'Framing Britney Spears' Directors Samantha and Liz Answer Questions on Reddit!

[BUWYGF]

So they showed up on Reddit (certified with photo so its 100% accurate) to answer some of the fans' questions. I'm copying a few here:

Q: Where is Lynne Spears in all of this? She's portrayed as someone who is willing to do anything for Britney early on, and then seems to effectively disappear once the conservatorship is put into place.

A: So what we know about Lynne Spears is that she is not legally a part of Britney's conservatorship team. We know she recently petitioned to be included to have access to more information and to be able to have her lawyer speak during the hearings and that she filed as an "interested party" to do that. It's unclear what involvement Lynne had related to the conservatorship up until recently. In the Nov. 10 hearing, Lynne said, through her lawyer (and I'm paraphrasing) that she thanked Jamie for the work he had been doing but that she wanted Britney to wake up to see brighter days. Her lawyer also communicated a story from Lynne that he said was a turning point for her. Lynne said that Jamie told her something to the extent that Britney was like a racehorse and should be handled that way. It's very hard to understand what role Jamie, Lynne or a number of other people have played throughout the conservatorship because so many of the court records are sealed. - Samantha

Q:How do you feel about the media response to the documentary? It feels as if many of the very same media outlets that harassed, stalked and vilified Britney years ago are now writing thinkpieces about how the media destroyed her. None of these publications are apologetic and some have even passed on the social responsibility to the consumers that followed Britney during the 2000s. It all feels self-insertive, exploitative, manipulative and money hungry. You and your whole team have done amazing by bringing awareness to the public consciousness. I guess I'm upset at how the media seems to be trying to absolve itself of responsibility

A: Thank you for this question! There's one thing I noticed in the past week doing all these interviews with media outlets that I never even thought of before the film came out. When Britney was being shamed for her ***uality as a teenager and stalked as a young adult the gatekeepers to all these media outlets -- the ones doing the shaming -- were in their 30s, 40s, 50s. We as teenagers watched that happen. Now that my/our generation are a lot of the gatekeepers, we're saying no more. -- Samantha

Q: I have to compliment you both for doing a truly amazing job spreading awareness about this issue!

I'm curious if you've heard some of Britney's un-released music predicting what would happen to her? It's very eerie and prescient. There's some demos from the years leading up to her ~downfall~ that warn about her family encroaching and the public narrative surrounding her.

Lyrics:

"Be wary of others, The ones closest to you, The poison they feed you, And the voodoo that they do, But in rebellion there's a sparkle of truth. She was taken under drowning in her sea, Running like an angel, she was crying and could not see, oh no, Now see everyone's watching as she starts to fall, They want her to breakdown, be a legend of her fall"

A: Thank you for the sweet words! I don't know much about unreleased music. I do know that from my observations listening to every Britney album on repeat for the last six months while making this film, there seems to be a bondage theme running through her music and videos throughout much of her career. And also a theme of people (including media) wanting her to give more and more of herself to them/us. But I'm sure the Britney stans have much more to say about that! - Samantha

Q: Excellent and though provoking documentary that gave Britney the treatment she deserved! Any clips or materials you had to cut that wish were included?

A: Yes! So many. In terms of the archival of the late 90s/early to mid 2000s, I was fascinated by the times the paparazzi took graphic upskirts of Britney, a couple months after she gave birth. And the public reaction at the time seemed to be to laugh it off, whereas now that could be considered a crime in several states.

The entire Diane Sawyer interview is worth watching, as there are other pretty stunning moments we couldn't include for time. I was really surprised to see Britney's reaction to these types of Qs that shamed her for being a bad influence for young girls-- she often said, I'm not here to babysit your kids or I'm not their parent! That struck me as a smarter response than I would have come up with.

I was also fascinated by the genre of mainstream TV commercials centered around the premise of men wanting to sleep with young Britney. You can see this trend in print articles too, and the phenomenon at the time of "countdown to 18th birthdays" for young female celebrities.

Lastly, lots of late-night comedy jokes that are jarring to go back and watch now. I saw people surfacing Sarah Silverman's VMA comments, calling Britney's kids "adorable mistakes."

-- Liz Day

Q: We know from court filings that there are more people involved in this than just her father (like Lou Taylor). Was there other details about the conservatorship that you became aware about during the interviews? If so was there a reason some of that was left out of the documentary?

A: Yes, indeed-- court docs and Lynne's memoir mention several people who were involved in the early days of the conservatorship, including Lou Taylor. There was a lot we were unable to get into with time constraints (we wish this could have been a multi-part series like OJ Made in America!), but Lou Taylor is definitely someone we’re interested in learning more about beyond what’s out there publicly. We're always interested in hearing from people with first-hand knowledge.

-- Liz Day

Q: Did you guys look at the financial records and her net worth? It’s being reported that her fortune is around $59 million, which always makes me scratch my head. It should be much higher than that, shouldn’t it? According to Forbes, she made $58 million in one year during the Femme Fatale era. Where has that money gone? Is there a way to really look into the financial aspect of this?

A: Excellent Q and spot on! Britney's true net worth is a mystery, and there's speculation that there may be a lot more money beyond $60 million outside of her estate, in trusts or elsewhere as royalties, IP, etc. There are lots of companies set up as private LLCs, of which records are scant. One additional thing I would add is that often when you hear big Hollywood paychecks, you have to consider everyone who is taking a cut-- managers, lawyers, government taxes, etc.

-- Liz Day

Q: There have been talks surrounding Jamie Lynn Spears as being appointed a conservator. Are these claims valid and do you think Jamie Lynn would be a good conservator?

A: According to court docs, Jamie Lynn has been involved in Britney's trust, which is thought to hold a considerable amount of Britney's vast wealth. Britney's trust -- and the many questions related to it-- is definitely an area that I think is worth investigating further and learning more about.

-- Liz Day

In case you wanna read more about this, here's the link to the Reddit thread. People asked a lot more questions but I found this one to be some of the best ones. 

[Snowwhite]

Thank you so much for sharing!