The upcoming split between Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, and Netflix will mark the end — or at least a major change — in the fruitful relationship.
The Obamas founded Higher Ground in 2018 and signed a deal with Netflix to produce feature films and series projects for streaming. Their first project was an instant success: the company joined Participant Media as a producer American factoryIt is a documentary that will win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature of 2020.
During its eight years at Netflix — the two companies expand their partnership with a first-look deal in 2024 — Higher Ground has produced more than 20 films and series, with two more on the way. This is a good production for most production companies during that time period. It has yielded much more final results than the Netflix deal with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to which the Higher Ground agreement is often compared given that the directors were not previously known as creatives (although the former Meghan Markle was an actress before marrying into Britain’s royal family).
In the past two years, Higher Ground has also created projects at HBO (Life, Larry and the pursuit of unhappiness With Larry David and LeicaTesting) because the first-look deal allowed it to look for buyers other than Netflix. The company is branching out into live theater with Broadway revivals guide And produce a list of podcasts as well.
Not every Higher Ground project has been a success, of course: many of the titles on the list below have come and gone without much fanfare, and the company has also seen some notable executive changes, most recently with the departure of company president Vinnie Malhotra in December 2025. Tonya Davis, head of motion pictures, left her role in 2024 (although she continues to work with the company as a producer), and Priya Swaminathan left as co-head of film and television in 2021.
Parting with Netflix doesn’t necessarily mean Higher Ground won’t continue to work with the streamer, just that it won’t be the first stop for new projects. Here’s a look at what the Netflix-Higher Ground partnership has produced.
Feature films
The largest of the four narrative features Higher Ground was involved with – by a long shot – was Leave the world behind. The Sam Esmail-directed thriller, released in late 2023 and starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke, is one of Netflix’s biggest films ever, based on the streamer’s internal data.
The high ground was also behind Rustina biopic about civil rights leader Bayard Rustin that received Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for star Colman Domingo; and fatherhoodDrama film starring Kevin Hart. Higher Ground has acquired distribution rights to He deserveswhich stars Michael Keaton as Kenneth Feinberg, director of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, will premiere after its Sundance premiere in 2020.
Featured documentaries
along with American factoryHigher Ground participated in the film, which was nominated for an Oscar Kreb camp; becomebased in part on Michelle Obama’s memoir of the same name; And 2025 Elite Air Force: Thunderbirds. Higher Ground also gets a 2022 year Descendant And 2023 American Symphony After the first show of the festival.
Unscripted series and special shows
The former president is a three-time Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Narrator for the docuseries Higher Ground Our Great National Parks, Work: What We Do All Day and Our oceans. Michelle Obama was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2023 for the special The light we carrya conversation about her 2022 book between the former First Lady and Oprah Winfrey.
High ground was also produced The G Word with Adam ConoverWhich highlights how government agencies interfere with people’s lives; Documentary series about basketball Starting from 5 and Gold court; And reality show Subsequent dataafter six people over the age of 55 are returning to the world of dating.
Written series
Higher Ground produced the dark comedy crime show Bodkinstarring Will Forte, which premieres in 2024. This is the only scripted series the company has backed so far, but there are two more on the horizon. All sinners bleedfrom showrunner Joe Robert Cole and co-studio Amblin Television, is based on S.A. Cosby’s novel about the first black sheriff (Sope Dirisu) in a small Bible Belt county tracking down a serial killer. Influencers It is a limited series about the rise and fall of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, starring Anthony Boyle and Julia Garner as the main characters of the saga – Sam Bankman Fried and Carolyn Ellison.
Kids series
Higher Ground’s Three Kids series premiered in 2021. The first was the food-focused doll series Waffle + mochi (followed by a spinoff in 2022, Waffle + Mochi Restaurant). Then he came We are the peoplea series of short animations about civic education; and Ada Twist, scientistbased on the popular children’s book. The last two were created by Chris Nee Dr. McStuffins. Ada twist It was the longest running of the three with 41 episodes over four seasons.
