Just weeks after exiting ABC, black-ish creator Kenya Barris has signed an overall series deal with Netflix. Barris’ deal goes into effect Aug. 16 and will have Barris producing projects for Netflix through his production company, Khalabo Ink Society.
“Kenya Barris is one of our great modern storytellers,” said Cindy Holland, vice president, original content at Netflix, said in a press release. “Kenya uses his voice to make audiences more aware of the world around them, while simultaneously making them laugh. His honesty, comedic brilliance and singular point of view, combined with the creative freedom he will enjoy at Netflix, promises to create powerful new stories for all our members around the world.”
Since the airing of black-ish, Barris has won a Peabody Award, and also co-wrote the extremely profitable movie, Girls Trip.
“When my agents reached out to me about this little garage startup called Netflix, I wasn’t sure what to think,” Barris said in the release. “But after I talked to Ted and Cindy, I started to believe that maybe this mom-and-pop shop with only 130 million subscribers might just be something... so I decided to take a swing... a leap of faith if you will, and take a chance with the new kids on the block.”
Maybe ABC should have aired black-ish’s NFL protest episode?