Barack & Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground To Go Independent Post Netflix

EXCLUSIVE: Higher Ground will be breaking new ground in its evolution. The production company of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama will transition to becoming independent when its current first-look deal with Netflix is up later this year, sources said.

President Obama signaled the change while on stage at History Channel’s special edition of HistoryTalks in Philadelphia Saturday honoring America’s 250th anniversary. Interviewed by Jon Meacham, he spoke of starting Higher Ground “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.”

According to sources, the deal with Netflix has not ended yet but Higher Ground plans to remain independent and not pursue a studio pact when it expires soon while continuing to collaborate with the global streamer on existing projects.

Reps for Higher Ground and Netflix couldn’t be reached for comment.

Barack and Michelle Obama launched their company in 2018 with an exclusive overall deal at Netflix. Higher Ground transitioned into a first-look agreement with the streamer in 2024.

In preparation for their new indie status, Higher Ground has been testing the selling-to-everyone model since moving to a first-look, setting projects up at HBO, Apple, Amazon, FX, Disney, 20th Century Studios, Artists Equity, Laika, AMC, CBS Studios and YouTube while continuing to develop and produce for Netflix.

The company’s outside slate includes HBO’s upcoming half-hour sketch comedy series, Life, Larry and The Pursuit of Unhappiness, with Larry David and Jeff Schaffer, which is slated to premiere this summer to coincide with the nation’s 250th anniversary.

In his comments at HistoryTalks, Barack Obama acknowledged Higher Ground’s eight-year collaboration with Netflix.

“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 said. “We’ve told documentaries like American Factory that discusses what’s happening to industrial America, that won an Oscar, and very proud of that. We’ve done some fictional, scripted work like Rustin, about the great Bayard Rustin, a largely unsung hero of the civil rights movement.”

American Factory and feature Rustin, which earned star Colman Domingo an Oscar nomination, are among 24 greenlighted projects across film, television, documentary, unscripted, sports and family programming to come out of Higher Ground’s partnership with Netflix.

They also include hit Leave the World Behind, #8 on Netflix’s Most Popular English Films list; features Fatherhood with Kevin Hart and Worth with Michael Keaton; documentary and nature series, including Crip Camp, American Symphony, Court of Gold, Starting 5, Our Oceans, and Our Great National Parks; as well as kids/family shows such as Waffles + Mochi and Ada Twist, Scientist. They have collectively earned 3 Oscar nominations and one win, 12 Emmy nominations and 6 wins.

Coming up at Netflix, Higher Ground has high-profile limited series All The Sinners Bleed, starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and Nicole Beharie (co-produced with Amblin), and The Altruists, starring Julia Garner and Anthony Boyle, as well as Season 2 of docuseries The Later Daters.

“I think ultimately, particularly in this new media environment that’s just going to accelerate with AI and new-fangled gadgets to distract and entertain, I think us being able to tell stories that recognize, at the heart of our democratic project, it’s not just policy, but it’s a set of moral commitments, and it’s a set of values and ethical norms,” Barack Obama said Saturday of the company’s goals.

Outside film and TV under the Netflix deal, Higher Ground has an audio division.

“We just completed a six, seven part series on Reconstruction, where me and Malcolm Gladwell and a whole bunch of experts talk about how central it is to understand our current moment and America generally,” Obama said.

Other podcasts on the slate include IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso, and The Second Opinion.

On stage, Higher Ground is co-producing the Broadway revival of David Auburn’s Proof, starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, which opened on Thursday. Barack and Michelle Obama attended the April 18 performance and met with the cast, Auburn, director/producer Thomas Kail, and producer Mike Bosner afterwords.

Higher Ground is repped by CAA and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.

Jill Goldsmith contributed to this report.