Obamas unveil Netflix slate

Michelle and Barack Obama set up Higher Ground Productions last year

Barack and Michelle Obama have unveiled their inaugural slate of projects for Netflix, which includes documentaries, a children’s show and a New York-based drama set in the world of fashion.

The former US president and first lady revealed their deal with the world’s biggest streamer last year and set up Higher Ground Productions as the entity under which they will produce content for Netflix.

The company’s first slate “touches on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights, and much more” said Barack Obama, adding that the shows “won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect and inspire all of us.”

The former POTUS said he and his wife had created Higher Ground, which is run by co-heads Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis, to “harness the power of storytelling.”

Michelle Obama added that the shows, which include the acquisition of Participant Media’s documentary American Factory, would provide “something for everyone” and were focused on “stories that are relevant to our daily lives.”

American Factory was picked up at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is from director Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert. It explores the ramifications of a Chinese company opening a factory in Ohio, and is joined by feature doc Crip Camp, which is still in production and looks at the history of a summer camp for disabled teenagers.

The unscripted slate also includes The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, which is based on the book by The Big Short author Michael Lewis and is in development.

On the scripted front is Bloom, which is set in New York City after the Second World War and delves into the challenges of women and people of colour working in the fashion business. Oscar winner Callie Khouri writes, with Clement Virgo (The Wire) and Juliano Maio also attached.

Also in development is Overlooked, which is based on The New York Times’ obituary column that explores the lives of people whose deaths would not otherwise have been reported.

A feature film adaptation of David W Blight’s Pulitzer-winning book about abolitionist Frederick Douglass is also in the works, as is preschool show Listen to Your Vegetables & Eat Your Parents.

The latter, a half-hour show from Jeremy Konner and Erika Thormahlen, will take viewers around the world and explore the roots and history of the food we eat.