It started with a cold phone email pitch to Pamela Anderson’s publicist.
Julia Nottingham, founder of Dorothy St Pictures, insists she will never “give away” her secrets about what exactly is written, but admits that a great deal of care and attention was put into the message. “We really thought about what to say and how to get their attention,” she says.
No matter what was said in the email, it worked.
In “Pamela, A Love Story,” directed by Ryan White and produced by Nottingham executive Dorothy Street, the former “Baywatch” star takes viewers on a deeply personal and extensively archived tour of her more than 50 years, recounting with arresting candor the ups and downs of a life spent in the public eye. It was released on Netflix in 2023 and received critical acclaim.
The same year as Pamela, Disney+ aired Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagasa Story, a docu-series about the wife of a famous footballer whose Instagram sledding became one of Britain’s biggest tabloids. And in 2025, another even more famous WAG, Victoria Beckham, appeared in a Netflix series charting her tumultuous journey from Spice Girl to fashion designer.
Now, it’s Courtney Love who is being treated by doctors from the University of Nottingham and Dorothy St. Louis University.
Directed by Edward Lovelace and James Hall and premiering at Sundance on January 27th, Antiheroine follows the 1990s rock icon, now living in London, as he unapologetically tells his story, warts and all, for the first time.
Nottingham says he has been “endlessly fascinated” by women such as Love, Anderson, Rooney and Beckham. They may look very different on paper, but each of them has seen much of their lives played out in the glare of an almost unkind spotlight in the media. As she points out, each of them is “interpreted in a very specific way.”
Dorothy Street, which was founded just eight years ago and was fully acquired by Elizabeth Murdoch’s sisters in 2025, has of course produced other high-profile documentaries, most notably ‘The Greatest Night in Pop’, about the making of the 1985 charity single ‘We Are the World’. But thanks to a growing number of bio-documentaries starring women, who have built a reputation for getting their subjects to sit in front of the camera and open up, Nottingham says they understand “the responsibility of telling these stories.”
I hear that Antiheroine will be your 6th film at Sundance?
Yes, it’s wild. It’s the 10th anniversary of Sundance. My first film was a really special film in 2016 called “All These Sleepless Nights.” I just love that movie. And space is doing just that, as director Michał (Marczak) will be submitting his second film to the festival this year, his first in 10 years. I can’t wait to see it.
How was the “anti-heroine” born? Did you approach Courtney or vice versa?
First of all, I think once the movie is finished and you see how powerful it is, you realize what an honor it was to be able to make these movies. But luckily in Pamela’s case, her publicist responded to my cold call email. He then simply sends a cold email to Courtney without divulging state secrets about how to access it. And I’m very honest about my attraction to these people, but I think it’s been interpreted in a very specific way. I remember Hall and I always seem to remember Courtney through Kurt’s perspective. I think that’s why I was so interested in it. So I found out who her manager was and emailed her.
One of the things I always say, and I really stick to this, is that my job is not to make people like or dislike the subject matter. My job is to help people understand. That’s why I love the line Courtney says in the movie, “You know when something’s right, but you don’t always know when something’s wrong.” And you’re like, “Okay, okay.”
Did you know she lived in London when you first approached her?
No, I didn’t. The first time I met her manager in LA was in January 2022. It’s been a really long time! That’s another thing, you have to play the long game – often months, even years. And when I found out she had moved to London, that was the moment for me that it made sense. She lived on Vancouver Island with Pamela, a 15-minute bus ride from the office. But at the same time, London is a safe place for her because it has given her so much. I think she’s talked publicly about how much of an Anglophile she is.
Pamela’s Doctor was the first, then we had Coleen Rooney, Victoria Beckham and now Courtney. In just a few short years, you’ve become not only famous, but known for documentaries about women whose lives have been in the public eye and who have often been maligned in the media. Is this what you were trying to do? Or was Pamela the catalyst?
It was always just curiosity. I grew up reading Heat magazine and reading Hello when I was at the dentist. I really, really had a lot of questions, especially about the women I grew up with, the Pamelas and the Victorias. I was continually fascinated by these women and the stories portrayed in the media. I know a lot of women and we are complex and multifaceted and we have good days and bad days. But why is it that there almost always seems to be one story that destroys them? I won’t share it with you, but I have a list of women that I am endlessly fascinated with. But so do men. Your stories are very interesting and complex.
When it comes to the responsibility of handling these stories, do you apply what you did with Pamela to other potential subjects as part of your pitch? Is that your approach?
In fact, one of the important questions is: Are you ready? Because we can’t do our job unless they’re prepared to do it honestly and honestly. Anyone can make a documentary about them, but will it be compelling or powerful, and is there any real reason to do so now? Dorothy Street is really hard on us because we get a lot of information. But it’s like, “Are you ready to actually, really say what you’re thinking? And why now?” You have to be ready.
Most of your other docs have gone straight to streamers, but you’re taking “Anti-Heroine” to Sundance to sell. Is it your first time?
Yes, that’s right. There are many reasons for that. I developed this relationship with my sister and she became an investor and owned a majority stake in it. And they and I started having conversations about markets and margin business challenges. The economics of streaming are extremely tough for production companies. But Sister actually funded “Anti-Heroine” because she had the passion and money to fund the doc. This is great, but it’s also a huge responsibility for me. Because we want to make sure they get something in return. But I’m really excited to take it to Sundance and have buyers look at it and keep quiet that they haven’t spent all their money.
Is this model of sisters funding your projects something you would like to continue?
I hope so. We definitely have more projects in the works, which is really exciting. I don’t think this is the last document Sister will finance. I believe in myself as a producer in the market, so the fact that I can partner with Sister makes a lot of sense.
You produced the Victoria Beckham docu-series last year. Given Brooklyn Beckham’s recent outbursts about his relationship with his family, none of which were featured in the series, do you think it highlighted concerns about the document produced by the subject?
I don’t think[Victoria]was credited as an executive producer, but yes, it was co-produced with Studio 99 (David Beckham’s company). But when we made our pitch, the focus was on her as a businesswoman and what she had achieved and what she wanted to achieve. There was no focus on any of the children or their stories. But in that series, she really talked about things she’d never talked about before.
I know you said you wouldn’t tell me, but could you give me any clues as to who is on the list of other subjects you would like to receive documentary treatment? How long is this list?
There are a lot of female actors and female sports stars. I spoke one name on the panel so it will be public, but I love tennis and I would love to make a movie with Monica Seles, if she’s reading this. I think what she accomplished in tennis was amazing and what she went through was incredibly intense.
