studios has teamed up with music industry moguls Willie Baker and Donna Wright — who both helped launch the careers of N’Sync, Pink and Backstreet Boys.

“It’s been a long time since anything like this has come

around,” said Wright, mentioning ABC/MTV’s “Making the Band” series that ended in 2009. Wanting to work on a “making of the band” show for years, Wright jumped at the opportunity to work with KDS Studios.

Pop Star Studio held auditions on June 5, and filming will continue throughout the process as the band develops.

“The hardest part is choosing the kids that … we want to put together as a group. And we want to make sure they get along,” Wright said. “You never know when a wrench gets thrown in!”

Wright hopes the new group and show will be family-oriented.

“We lose our teenagers too soon to their friends,” the “Pop Star Studio” co-host who lives in Longwood, Massachusetts. “I’d like to see a family-oriented group that will bring families together again. I would love to see that.”

While Wright said most of the filming will take place at KDS Studios, there are opportunities for the show to expand to other areas of the Sunshine State.

“KDS Studios is a huge, huge complex that has many, many recording studios, editing studios, rehearsal studios, green studios. It has everything we need,” she said, noting it even has space for talent to rehearse in a dance studio. “We could probably go to like maybe beaches or something … most of the music videos are outside, so we could go anywhere in Florida.”

Wright estimates filming will take about three to six months and hopes to pitch “Pop Star Studio” to major networks in the fall.

LIZZIE HEINTZ/ORLANDO SENTINEL PHOTOS Brian Inerfeld, 21, from Fort Lauderdale, performs Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” during the first day of filming for “Pop Star Studio.”

Isabella Perez, 15, laughs with casting directors and co-hosts during the first day of filming at KDS Studios in Orlando.