Kevin Liles is best known as a music executive and co-founder of 300 Entertainment. The 54-year-old industry insider also serves as executive producer for the forthcoming the Girl You Know It’s True movie.
Girl You Know It’s True tells the story of 1980s-era Pop/R&B duo Milli Vanilli (Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan). The German group became infamous for lip-syncing to the voices of other artists on their songs.
Tijan Njie (Pilatus) and Elan Ben Ali (Morvan) will portray the lead characters in Girl You Know It’s True. Matthias Schweighöfer plays German music producer Frank Farian, the man who formulated Milli Vanilli.
In addition to Kevin Liles, Girl You Know It’s True is co-produced by Simon Verhoeven, Frank Farian, and Stefan Gärtner. Simon Verhoeven is also the motion picture’s writer and director.
“Girl You Know It’s True is captivating on so many levels. It not only tells the spectacular rise of two underdogs making it to the zenith of showbiz within one summer,” says Simon Verhoeven.
He continues, “It also gives a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of that illusory world of fame and its sometimes tragic and unscrupulous machinations. Personally, I think Rob and Fab did not deserve to become the sole scapegoats of this scandal.”
Milli Vanilli scored three Number Ones on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart in the United States. The Girl You Know It’s True studio LP spent seven weeks atop the Billboard 200 album chart in 1989. The RIAA certified Milli Vanilli’s North American debut as 6x-Platinum.
Milli Vanilli won the Best New Artist award at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990. The Recording Academy later revoked Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan’s Grammy victory following the lip-syncing controversy. Rob and Fab returned their trophies.
LEONINE Studios and Wiedemann & Berg Film produced the Girl You Know It’s True movie. Principal photography takes place in Munich, Berlin, Capetown, and Los Angeles. Filming will wrap up in December 2022.
“Girl You Know It’s True comes from the heart of a decade when MTV planted its flag on the moon and we were able to see music, not just listen to it,” states Quirin Berg, Chief Creative Officer and Chief Production Officer of LEONINE Studios. “Our film celebrates Rob and Fab and what they achieved with Milli Vanilli and at the same time Simon’s fantastic screenplay also captures the complexity and ultimately tragic dimension that came with it.”
Quirin Berg added, “[Simon Verhoeven] offers not just an immensely entertaining take on the story but also a layer of critical reflection that asks many questions which seem more relevant today than ever. It took many years to secure the music rights and it’s a huge milestone to see this project in production now.”
