Florida Producer Runs Deluxe Compound to Find Next Justin, Britney, Jonas Brothers

August 10, 2011— -- Before he brought sexy back, she (oops) did it again, or they were burning up, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and The Jonas Brothers were kids who dreamed of making it big.

The pop stars' fairy godmother was Johnny Wright, a boy-band Bollettieri who turns scraggly teens into platinum-plated megastars. Every day Wright weeds through hundreds of demo tapes sent by aspiring young stars, all hoping some of that superstar magic will rub off on them.

Most of the tapes are derivative or dull, he said. The exceptions might earn the sender a visit to Wright's multimillion-dollar compound in the Orlando suburbs, its walls lined with trophies and mementos. More than a home, it's a star factory where he produces his next line of talent.

There's a state-of-the-art recording studio, plus a swimming pool, tennis courts, golf course and jet skis.

"The compound [is] built just for that – to stimulate people to make them feel at home. To give them diversions if they get stuck in writing a song, if they are having a tough time in the studio [so] that they can go jump on a jet ski, they can go fishing, they can bowl," Wright said.

Not that it's summer camp for the burgeoning artists lucky enough to get there. "It's what we call boot camp," Wright said. Up and comers spend weeks, even months there. While there are plenty of distractions, there is little time for play.

"In the mornings they have to do their workouts, and they have to do their vocal lessons, and they have to do their rehearsal, then they have to do their studio time," Wright said.

The new kids on the block are Y6, a pop group on the edge of stardom that consists of four boys and two girls hand-picked from thousands of online contestants to come to Wright's compound.

The group has learned that getting here was the easy part. They say the hard work really began soon after they arrived. Their regimen: sing, dance, exercise, repeat.

Wright said he believes all the preparation is crucial -- a lesson he has taken from the failures and flame-outs that have accompanied his successes.

When he managed the Backstreet Boys, he signed one member's younger brother, Aaron Carter. At the age of 10, he sold a million records in six weeks, Wright said.

He was unprepared for such stardom, Wright said, and drugs destroyed his career.

Wright helped him get turned around, but now he is wary of kids who, however talented, only want to make it big.

"If you want to do this, to take a craft and gift God gave you and present it to the world and be successful, that's fine. Money will follow. But if your only motivation for this is to be rich, famous -- I have no time for that."