WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, have inked a multiyear deal with Netflix, the streaming service announced Monday.
In a tweet, Netflix said the Obamas will produce films and series “potentially including scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries, and features.”
The former president issued a statement saying “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.”
Since leaving office in January 2017, the Obamas have taken a number of vacations but have also done work with their Obama Foundation and the Barack Obama Presidential Center.
Part of this work has been in video.
In April, for instance, the Obama Foundation released an interview between President Obama and civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).
The two men sat down with a group of boys participating in the ex-president’s “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative and talked about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th anniversary of his death.
The Obama Foundation then produced a six-and-a-half-minute video of the Q&A for the web.
The Obamas’ eldest daughter, Malia, who’s concluding her first year at Harvard, has shown an interest in entering the entertainment industry, having interned on the set of HBO’s “Girls” and on the Halle Berry movie “Extant” during her high school years.
She worked for Harvey Weinstein’s company during her gap year, before the Hollywood producer and Democratic mega-donor was accused as an alleged serial rapist and sexual assaulter.
Netflix did not release the financial details of the deal.