Obama production company Higher Ground to go independent amid leadership shake-up

Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground will transition to an independent operation when its current Netflix deal expires later this year — a move that comes after a string of senior executive departures that has reshaped the company’s leadership heading into its next chapter.

Mr. Obama announced the split from Netflix on Saturday at HistoryTalks, a special History Channel speaker series event in Philadelphia marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. Speaking on separate panels, both Mr. Obama and Ms. Obama discussed the company’s future.

“We were in partnership with Netflix,” Mr. Obama said. “We’re in a process now of transitioning to a more independent [future] where we can work with a bunch of different studios.”

The announcement follows three high-profile exits from Higher Ground’s executive ranks in recent years. Company president Vinnie Malhotra, a former Showtime docs chief who joined Higher Ground in April 2023, departed in October 2025 after a two-and-a-half-year tenure overseeing projects including the Netflix basketball docuseries “Starting 5” and “Court of Gold.” Motion pictures head Tonia Davis left her formal role in 2024, though she has continued working with the company as a producer. Co-head of film and TV Priya Swaminathan departed in 2021.

Following Mr. Malhotra’s exit, Higher Ground restructured its leadership around three division heads: Anikah McLaren as head of film, Jessie Dicovitsky as head of TV and Ethan Lewis as head of nonfiction and sports, according to Deadline.

The leadership changes unfolded against a challenging backdrop for the broader industry. Mr. Malhotra himself acknowledged the headwinds in January 2025 at the Sundance Film Festival, saying Higher Ground was “not immune to the same challenges” facing other production companies. “We get a lot of passes, we get a lot of nos,” he said at the time. “We don’t have a magic bullet that gets our projects made.”

The Obamas founded Higher Ground with an exclusive overall deal at Netflix in 2018. In 2024, that arrangement was restructured into a multiyear first-look deal. That deal is set to expire later in 2026, after which Higher Ground will not pursue a new studio pact, according to Deadline, which cited sources familiar with the matter. Industry observers have estimated the original contract was worth more than $50 million.

Going independent does not preclude Higher Ground from continuing to work with Netflix. The streamer has confirmed existing projects in development will be completed under the current arrangement.

Over eight years, the company produced 24 projects and accumulated 12 Emmy nominations and six wins. Its output includes the Oscar-winning documentary “American Factory,” about a Chinese company’s takeover of a shuttered General Motors plant in Ohio; the documentary “Becoming,” based on Ms. Obama’s memoir; Oscar-nominated films “Rustin” and “American Symphony”; and Sam Esmail’s thriller “Leave the World Behind.”

In preparation for its independent status, Higher Ground has already been setting up projects at HBO, Apple, Amazon, FX, Disney, 20th Century Studios and YouTube, among others, according to Deadline. Its upcoming HBO project, the Larry David sketch comedy series “Life Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness,” co-created with Jeff Schaffer, is set to premiere in June.

Higher Ground has also expanded into Broadway, co-producing a revival of David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof,” starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle and directed by Thomas Kail. The production opened Thursday and runs through July 19. The Obamas attended Saturday’s evening performance and went backstage to meet the cast.