Netflix has secured a deal with former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to provide series and flicks for the streaming service. The previous first couple will, in keeping with an announcement Monday from the corporation, potentially work on scripted and unscripted series in addition to docu-series, documentary movies, and features beneath the multi-year deal.
“One of many easy joys of our time in public service was getting to satisfy so many desirable individuals from all walks of life, and to assist them share their experiences with a wider viewers,” mentioned President Obama. “That’s why Michelle and I are so excited to partner with Netflix — we hope to cultivate and curate the gifted, inspiring, artistic voices who’re able to promote better empathy and understanding between peoples, and assist them share their tales with all the world.”
“Barack and I have always believed within the energy of storytelling to encourage us, to make us think differently in regards to the world round us, and to assist us open our minds and hearts to others,” mentioned Michelle Obama. “Netflix’s unparalleled service is a pure match for the sorts of tales we wish to share, and we sit up for beginning this thrilling new partnership.”
Signing the Obamas is the most recent, and by far the most important, in a string of strikes by Netflix to lock up the entertainment industry’s highest-profile producers in unique production and growth pacts. Final yr, Netflix poached “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes from ABC Studios with a deal valued at greater than $100 million. “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy jumped from his longtime dwelling at 20th Century Fox Tv earlier this yr to additionally be a part of Netflix. Murphy’s deal was reported on the time to be price as a lot as $300 million. Nonetheless, sources inform Variety that tally contains money that Murphy is predicted to make from his present and former Fox sequence over the lifetime of his Netflix contract, and that the true worth of the deal is in keeping with that of Rhimes.
It’s unknown how much the Obamas’ Netflix agreement is worth. In March, Penguin Random House signed the couple to a joint ebook deal that pays them a reported $65 million for his or her respective memoirs.
“Barack and Michelle Obama are among the many world’s most revered and highly-recognized public figures and are uniquely positioned to find and spotlight tales of people that make a distinction of their communities and strive to change the world for the higher,” mentioned Netflix Chief Content material Officer Ted Sarandos. “We’re extremely proud they’ve chosen to make Netflix the house for his or her formidable storytelling skills.”
Amongst President Obama’s most seen public appearances since leaving workplace this yr was on David Letterman’s new Netflix sequence “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.” President Obama appeared as the primary guest within the former “Late Show” host’s new long-form interview program.
Word of a possible pact between the former U.S. president and first lady surfaced in March, when the New York Times first reported that the couple was in talks with the streaming service on a deal to provide a number of high-profile venture.
