We’re actually days/weeks into another cycle where the British media tries to convince everyone that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s business is crumbling, that they’re about to lose their Netflix money, that Spare didn’t make tens of millions of dollars for Harry, etc. The worst part of all of that crap is that, from time to time, the Hollywood trade papers end up mimicking those same deranger talking points. It all becomes a vicious cycle where the Sussexes are held to different standards than literally everybody else in the film/TV production world. In any case, there’s some good news – Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria spoke this week about what Archewell has in the pipeline for Netflix:
There’s been a lot of speculation as to the future of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s deal with Netflix. Fueled by their recent appearance at the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love in Jamaica, reportedly at the invitation of Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins, there’s been much talk as whether the duo would continue working with the streamer.
However, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria seemed to quell these doubts by teasing a few more royal projects in the works from the pair, who signed an overall deal in 2020.
“Oh, what are they working on,” said Bajaria at a Netflix slate event. “They have a couple of unscripted things they’re working on with Brandon [Reigg]. And they actually have like a bunch of development, they have a movie in development, a [scripted] series that they’re working on. So all very early development, with a movie, a TV show and a couple of unscripted shows. But yeah, the movie’s great.”
Bajaria didn’t disclose what any of these projects were but last year the duo, who run Archewell Productions, acquired the screen rights to Carley Fortune’s Meet Me At The Lake novel to turn into a movie. It tells the story of a couple who meet in their thirties, and deals with themes of childhood trauma, including losing a parent in a car crash, mental health challenges and post-natal depression.
The Harry & Meghan docuseries from the couple launched in December 2022 with six episodes. They also made Live To Lead, an interview series featuring the likes of Greta Thunberg and Gloria Steinem, and Harry’s Heart of Invictus documentary series launched last year.
“A couple of unscripted shows” – please, let it be Harry & Meghan: The Second Season. I need another docuseries like that. I would also love a second season of Heart of Invictus, I loved that series and I found the veterans’ stories so compelling and moving. As for Meet Me at the Lake, the author confirmed that Archewell and Netflix purchased the rights to her book and she was happy that they were producing it. It sounds like they have a lot of different stuff they’re doing now.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Netflix.
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were spotted uplifting spirits during the fourth day of the Invictus Games 2023. Held at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, the couple looked genuinely happy as they interacted with athletes and fans alike. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Düsseldorf, GERMANY – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, were seen in high spirits during day 4 of the Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. The royal couple was actively engaged in the day’s events, adding a touch of glamour and attention to this international adaptive multi-sport event. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex during day 4 of Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex during a medal ceremony on day 4 of Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 13 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex visit Sitting Volleyball on day 6 of Invictus Games 2023 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex BACKGRID USA 15 SEPTEMBER 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Good for them! They just keep on keeping on, with no leaks or briefings from jealous colleagues. Archewell is a bowl with a lid, while KP is a colander. I can’t wait to see their finished products!
KP is such a leaking sieve that kate couldn’t even share she was having surgery with her staff meanwhile harry and meghan are finally surrounded by professionals. I love that for them!
And so much for “shunned by Hollywood” !
They were impacted by the writers’ and actors’ strikes just like every other studio. People seem to forget that in their demand for constant production from Harry and Meghan.
The Sussexes are busy. I would love to see another Invictus season like maybe the new winter sports Invictus that they are getting ready to do in 2025. That would be very interesting.
Isn’t Harry making a doc in Africa re elephants..? I don’t remember the details but I remember when it was reported the BM were talking about how much time H&M were spending apart
That was never confirmed.
Given everything thats come out about Africa Parks no way Harry would highlight such an evil organization. He’s too good for that. He might have been working on one but now that he knows he’s probably going to step down because an organization like that doesn’t deserve to have him
Now that you’ve said that, I can easily imagine a series about the indigenous tribes of Canada.
it’s also the first time Invictus is doing winter sports. So that’s another potential angle.
That would be great, and a good tie-in to the Invictus Games being held in BC.
Busy, busy, busy! I wish there had been a Heart of Invictus from every games because that was so compelling!
Harry and Meghan are a golden couple 💗
I love H&M, but exactly what experience do they have with these kinds of projects? Not that anyone can’t branch out and try something new. But she’s an actress and he’s a prince. I don’t know. It’s just meh.
Don’t bother coming at me. I don’t care lol
Not coming at you, but I would imagine the same kind of experience the Obamas did before they started their production company Higher Ground or Margot Robbie with Lucky Chap or Drew Barrymore with Flower Films. There’s long history of this, and they just hire poeple who know what they’re doing, and the big name is there to get money to help the production get made.
So don’t bother “coming at you” (meaning disagreeing with you?) because you care not for anyone’s opinion but your own? They have had 3 very successful documentaries already (as mentioned in the story). And if only people with prior experience could produce/do anything, nothing would ever get done. Everyone starts somewhere.
A lot of actors branch out and direct or produce movies. She grew up with a father in the business and spent a lot of time on set. I’m sure she absorbed a lot of what happens when making a tv show. They are also smart people. Harry also produced that docuseries with Oprah about mental health.
It’s definitely a known fact that actors, actresses and celebrities never go on to produce or direct. 🙄
Right? 🙄😂
^^ For sure, guys! Meg grew up after-school, as a preteen, on the set of Married With Children. That set is where she bonded with the craft people and gained her love of all things foodie! In addition, she absorbed bts knowledge of what acting in and producing a television series is all about. From grade school onward, Meghan acted in shows, where she surely absorbed a lot. 🤌🏼 She has also previously indicated how she learned tips about lighting on set from Bad Dad (who won an Emmy as a lighting director on Married With Children).
Meghan has a great deal of acting experience, even prior to her tenure with Suits. I’m sure she picked up on the producing and directing aspects of the business during her Suits years. Plus, while on Suits, she starred in two successful romance movies for Hallmark, which were filmed in Vancouver — that was when Meg fell in love with the Vancouver region.
BTW, Paramount CEO, Brian Robbins, began his career as an actor. ‘Nuff said. 👌🏽
LOL @Barbara! It is a known fact that never happens. Dying. It’s not like (let’s say hypothetically) someone like Matt Damon, used a 40? page paper they wrote while attending Harvard (he didn’t graduate) for a screenplay that went on to win an Oscar or went on to produce/direct movies because he’s just an actor.
Aside from all of Meghan’s acting experiences, along with the experiences she grew up with, one of her double majors at Northwestern was for Theatre. The course requirements involve a lot more than acting. D@mn, even my wee drama class in high school involved more than acting.
It’s not like Harry’s life experiences only involve being a prince.lol TMYCS, HoI….
Val knew they would get responses with their comment and that’s okay. I don’t mind repeating H&M’s accomplishments.
What experience did the Obamas have when they won an Oscar for producing a documentary? It’s called “production”. How about Prince Edward the producer? Anyone can do that if they have means and desire. You don’t even need to have specific talent (Edward?), which Harry and Meghan have in droves. You say Meghan can’t be a producer because she’s an actress? Can you please call Reese Whitherspoon (sp?) and ask her to return the 700 million dollars she earned for selling her very successful production company? There’s a whole list of actors who have gone on to produce and direct movies; it’s not the same as being part of a hereditary monarchy, you know.
Just a side note—the Obamas don’t have an Oscar. Their company was one of the producers on American fiction but not in the eligible for the award involvement level. Like how Brad Pitt’s company did The Departed but he didn’t get the Oscar when it won. But he did for 12 Years a Slave.
But if he did, obama would be 3/4 to EGOT status which is crazy. He has two Grammys and two Emmys. He’ll need to produce a good Broadway show!
Thanks for the correction BMQ, but I think the point is merely a distinction without a difference. If I was within the same universe as my company that got an Oscar, It would be on my CV. But then again, I’m not as classy as the Os.
It’s a good thing that Val doesn’t care then she won’t mind me pointing out that the world is filled with small minded people like herself. The world can’t possibly spin without them lol.
Nobody questioned the Obama’s experience and there are a lot of actors and actresses with production deals.
Your opinion is worthless either way; they’re booked and busy regardless of your skepticism 😌
Never trust a comment that begins with I love this person but … and ends with don’t kill me.
Exactly
💯%
Some facts:
Harry has been an Executive Producer since before leaving his royal job,. He notably Co-Executive produced the Mental Health series “The Me You Can’t See”, with Oprah for Apple TV/ Video. Production started in 2019, the docuseries was released in 2021.
You must not be aware of the myriad of actresses who are also producers and directors. At the base of it, the comment is a put-down of actresses in general- they can’t do anything else?
Most recently, have you heard of Margot Robbie? People may not “come after” you, but a few might want to educate you.
@Val — are you saying they have to have “behind the camera” experience? Or have gone to film school? Meghan has a ton of acting experience and Harry has been involved in the production of a number production jobs in the past. GMAFB.
And if you don’t want people to “come at you” don’t make fatuous statements like this.
I’ve had it with the double standards applied to the Sussexes. Even with some of their “fans” constantly whining about the Sussexes needing to release something pronto. With the level of success these two people have achieved (multiple docuseries, multiple NYT number one best sellers, successful investments, Archewell, Invictus, Sentabale, to name a few) in such a short time, others in the same situation could retire with not a peep from anyone. Let’s look at others, for example, what have the Obamas done since Michelles last memoir? This of course, is not to say that I am not eagerly awaiting Sussex project.
This exactly even ‘fans’ have some strange expectations. We might not see their next Netflix project til 2025 or maybe later. With the strikes very little happened last year so things are just getting going now. Unscripted obviously could come together faster but a filmed movie could take years. No one freaked out that Bradley Cooper worked on Maestro for 7 years (not a perfect comparison but its the only film making timeline that I heard recently). But if nothing comes this year we will get a whole bunch of publications saying they are failures. Gah I hate how weird everyone is about them.
And mined you; all their numerous, lengthy court cases – finished and pending, and all their projects and impactful achievements and collaborations with Archewell Foundation. And… Meghan’s Archetypes Podcast.
These two brilliant people have been working insanely hard since they landed in the USA at the beginning of 2020. Hence all the earned Award/Rewards.
Thank you for saying this! Producing quality content takes a lot of time and effort! What they’ve accomplished already is insane when you think about what’s happened to them (and the world) since they left the UK. Covid and strikes have made it a lot harder for them to produce what they’ve wanted at the time they wanted. Add constant hate from the BM/RF, a miscarriage, loss of loved ones, so called family members causing trouble everywhere they can, pregnancy and birth of Lili – while raising a toddler.
Agree on all counts, Proud Mary!
Well said Proud Mary.👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I completely agree ❤ and they’re also raising two small children that are never mentioned.
I don’t think people think they *need* to put anything out, they just want content bc they like the stuff they put out. I really want Megan to get on with putting out a biography. Not because I think she needs to or needs the money but bc I am interested in the stories she will tell and think it would be a good read
@Jeremy, not me. I don’t want MEGHAN to do a memoir anymore. It would be the ultimate wet dream for the RR’s/BM. And them MFer’s want her to do one for their nefarious reasons. Meghan doesn’t need to do a book. Scratch that. If she did a book (she’s done one already-The Bench), I would love it to not include anything about the BRF or The Bad Markles.
Now, Harry’s dropped 400 pages is a different story.
Maybe learn how to spell her name, before you get all up in her business.
It’s Meghan.
Oh wait I can hear the cogs turning at the British press. I wonder how many anti Sussex articles There will be about this. No doubt all the haters will be saying it’s going be a failure. I say good luck to them at least they are working making their own money. Unlike some others
As I read this, I could see them all breaking out in fear sweat or terror vomiting at the words “unscripted series”. I love that for them.
I’m glad this information was provided directly from Netflix with Bela Bajaria. It might shut up the toxic press creed about the Sussexes relationship with Netflix. However, they will, of course, find something else. January was a great month and February have a great start!
We might speculate that Meghan and Harry could eventually get as annoyed at Netflix if it won’t correct falsities as they got with the royal palaces’ unwillingness to debunk lies and myths. Sure, the Sussexes can now issue their own statements, but I think this is an important moment of Netflix showing solidarity.
Netflix has made a few statements showing solidarity iirc. They’ve never been haters towards them from what I can tell.
Misan Harriman did say that Meghan was very busy so I’m not surprised by this. The British press believes because no one leaks to them that Harry and Meghan are not doing anything but the press have to understand that they don’t operate like the royals.
I’m just here to manifest a Meghan and Misan collaboration down the road if the stars align. His short film was very good and was nominated for an Oscar.
Some unscripted series? Hmm. So many possibilities. I’m excited. Dreams: another Sussex docuseries about adopting rescue dogs, Archie’s chick inn, lol I’d watch anything. Maybe something about female entrepreneurs? Still want a Meghan cooking show. I don’t like to cook and if anyone was gonna get me cooking it would be meghan. Also, there’s weirdly a lot of trollish comments on this timeline. There’s a real agenda to ambush their business deals.
All of those would be great. I really enjoyed every one of the documentaries they did. And yeah the trollish comments started after they announced Kate’s surgery, and the blowback from that perceived special treatment. 4 million in digital services anyone? I don’t think they got the response they were expecting, No huge crowds, and flowers being left just irritation at the privilege. And so now all they have is crapping on the Sussexes, to minimize the comparison of successful people not taking taxpayer money from the same family.
I saw “unscripted” and immediately thought “COOKING!” or something about travel and food?!?
I would love for Meghan to do something food related. I am also holding onto the pipe dream of Harry and Meghan in a RV traveling across the U.S. How cute would it be for Meghan to show Harry how amazing his new country is? I’m picturing lots of time in national parks and the occasional roadside oddity, like Roswell and alien conspiracies. See also: biggest ball of twine.
I would watch Meghan teaching Harry to knit, so I’m really freaking easy.
Would love this!
Meghan cooking/travel show. Yes.
Meghan/Harry travel show featuring the National Parks and cuisine of those areas. Yes.Yes. A million years ago I had the great opportunity to horse ride through the Sonoran desert and ride up the Rincon & Catalina mountain ranges. A meal was prepared by the rangers and visitors/riders/guests. Local historical food. Amazing simple food. Tanque Verde Ranch. Fun vacay with history. They are known for their exquisite food. Beautiful place.
Meghan teaching Harry to knit or calligraphy. I’m easy too. Fun & funny.
Meghan & Harry doing sketch comedies of RR’s. My wet dream. They wouldn’t. One can hope.lol Won’t happen. Would love to see them dress up and mock them a@@hole churnalists stenographers.
I am hoping for a docuseries or documentary on Prince Harry’s legal actions against the rags. I would also love to see a Harry and Meghan 2 that maybe focuses on the building of Archewell and their home life balance, but whatever they produce I will be watching. Looking forward to it all.
The timing of this push back is just perfect also✨💞
I would love to see a Harry and Meghan docuseries on their vision through charities
Might want to try an Oxford Comma. That headline was really confusing…
Just gonna leave some vampire weekend lyrics below😂
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I’ve seen those English dramas too, they’re cruel
When comforting the grammar police, I always say softly, “There their they’re.”
😂
‘two unscripted series, one scripted series & a movie’. I’m comprehending that the Sussexes have, in the works, 2 unscripted series, 1 scripted series and a movie. This confused you due to the absence of an Oxford comma?lol
As someone who is an American and has an aversion to the Oxford comma: the headline is perfect. The issue @KU97 might be you’re reading comprehension. imo If I’ve made a punctuation mistake. DFK
Google Why the Oxford Comma is unnecessary. Good stuff. Psychology Today weighed in on it too. Funny. Strippers, JFK, and Stalin.
Recognize when typos happen. Recognize when language differentials happen. Recognize when certain posts are intentionally worded a certain way to say a misinformed thing under the guise of not speaking English. lol That’s a fun/obvious one.
Sleep well with your Oxford comma. I hope it helps the Princess of Wales children in whatever is going on with their mom.
I think this says more about H&M’s relationship with Netflix than it does about the projects themselves. Very early development means they’re still figuring out the story/concept. But to have the Netflix Chief Content Officer talk about the projects publicly means that Netflix is still committed to working with H&M.
Agreed. They are telling the haters they are still in the business of Harry and Meghan.
According to a very recent article by Business Insider, the most streamed show of 2023 was Suits, with a total of 57.7 billion minutes. And this is just on Netflix (and Peacock) after Suits had already spent some years available on Amazon. I think Netflix is feeling just fine about their relationship with H&M.
I’ll be totally honest with y’all. I could take or leave another docu-series about H&M but, I’d love to see a follow-up to Heart of Invictus. I don’t know what the numbers for it was or whether it would be profitable for Netflix but, I enjoyed following the atheletes journies and hearing their stories.
I like the H&M, but I hope they do not do another Harry & Meghan. The fans may want to see it for gossip purposes and to “hit back” at the Bill and Kate, but it does them no favors in terms of longevity. I think a cooking show would be good. Meghan is also doing a good job with investing in start ups. Continue to protect their children and move past this Harry & Meghan thing and let the dead bury the dead.
I think this is exactly what they are trying to do, just protect their children and move past this Harry and Meghan thing, but the media keep dragging them back in because they are the only people providing traffic and clicks. This article on the Daily Fail has 1000 comments about nothing 🙄🙄🙄
I would love it if they put out that the working title to one of these projects is “The Royal Racists.”
I’d rather watch a series titled Royal Rodent that really delves into the life and duties of Wiglet Gopher. WG is far more interesting than the salty left overs.
I’m glad they’re back working after their productions after the mounts long strike. This means that metarial isn’t coming out before the eind of this year, or the beginning of next year. Hopefully Meghan lounges some (fashion) brand deal in between.
This is the point when the bm/brf will show the world how uninformed they are about what production is and what it entails. They will now go with any and every negative story they can think of and show us once again they don’t have two working brain cells between them.
It never occurred to me that H&M weren’t working, so the fact they have things going on behind the scenes was nice to know, but not surprising. What I found surprising was the number of things they have going. This is what the bm/brf don’t get at all. H&M WORK, and they work hard.
I can’t wait for them to start in on some fairytale about neither H nor M having experience producing. Actually, they do although they’ve not produced many things. More to the point, let’s see how many people they offend who have done what H&M are doing. Idiots.
I’m really glad this came straight from a high level Netflix person on record. Stick that in your pipe BM and smoke it. This news plus I just saw the Archewell video on Twitter (will never be X to me) and we should hopefully see Harry and maybe Meghan next week in Vancouver/Whistler. I love the juxtaposition of H&M all over the place doing work but also philanthropy while the Windsors are just MIA.
Add me to the list of folks who would happily watch another series of Heart of Invictus. I found myself absorbed by the personal stories of several of the competitors and just really rooting for them. I’ve worked in or adjacent to mental health services my whole life and I was just so impressed by the philosophy and goals of Invictus. It’s got to be a pretty satisfying thing to be part of the support staffs for the national teams, too. No question in my mind that it’s made a real and measurable difference in many many people’s lives.
I would like a series following up on the athletes in the first Heart of Invictus too. More than a few of them are still living in my head, and I would love to see how they are doing.
I am still wondering why there seemed so little publicity done for Heart of Invictus. It was so compelling.
A Heart of Invictus was a very compelling series. Not very active on SM. Maybe those that are can get things going again. The stories of the participants need to be told and retold. Beautifully done docuseries. Maybe it can see a reprise like Suits. Awesome stuff.
I wonder what happened to Will’s fly on the wall ITV documentary that was supposed to be out last year? I’m imagining there was zero content and zero interest.
He didn’t have any honey to catch flies with, so he couldn’t do the show.
Meghan producing a show about something food related would be amazing but honestly I can’t wait to see what they do. They pick great directors to work with and produce quality content.
Oh, no one’s going to come at you, since there’s always the possibility you just don’t know of which you speak, and deserve the benefit of the doubt…the possibility, at least. So we’re all happy to help educate!
Meghan is the daughter of a lifelong industry production crew professional and grew up both in front of and behind cameras, officially and unofficially. Cast of “General Hospital” and others remember her on-set, and, btw, that’s where you learn the most–by observing and connecting the dots. This education continued as she worked as talent on projects ranging from game shows, to planning and hosting live events, to scripted fare (including working as a lead actress on a major cable network drama for years).
This was more than enough experience for her to transition to her recent work as a collaborator and producer of documentaries, podcasts, and multimedia content, and her co-leadership of a foundation. Harry (whose uncle also worked as a producer) has worked on several of these projects, and a couple of his own, including producing a project with Oprah.
As others have pointed out, it’s fairly common for actors including Reese Witherspoon, Margot Robbie, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and many, many more to set-up and run production houses, and some (like those listed above) have had tremendous success both critically and financially. All of them started as actors and continue to act. Again, the best way to learn an industry is to observe it first hand from whatever perspective and vantage point you are able to gain.
And we haven’t even gotten to the number of people who’ve had tremendous financial and critical success as producers who have no entertainment experience at all, but have solid business savvy, connections to help attract top talent and attention to projects, and the willingness to learn and contribute within a specific production lane. This doesn’t apply to Harry and Meghan, who have experience (as we’ve now documented) but it certainly speaks to how the road to legitimate production and project development roles can come from non-traditional places and perspectives.
So, there, no one “came after you,” but you have been educated. No need for such dismissive tones of the work of H&M, nor other actors (female actors) especially, who make such a transition. They are all worthy of our respect.