When Michelle and Barack Obama signed on the dotted line for a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal with Netflix back in 2018, they joined a select and exclusive entertainment community.
These days, they stand alongside Oprah Winfrey (Apple), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Amazon Prime), podcaster Joe Rogan (Spotify), Shonda Rhimes, Ryan Murphy, David Benioff and DB Weiss, plus newcomers Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (all Netflix) as the select few global players able to launch their creative visions into the public consciousness with few barriers.
What America’s former first couple bring to Netflix is clear. The Obamas are a popular, powerful, respected and socially conscious global brand, capable of leading the conversation across the planet. When the Obamas speak, the world listens. So when they make a television show, the world will watch. Right? That’s the unarguable logic behind the deal.
The power this affords them is immense. Who else is allowed to produce such a breadth of television and film, across all genres? None, so far, among the list of big players above – though watch this space, because Harry and Meghan might just try.
In an age where the algorithm looked set to be king when it came to commissioning, global fame can sidestep the system
Shonda Rhimes is behind some of the biggest TV shows of all time, from Grey’s Anatomy to Scandal. Now leading her Shondaland crew, which signed a $150m deal with Netflix in 2018, she has already struck gold in tried and tested TV drama territory with Bridgerton’s runaway success. Benioff and Weiss’s $200m deal is about making as many Game of Thrones spin-offs as audiences will countenance – seven, according to the latest calculations. Rogan’s $100m exclusive deal with Spotify is about the streaming giant trying to elbow other platforms out of the growing podcast market.
Ryan Murphy — the producer behind Glee, Nipp/Tuck and American Horror Story, among others — is as prolific as ever. With a longform Andy Warhol documentary in the works, Halston (starring Ewan McGregor as the design legend), more Ratched and more true crime in the form of a miniseries on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, many argue he will struggle to justify his $300m Netflix deal until he comes up with a critical and popular hit to rival Bridgerton.