NYPD Pizza Opens First Franchise in Central Florida

A Taste of New York Arrives in Kissimmee

KISSIMMEE, FL – NYPD Pizza Kissimmee, the first franchise in Central Florida, hosts a grand opening event, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturday, November 18, for the community. The neighborhood pizzeria is located at 2947 Vineland Road, Kissimmee, in the Publix Shopping Center, corner of 192 and 535, behind Burger King.

There will be activities for the kids like face painting, clowns and balloons. Plus, the Kissimmee Police Department will be offering child fingerprint identification. The Osceola County Fire Department will also be on-site showcasing a fire truck.

Franchise Owners Victor and Angela Rivera said, "We will be offering a grand opening special of buy one get one free cheese pie of the same size. We want to give area residents a taste of authentic New York style pizza and feel NYPD Pizza is the best."

Lou Pearlman's NYPD Pizza offers the highest quality pizza products and Italian restaurant menu items made of all the freshest ingredients. All of the pizzas are hand-tossed, made with NYPD Pizza's own unique pizza dough, high quality 100% mozzarella cheese, and NYPD’s own specially spiced tomato sauce, finished with fresh toppings, and baked in NYPD Pizza's own special brick oven. Other menu items include delicious appetizers, fresh salads, cheesy calzones, meaty stromboli, specialty hot hero sandwiches and a full line of mouth watering deserts.

"Our restaurants represent an era of days gone by as the neighborhood pizzeria with great food and an upbeat atmosphere," said New York Pizza Development President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Russo. "We are not your typical cookie cutter franchise nor do we want to be. We want each franchise to have a personality that represents their community and the families that live there."

Established in 1996 and headquartered in Orlando, FL, New York Pizza Development, LLC is home of the authentic New York style pizza and pizza by the slice. The Franchise Division launched in January 2004 and offers three distinctive franchise types: the Sub Station is express, delivery, take-out and catering; the Metro Unit is express, dine-in, delivery, take-out with seating and catering; and the Precinct is the traditional full-service restaurant with dine-in, take-out, delivery and catering. The NYPD Pizza Kissimmee franchise is a Metro Unit. There are currently 50 franchises sold with eight already open across the country. For additional information on NYPD Pizza and its franchises, visit www.nypdpizza.net.

Lou Pearlman in the Mix

A teen talent tycoon scouts out the girl group movie musical "Cheetah Girls 2."THE PLOT: The Cheetah Girls are a multiethnic quartet of New York City teens who juggle friendship with their quest for "international superstardom." In the sequel to the Disney Channel's original hit musical, the "Cheetahs" (Raven-Symone, Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, Kiely Williams) enter a talent competition in Barcelona, where romance, family matters and shady competitors threaten their bond.

INSIDER'S CREDENTIALS: Music mogul Lou Pearlman is the founder and chairman of Trans Continental Records -- the Orlando-based label behind teeny-bopper megabands such as 'N Sync, O-Town and the Backstreet Boys -- which has sold 200 million-plus records. Pearlman created one of the first network reality shows, "Making the Band," for ABC and is the author of "Bands, Brands & Billions."

OVERVIEW: "It's a nice teen movie. The trials and tribulations, the ins and outs, all of the drama is stuff that goes on in real life. The Cheetahs play off of each other well. Girl groups need to have that girl power thing like the Spice Girls did. You have to make sure they don't look like they're one-upping their fans, like 'We're prettier, and we have it more together than you.' You have to make it a girlfriend thing, which they do."

Scene 7: Barcelonan Stage -- Lola (Kim Manning), the manipulative momof the Cheetahs' rival, reveals her plot to break up the group.

"It was interesting how it played out with that show mom. We interview kids and parents at the same time because some of the adults want to [vicariously] be the kids on stage. We want to make sure the kid is into it, not just the parents. As long as the parents don't act too aggressive, then we are good."

Scene 14: The Principle of the Thing -- The competition director reinstates the disqualified Cheetahs after Lola is busted for foul play.

"Usually, a lot of teen movies have happy endings. When the competition director comes in to save the day, [it reminds me] of a lot of times when I have had trouble with a band. Once, the Backstreet Boys were playing a club in Miami. It was one of their first gigs. The audience was filled with guys, and they were throwing lemons and ice on stage. We had no idea what was going on. It turns out the booking agent had booked them to open for a wet T-shirt contest. The guys were waiting to see hot girls, and they got the Backstreet Boys instead."

Lou Pearlman Biography

You could say that Lou Pearlman has music in his blood. In addition to playing guitar for a band in his hometown of Flushing, Queens, New York, Louis J. Pearlman grew up musically inspired by his first cousin, Art Garfunkel. But when success in the music industry initially proved elusive, he turned his attention to another passion: his love for aviation. Armed with a strong vision, Lou Pearlman convinced Wall Street investors to help him start an air charter service. His vision came to fruition as Trans Continental Airlines was born. Oddly enough, it was Trans Continental Airlines that would eventually lead Lou Pearlman to his unbelievable success in the music industry.

After chartering jets for such music industry giants as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Phil Collins, Louis Pearlman received a charter request from the musical group, New Kids on the Block. Upon learning that these five young guys had amassed more than $100 million in record, tour and merchandise sales, Louis Pearlman decided it was time to re-enter the music industry from a different angle. With that decision, Trans Continental Records was created.

The Backstreet Boys, the first attempt from Lou Pearlman, catapulted Trans Continental Records into the spotlight of the world music scene, selling more than 65 million units worldwide and going gold and platinum in 45 different countries. Not long afterward, Trans Continental Records repeated that success with 'N SYNC, which sold over 56 million units globally.

In just a few short years, the Trans Continental Records' roster grew to include many other hit sensations including LFO and O-Town, a band that Lou Pearlman created for the ABC/MTV award-winning series, "Making the Band," the first network reality TV show. O-Town's debut single made recording history when it entered the Billboard single sales chart at number one. Artists on Trans Continental's roster include Aaron Carter, Jordan Knight, Natural, Sean van der Wilt, C Note, and Smilez & Southstar.

Louis J. Pearlman's musical empire in Orlando has continued to expand with the creation of an entertainment complex that features a state-of-the-art recording studio. Trans Continental Studios has been utilized by in-house artists and also by music industry stars such as Britney Spears, Creed, Matchbox 20, Mandy Moore, Alicia Keys, Art Garfunkel, K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Kenny Rogers, Eminem and Dr. Dre.

Pearlman's Talent Rock hosts talent search events showcasing thousands of aspiring vocalists, actors, models, dancers and comedians. Talent Rock events are setting a new standard in the industry by combining professional opportunity and workshop learning experiences with fun, exciting locations and musical entertainment.

In addition, Lou Pearlman produced "Longshot," a full length motion picture featuring some of today's hottest recording stars. Louis Pearlman has also been a producer and occasional guest for MTV's "Making the Band II" with Diddy. And, as if being a music mogul wasn't enough for Pearlman, he has also added author to his resume with the release of his book, "Bands, Brands and Billions."