Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground to go – Business News
Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions is reportedly going unbiased when its present deal with Netflix expires later this yr.
The company plans to sell initiatives to a number of studios as an alternative of staying tied to the streaming giant, Deadline reported.
The former president and first girl based Higher Ground in 2018, producing their film and TV content material completely for Netflix. Since 2024, Higher Ground has operated below a first-look deal with the streamer.
As that settlement winds down, the company has begun setting up initiatives at HBO, Apple and different studios, Deadline reported.
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground is making ready to go unbiased after its Netflix deal expires. Arturo Holmes by way of Higher Ground
Barack Obama on Saturday alluded to Higher Ground’s future during an interview on the History Channel.
The ex-prez mentioned that he and his spouse began their company “with the intention of trying to see if we could lift up some stories that help make America look at itself and excavate those better angels of our nature.”
“And we were in partnership with Netflix,” Obama added. “We’re in a process now of transitioning to a more independent [future] where we can work with a bunch of different studios.”
He praised Netflix for his or her eight-year relationship.
“We’re very grateful for the launch that happened, and I’ll give you an example of the kinds of stories we’ve told,” he mentioned.
Obama went on to point out “American Factory,” the company’s first release, a documentary about a Chinese company reopening a shuttered manufacturing unit in Ohio.
The Obamas’ media company is branching out after building a slate of movies and sequence with Netflix.
The movie gained the Academy Award for best documentary.
The former president additionally talked about “Rustin,” a scripted biopic about civil rights strategist Bayard Rustin, the important thing organizer of the 1963 March on Washington who was long ignored in historical past.
Obama narrated “Our Great National Parks,” a Netflix docuseries highlighting wildlife and conservation efforts. Higher Ground
Higher Ground’s Netflix slate has spanned genres, from the hit thriller “Leave the World Behind” — one of the streamer’s most-watched English-language movies — to options like “Fatherhood” and “Worth,” together with documentaries and sequence together with “Crip Camp,” “Our Great National Parks” and “Our Oceans.”
The company has additionally produced household programming resembling “Waffles + Mochi” and “Ada Twist, Scientist,” with its initiatives collectively incomes a number of Oscar and Emmy nominations and wins.
Higher Ground has labored completely with Netflix since its launch in 2018, producing a slate of movies, sequence and documentaries. AFP by way of Getty Images
The company nonetheless has a number of initiatives within the pipeline with Netflix, together with the upcoming restricted sequence “All the Sinners Bleed” and “The Altruists,” in addition to one other season of “The Later Daters.”
Beyond movie and TV, Higher Ground has expanded into podcasts and even Broadway, not too long ago co-producing a revival of “Proof” because it broadens its footprint forward of its deliberate shift to independence.
The Post has sought remark from Netflix and Higher Ground.
