Barack and Michelle Obama's Production Company Makes a Big Move After 8 Years

Following his eight years in office, former President Barack Obama spent eight years in business with Netflix.

The production company he founded with his wife Michelle Obama, Higher Ground, had a first-look deal with streaming giant. But now, Deadline reports that the the firm will transition to becoming independent when its Netflix deal with Netflix is up later this year.

Obama unveiled the update while on stage at History Channel's special edition of HistoryTalks in Philadelphia over the weekend, an event that honored America's 250th anniversary.

"We're in a process now of transitioning to a more independent [future] where we can work with a bunch of different studios," Barack Obama said, per Deadline.

Barack and Michelle Obama launched their company in 2018 with an exclusive overall deal at Netflix, which then became a first-look agreement with the streamer in 2024.

"We're very grateful for the launch that happened, and I'll give you an example of the kinds of stories we've told," Barack Obama said on Saturday, April 18, per Deadline. "We've told documentaries like American Factory that discusses what's happening to industrial America, that won an Oscar, and very proud of that. We've done some fictional, scripted work like Rustin, about the great Bayard Rustin, a largely unsung hero of the civil rights movement."

Looking ahead, Higher Ground's slate includes HBO's new sketch comedy series Life, Larry and The Pursuit of Unhappiness, with Larry David and Jeff Schaffer, which is slated to premiere this summer.

Looking back meanwhile, there are numerous greenlighted projects to come out of Higher Ground's partnership with Netflix and found success, such as:

• American Factory
• Rustin (which earned star Colman Domingo an Oscar nomination)
• Leave the World Behind (ranked at No. 8 on the streamer's Most Popular English Films list)
• Fatherhood starring Kevin Hart
• Worth starring Michael Keaton
• Crip Camp
• American Symphony

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 6:18 AM.