Barack and Michelle Obama‘s production company Higher Ground is transitioning to an independent operation following eight years at Netflix.
Barack Obama shared the news at an event held Saturday in Philadelphia that featured leaders in media, sports and entertainment as part of a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. Speaking on separate panels, both Barack and Michelle Obama talked about their work with Higher Ground.
The former president said that after eight years of working exclusively with Netflix and being “very grateful for the launch that happened,” the Obamas are “in the process now of transitioning to a more independent [company] where we can work with a bunch of different studios.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to a rep for Higher Ground for comment.
The Obamas inked their producing deal with Netflix in 2018. In 2024, Higher Ground and Netflix extended their partnership, with Higher Ground transitioning to a multiyear first-look deal for all of its film and TV projects.
Higher Ground’s recent projects with Netflix include Oscar-nominated films Rustin, American Symphony and Crip Camp and the Oscar-winning and Emmy-winning film American Factory as well as the Will Forte series Bodkin and Sam Esmail’s apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind.
More recently, Higher Ground has been setting up projects outside of Netflix, including the HBO sketch comedy series Life Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, from creator Larry David and Jeff Schaffer, which premieres in June. The project was was announced last month at SXSW during a panel with David and Schaffer.
Saturday’s event in Philadelphia also featured Joe and Dr. Jill Biden, Bill and Hilary Clinton and George W. Bush as well as Nicole Kidman, Tina Fey, Colin Jost, Garth Brooks, Tom Brady, Ted Danson, Kate McKinnon, Jason Kelce, Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb.
Abbey White contributed to this report.
