Obamas find new role with streaming service

WASHINGTON — The former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama have signed a multiyear production deal with Netflix, it was announced on Monday.

Under the name Higher Ground Productions, the Obamas have the option to produce scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and feature films, the streaming service said in a statement.

Netflix did not specify a timeline and the first content from the Obamas is expected to appear in 2019 at the earliest, according to local media reports.

Barack Obama in a statement recalled the “fascinating people” from all walks of life that he had met during his eight years in office, ending in January 2017.

“We hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world,” he said in a statement on Monday.

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“Netflix’s unparalleled service is a natural fit for the kinds of stories we want to share, and we look forward to starting this exciting new partnership,” Michelle Obama added.

The agreement between the Obamas and Netflix, which boasts some 125 million subscribers worldwide, is a first for any occupant of the White House.

The closest comparison is former US vice-president Al Gore, whose global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth won an Oscar in 2007. Gore also launched a youth-oriented cable TV network, Current TV, in 2005 but it was sold to Middle-East based alJazeera in 2013, which later shut it down.

The Obamas gave no details of the topics they planned to cover but the content is not expected to be directly political.

Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in a statement that the Obamas are “uniquely positioned to discover and highlight stories of people who make a difference in their communities and strive to change the world for the better.”

The deal with the Obamas also marks one of the biggest coups for Netflix in drawing top-level talent away from traditional Hollywood studios and television networks.

In the past year, Netflix has cut deals with Shonda Rhimes, the woman behind hits like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy, and Emmy-winning Ryan Murphy, who created Glee and directed the TV series American Crime Story.

Netflix, which has budgeted $8 billion for programming this year, is also producing Martin Scorsese’s next film, The Irishman, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, which is due for release next year.

Barack Obama was the first guest on David Letterman’s return to television in an extended talk show format with Netflix that debuted in January.