Pamela Anderson Talks Taking a Stake in New Environmental Channel, Better Opportunities After Big 2023: ‘I Feel Seen’

Tatiana Siegel
·5 min read
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Pamela Anderson … mogul?

The “Baywatch” icon has taken an ownership stake in a soon-to-launch free ad-supported streaming channel on Pluto TV dedicated to environmental-themed content. EarthDay 365 channel makes its debut on Feb. 5 exclusively on the leading free streaming TV service in the “Animals + Nature” category.
 
The channel marks a partnership between Anderson and K2 Studios, the IMAX format documentary film studio and unscripted TV producer/distributor. K2’s recent slate of IMAX format theatrical releases include “Turtle Odyssey,” narrated by Russell Crowe; “Sea Lions” with Sam Neill; “Mountain Quest” with Willem Dafoe; and “Journey to Space” with Patrick Stewart. Anderson has long been an outspoken advocate for environmental causes including the fight against climate change and deforestation as well as the preservation of marine ecosystems.

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Anderson’s son Brandon Thomas Lee, who produced last year’s Netflix Emmy-nominated documentary “Pamela, a Love Story,” directed by Ryan White, is also a stakeholder in EarthDay 365. (Anderson’s reps at Independent Artist Group negotiated the EarthDay 365 deal alongside the law firm Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.) The channel is set to kick off with an extensive 2,500-hour content lineup, spanning TV series, specials and IMAX documentary films sourced from K2’s library of 100-plus titles. New content also will be added in the coming months focused on nature, science and space. Five percent of all proceeds will be donated to environmental causes.

Anderson’s move follows a triumphant year for Anderson, who saw “Pamela, a Love Story” become a hit documentary for Netflix and her memoir, “Love, Pamela,” hit the best-seller lists after its publication on Jan. 31, 2023. She recently signed on to star alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd in Gia Coppola’s Vegas-set film “The Last Showgirl.”

Variety caught up with Anderson on the eve of “Last Showgirl” production, where she talked about her EarthDay 365 foray and how she’s getting much better opportunities after her big year.

How involved will you be with programming on EarthDay 365?

Anderson: Very involved. I wanted to create something for people who are more attached to nature. I just thought this was like a perfect alignment. And obviously, Brandon and I will be creating content for the channel too. This is a great opportunity for our family to contribute to our world by combining all of our forces

Lee: K2 has the largest library of IMAX nature documentaries. With this partnership, we can do some cool content curation.

What was the mindset behind doing this?

Anderson: I was always doing things from my heart in the moment, never really calculated or ambitious about it. But I always say it’s great to have kids smarter than you. Brandon is helping bring it to the next level. This is going to be powerful. I’ve traveled all over the world. I’ve been on all these kinds of [environmental] missions. I’ve met all these great people who are on the frontlines, risking their lives for the environment.

For your first project, if you could tackle any subject, what would it be?

Anderson: Just drawing attention to the planet. I’ve been just, you know, in my garden at my home, peeling back the layers really kind of finding out what’s important to me and to be able to just celebrate the little things. I think there’s a strong messaging.

Lee What makes a lot of sense is wildlife content. That’s always been a draw for her — the need to help animals and when you get to see them in the wild in their natural habitat, people can relate to a lot of behavior in the animal kingdom. That is the same stuff we do every day. It just boils down to we’re all a bunch of animals. I think the more people can see that, the more people can have compassion and can relate.

It sort of is the best reality TV out there.

Anderson I don’t want to call it a reality show. That kind of cheapens it. [laughs]

You had a huge year in 2023. Has that changed the types of projects and opportunities you’re being presented?

Anderson: Yes. I feel seen! I feel embraced. I’ve had some incredible opportunities come our way. But again, we like to do things in our own unique way. There’s no formula that we’re following. We’re really going on gut instinct and keeping it like it always has been, just authentic and doing our best. There’s a lot of things in the works that I’m really excited about. I finally feel like I’m able to show a little bit of what I’m made of and not settling for ‘that’s all there is.’ So this is the time to really embrace who I am. Myself. I think you can kind of live in a character, and you start believing what other people say about you. I’ve finally been able to strip all that away and feel really free. So this has been an incredible time for me and I’m happy with where things are. And I was happy with the way things were, but I’m happier with the way things are. So it’s a just an empowering time. I feel like we’re just stepping into all the things that were meant to be and all of that was for a reason. And here we are.

Besides EarthDay 365, what’s next for you?

Anderson Some really challenging projects that I hope will surprise people!

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