ComScore

Malia Obama to Make Directorial Debut with New Film—Here’s What We Know

PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and the company may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. All prices are accurate upon date of publish. You can learn more about the affiliate process here.

Barack Obama’s oldest daughter, Malia, just made her writing debut with Donald Glover’s new thriller series, Swarm. (ICYMI: the first season is now streaming on Prime Video.) And now, the 24-year-old Harvard grad is teaming up with the Atlanta creator on another exciting project.

Glover (AKA Childish Gambino) recently sat down with GQ and shared that the former First Daughter will make her directorial debut with a short film produced by the actor's production company, Gilga.

The Community star didn’t spill any more deets about the new film, but he did reveal the piece of advice he gave Malia as she starts her new creative venture. 

“The first thing we did was talk about the fact that she will only get to do this once,” Glover told the publication. “You’re [Barack] Obama’s daughter. So if you make a bad film, it will follow you around.”

Malia Obama.
Alo Ceballos/GC Images

Malia is no stranger to operating behind the scenes as she also has experience working on the set of Girls and Halle Berry’s series, Extant. 

Although Swarm was her first television writing job, the former college student impressed Glover and the show’s co-creator, Janine Nabers, with her interesting ideas.

Malia collaborated with Nabers to write the episode titled “Girl, Bye” in the series, which follows an obsessed fan named Dre (played by Dominique Fishback), who would do anything for her favorite Beyoncé-esque singer. 

“Some of her pitches were wild as hell, and they were just so good and so funny,” Nabers revealed to Entertainment Tonight back in March. “She’s an incredible writer. She brought a lot to the table. She’s really, really dedicated to her craft.”

Sounds like Malia is making some pretty big moves in Hollywood!

Want all the latest celebrity news sent right to your inbox? Subscribe here.



karelle mckay headshot e1678464959710

Assistant Editor, News And Entertainment

Karelle McKay is the Assistant Editor of News and Entertainment at PureWow. Before she started writing about all things pop culture, she was a literal couch potato who loved...