Former President of US Barak Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama have entered into an agreement with online video streaming service provider Netflix to produce entertainment programs of different genre exclusively for it. These could include movies and TV serials and so on. The exact wordings used are scripted and unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and feature films.
The couple, still enjoying widespread popularity both within the United States and elsewhere, have revealed that they would want to leverage the contacts and relationships they built over the years they were in the White House. Wherever there are interesting stories to be told, they would want to take them to the public at large using the Netflix platform. In the words of Barak Obama, as per the statement put out, “Michelle and I are excited to partner with Netflix – we hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples.”
For Netflix, its efforts to enrich its original content are being strengthened with this unique partnership with a former President and First Lady. The fact that the Obamas have a huge following in the social media will also benefit Netflix in pulling more customers to its service where there is intense competition.
And this is possibly the third big signing for Netflix in terms of original content production. Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the popular serial Grey’s Anatomy came in on a $100 million agreement last year and then the big $300 million deal with Ryan Murphy whose works like Glee, American Horror Story, and American Crime Story had already earned a high reputation among the viewers. With the new deal with Higher Ground Productions, the entity floated by Barak and Michelle Obama for their new venture, Netflix must be feeling quite upbeat about its ability to dish out some exciting fare on its service.
The report on this development points out that Barak Obama had appeared before on some shows aired on Netflix. Attention has also been drawn to the deal the Obamas have recently struck with Penguin Random House, reportedly for $65 million for them to write their own memoirs, separately. Michelle’s book may hit the shelves this November.
However, after Netflix made the announcement, some users weren’t very happy with the deal and several users said that they would cancel their Netflix subscriptions because of the agreement with Obamas. A few users even posted screenshot of them cancelling their Netflix subscription.