Britney vs. Spears filmmaker began work on her documentary 2-1/2 years ago, but didn't start editing it until she watched Framing Britney Spears

Los Angeles Times

While Framing Britney Spears focused on the media's treatment of Britney Spears, Erin Lee Carr's Netflix documentary Britney vs. Spears is more concerned about the pop star's 13-year conservatorship. "I didn’t know what was going to be in their film," says Carr of the FX on Hulu New York Times Presents Britney Spears documentary that went viral in February. "I knew that there were certain subjects where there was overlap. So when it came out, my producer Dan Cogan was, like, 'All right, get going, get moving, we have to change the film.' I was, like, 'Well, my film makes the arguments in a different way.' And he was, like, 'We are now going to change course.' Netflix was so understanding and gave us some more time." Carr adds: "This is a two-and-a-half years long investigative process into the conservatorship. There has been an amazing amount of coverage, but that’s a really long time to be focused on this. We wanted to be the definitive place to understand the beginning, middle and hopefully what we will find out as the end of this saga. If you care about women, you should watch this movie. If you care about mental health, you should watch this movie. If you’re a fan of Britney Spears, you should watch this movie." As the Los Angeles Times' Amy Kaufman notes, Spears fans have long known about the Netflix documentary, referring to it as "Project Red." "That’s the code name Britney Spears fans have used to refer to a secretive documentary on the pop star believed to be in the works at Netflix," says Kaufman. "The rumor began after the performer began making vague Instagram references using the phrase, often posting red-themed images of colored clothing or flowers. Red, of course, happens to be the color of the Netflix logo — hence the fan conspiracy theory."