‘Black-ish’ Creator Kenya Barris Signs $100 Million Deal With Netflix

Kenya Barris has become the latest creator to sign a deal with Netflix.

According to Variety, Barris has signed a three-year overall deal with the streaming service, which also carries an option for an additional two years. The deal, which is valued at roughly $100 million will consist of Barris producing series exclusively for Netflix.

He officially departed from ABC Studios last month, but sources say his release from his deal with the network was secured several months before. It was no secret that Barris’ relationship with the network experienced a rift when they indefinitely shelved an episode of “Black-ish” that he wrote and directed, titled “Please, Baby, Please.” The episode touched on topics such as kneeling during the National Anthem.

With his departure from ABC, Barris stepped away from his role as co-showrunner of “Black-ish,” but he will still continue to serve as the shows executive producer. He will also continue his role as executive producer on the spinoff “Grown-ish,” which is on the Disney cable channel, Freeform.

Barris said, “When my agents reached out to me about this little garage start-up called Netflix, I wasn’t sure what to think. 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.”

Congrats to Kenya Barris on his new deal!

Source: https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/kenya-barris-100-million-netflix-deal-1202907726/