Obamas sign multi-year production deal with Netflix

If you thought you had seen the last of the Obamas after the 2016 US President Election, let us tell you that you couldn't have been more wrong.

Former US President Barack Obama and former US First Lady Michelle Obama have made a multi-year production deal with Netflix, which was officially announced on 21 May. The Obamas will be producing TV shows and documentaries, which will be shared with the audiences through Netflix's international platform.

Netflix's announcement on the topic stated that the agreement with the Obamas had been completed and that the terms weren't disclosed on what kind of shows the Obamas would produce.

The content may go from scripted TV shows to unscripted features and movies. The Obamas are expected to be both on and off camera for their productions.

The 44th US President and his wife established Higher Ground Productions to create their content which will be shared with 125 million streaming members of Netflix.

Why Netflix?

It is not unusual for former presidents to write books and go on talk shows to share their experiences. The Obamas had the same aim—they wanted to share the experiences they had during their time in public service. Instead of choosing the usual books-and-morning-shows routine, however, they have chosen a different media production type to share their stories, making it a first amongst the former US presidents.

Michelle Obama had stated that the couple believed in the power of storytelling to inspire people, "to make us think differently about the world around us, and to help us open our minds and hearts to others."

Former President Mr Obama supported his wife's words, saying they had met many different kinds of people from different walks of life during their time in public service, and how the couple tried to help them share their stories.

"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.” Michelle Obama said that in the end, Netflix was "a natural fit" for the type of stories they wanted to tell.

Positive public reaction

Although it is a very slim chance, if one day the Obamas run out of stories to tell about their 8-year-long White House adventure, the only thing they would need to do is to check the Reddit and Twitter tags on their name to get more content ideas. After Mr Obama's interview with David Letterman, in which he mentioned his plans with Netflix, many people have shared their ideas on the role Mr Obama would take on Netflix shows through different social media platforms. The ideas went from "buddy cop show with Biden and Obama" to "Demobama" (a mix between Demogorgon from Stranger Things and Obama's name). That positive reaction has grown after the official statement from Netflix.

It is safe to say that everyone is waiting to see the Obamas again.