The initial slate of upcoming projects for Higher Ground Productions—President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company with Netflix—has been unveiled Tuesday.
If you’re subscription is up to date, you can expect a range of scripted and unscripted series, along with documentaries as well as full-length features.
Among the forthcoming projects are a biopic centered on civil rights icon Frederick Douglass and a post-WWII period drama set in the fashion world.
Former President Obama, who formed the company with his wife last year, said in a statement that he’s “excited about these projects. Touching on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights, and much more, we believe each of these productions won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect, and inspire us all.”
“We think there’s something here for everyone—moms and dads, curious kids, and anyone simply looking for an engaging, uplifting watch at the end of a busy day,” former first lady Michelle Obama added.
Below are some of the projects, in different stages of development, set to be released over the next several years:
A feature film adaptation of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, the critically-acclaimed biography for which author David W. Blight won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History about the legendary abolitionist, is coming thanks to the Obamas.
Bloom, written and executive produced by Oscar Award winner Callie Khouri, is a drama series set in the world of fashion in post-WWII New York City that focuses women and people of color. The Book of Negroes auteur Clement Virgo is on board to write and direct, alongside novelist and producer Juliana Maio.
The recently acquired American Factory is a film co-directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, which takes a deep dive into a post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in an abandoned General Motors plant and hires 2,000 blue collar Americans.
Overlooked, a scripted anthology series adapted from The New York Times’ ongoing obituary column, will tell stories of remarkable people whose deaths were not reported by the newspaper.
Listen to Your Vegetables & Eat Your Parents is a half-hour preschool series that will take young children and their families around the world on an adventure that tells us the story about food.
Crip Camp is a feature documentary film about an upstate New York summer camp for disabled teenagers in the early 1970s.
Also on deck is the nonfiction series from The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, the bestselling book by Moneyball author Michael Lewis, shining a light on the importance of unheralded work done by everyday heroes guiding our government organizations such as the agriculture, commerce and energy departments.