About

Higher Ground Productions is an American film, television, and media production company founded in 2018 by former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Established to create stories that entertain, inform, and inspire while amplifying diverse voices, the company quickly emerged as a major creative partner in streaming-era entertainment through a multi-year content deal with Netflix covering films, television series, and documentaries.

Higher Ground made an immediate impact with its first feature documentary, American Factory (2019), which explored labor and globalization through the reopening of a shuttered Ohio auto plant. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and later earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, establishing the company as an awards-winning production banner in its first year. The company continued its success in nonfiction storytelling with the critically acclaimed documentary Crip Camp (2020), which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

Expanding into scripted and family entertainment, Higher Ground produced the Michelle Obama–hosted children’s series Waffles + Mochi and the animated civics series We the People, while also backing popular programming such as Ada Twist, Scientist. These projects helped the studio earn multiple Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, reflecting its growing footprint across educational and family-focused content.

The company has also produced several high-profile feature films and documentaries including Becoming, Fatherhood starring Kevin Hart, Worth, and the acclaimed civil-rights biopic Rustin starring Colman Domingo. Its expanding slate also includes projects such as Leave the World Behind, American Symphony, and the docuseries Working: What We Do All Day and Our Great National Parks, demonstrating the company’s focus on socially conscious storytelling, global issues, and culturally resonant narratives.

By the mid-2020s, Higher Ground had become one of the most influential producer-driven banners in streaming entertainment, blending documentary filmmaking, scripted features, children’s programming, and unscripted series. With projects such as the Netflix thriller Leave the World Behind reaching massive global viewership and new series and film adaptations in development, the company continues to expand its creative reach while maintaining its founding mission of producing impactful, thought-provoking stories for a worldwide audience.