In yet another win for Netflix, the streaming service has grabbed another talented writer and producer to create compelling work solely for their online, membership-based viewing pleasures. According to Vulture, the Black-ish creator and Girls Trip writer Kenya Barris has landed a multimillion-dollar deal that begins immediately. The exact figures have not been disclosed, but the agreement reads it is “a multi-year overall deal to produce new series exclusively at Netflix, starting today."
Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes have also been grabbed by Netflix in the past, adding the list of former linear TV elites heading for the streaming world.
Cindy Holland, Netflix's original content chief, issued a statement calling Kenya “one of our great modern storytellers. Kenya uses his voice to make audiences more aware of the world around them, while simultaneously making them laugh.”
"When my agents reached out to me about this little garage start-up called Netflix, I wasn’t sure what to think,” Kenya said in a statement of his won. “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.”