The Obamas head to Netflix after flirting with Apple

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Maybe the coolest, most tech savvy president ever.
Maybe the coolest, most tech savvy president ever.
Photo: The White House

Former President Barak Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are coming to Netflix.

The duo inked a deal to produce content for the streaming service this week after reportedly being courted by Apple and Amazon earlier this year. Netflix announced the multi-year agreement today which could lead to films, scripted series, unscripted series documentaries and more.

Obama’s Netflix deal will give him a television platform to continue to reach people through after his presidency. The couple made their own company, Higher Ground Productions, to lead the production of the Netflix shows.

Obama’s Netflix platform

Rather than using his Netflix deal to wage a media campaign against the current White House administration, or Fox News, Barack Obama says their content will be non-partisan.

“One of the simple joys of our time in public service was getting to meet so many fascinating people from all walks of life, and to help them share their experiences with a wider audience,” Mr. Obama said in a statement to the New York Times. “That’s why Michelle and I are so excited to partner with Netflix — we hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world.”

Mr. Obama hasn’t said what his first project will focus on or when it will come out. Financial figures of the deal also weren’t released, but it could be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Despite losing out on the Obama deal, Apple still has an impressive slate of shows in the pipeline. The company is working with everyone from Reese Witherspoon to M. Night Shyamalan on a bevy of big-budget projects that should start trickling out in 2019.

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