Netflix has followed Spotify and is now also taking steps to get Harry and Meghan to produce some shows in 2022 – 16 months after they signed a reputed £120million deal to make TV.
The streaming giant, whose stock tumbled more than 20 per cent on Friday after warning subscriber growth would slow substantially in early 2022, placed the advert for a production designer on Instagram.
It came as audio giant Spotify reportedly took production into its own hands after the Sussexes’ £18million podcast deal a year ago with a pledge to promote ‘shared values’ has produced limited content.
For their Archewell Audio channel which is being created with Spotify’s Gimlet Studio, Meghan and Harry only have 35 minutes of content. The couple had promised to make a series by 2021, but that has not happened.
In July 2013, Archewell’s audio head was Rebecca Sananes. However, there have been few updates about this New York-based producer. She won the National Murrow Award in the Best Audio News Documentary category for her podcast episode: “Why is Vermont so Overwhelmingly white?”
Netflix is now looking for a production design for Pearl, their first movie. Their huge cash deal was the first after they had quit being frontline royalty. The animated program, which is being produced by the Duchess and Princess of Sussex, is about an inspiring young girl.
Social media job advertisement for a new position states that you will ‘develop, create, support the aesthetic vision’ of the executive producer group.
Spotify has now posted a job advertisement for employees to handle ‘every part’ of their streaming service after the deal between the couple and the company failed. The person will need ‘an interest in the intersection of social activism and popular culture’, and the show will feature ‘high-profile women,’ according to the job adverts posted on LinkedIn.
The Sussexes’ own Archewell Audio will be working with one producer. There are two additional posts being advertised. It’s not known if these will be helping out.
MailOnline reached out to Spotify and Netflix for comment.
In a second multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix the Duke and Duchess have been working on documentary series and cartoon series. It seems that there is some momentum with Spotify six months after the appointment of Rebecca Sananes from New York (right) to head audio at Archewell last July.
Netflix seeks a production designer to create their first show, Pearl. This aminated series, which was created by the Duchess, centres on a young girl inspired by historical women.
The couple signed a deal with Spotify, but only one streamed show was available. Spotify is now advertising for staff members to help them make content.
What HAS happened to Meghan and Harry’s £18m Spotify podcast deal?
Meghan and Harry’s £18million Spotify podcast deal has been under scrutiny – after their expected 2021 Archewell series remained missing in action with the streaming giant refusing to say if and when it will air.
Since December 15, 2020, the Royal couple has been silent about the platform, despite having signed the lucrative contract.
Their Archewell Audio channel has only 35 minutes of content. It was created with Spotify’s Gimlet Studio.
They and Spotify did not respond to queries about the future direction of the audiovisual endeavor.
Archewell Audio, however, is not featured on Gimlet’s website.
Spotify’s December 2012 press release looks completely out of date.
It had trilled: ‘Archewell Audio will leverage Spotify’s global reach—with 144 million Premium subscribers and 320 million monthly active users—to spotlight powerful and diverse voices and perspectives.
“The first complete Archewell Audio/Spotify series is due next year, and will be streamed for free on Spotify.”
But in July 2021 Rebecca Sananes was appointed as head of audio but there have been no updates.
Spotify and Archewell Audio announced a partnership in December 2020. They were “citizens around the world” who wanted to help ‘elevate voices underrepresented”.
But aside from a 33-minute ‘holiday special’ that month featuring friends such as Sir Elton John and James Corden – and the intensely private couple’s son, Archie, speaking his first public words – there has been a deafening silence.
This latest action follows Harry and Meghan’s addition of two additional entertainment companies to their expanding business empire in Delaware.
Both of them, having resigned from royal duty last summer, have created a network of complex companies, all with their headquarters in an opaque tax haven.
Spotify stated that it was expecting the first complete series from Archewell Audio by 2021. However, Spotify has not provided any further information.
Archewell had hired Rebecca Sananes as its podcast producer in July. She confirmed that the company was looking forward to sharing more content by 2021.
Spotify now hires producers via its podcast arm Gimlet to join Archewell Audio.
Los Angeles-based applicants are invited to apply for the jobs on 6-month contracts.
The advertisement that is for a Senior Producer role states: “We’re currently assembling an show team which will build and launch an original show with Archewell featuring voices from high-profile women.
“The perfect candidate is someone who has worked with high-profile talents and has an interest in popular culture and social activism.
Harry is a guest star on many podcasts, and he also made a series with Oprah on mental health. Oprah and Meghan did their shocking television interview in March with Oprah. Meghan has been on several media interviews.
Harry and Sheila are working on documentaries, as well as cartoons series, in another multimillion-dollar deal with Netflix.
Gimlet Projects is a podcast development and launch company for Spotify. They often involve ‘highly-profile collaborators.
The show’s new senior producer is expected to be involved in ‘every stage of production, including research and development.
There are two additional producing jobs that can be linked to this advert but they do not mention Archewell.
Aside from a 33-minute ‘holiday special’ featuring friends such as Sir Elton John (pictured above, in New Orleans on January 19) – and the intensely private couple’s son, Archie, speaking his first public words – there has been a deafening silence. James Corden was also a guest on the couple’s “holiday special”.
Prince Harry’s and Meghan’s logo for Archewell Audio. Their new production company was founded in December 2020.
Take care of Sussexes’ businesses
Andrew Meyer (second left) and Richard Genow(right) were pictured with Kamala’s husband Doug Emhoff (right) and Patricia Wheeler, a fellow lawyer in 2019.
Prince Harry and Meghan markle have an elite team of publicists, lawyers, agents and attorneys that help to create companies, negotiate multimillion-dollar deals, and maintain their public image.
Andrew Meyer, Meghan’s business manager is well-known among Hollywood’s elite for being a high-ranking manager who has managed clients such as Anna Kendrick and Kathryn Hahn, Alexander Skarsgard, and Ellen Pompeo.
Freemark Financial’s LA-raised partner was one of the 600 wedding guests.
Meyer is a close friend of Meghan’s lawyer Rick Genow. Rick has previously represented Sir Ben Kingsley, Greg Kinnear and was named in the company records for all former royals’ firms.
Genow is a partner at Beverly Hills law firm Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smekinson & Christopher, LLP.
According to Meyer, he told Hollywood Reporter that Meyer has been his friend and professional colleague for more than 15 years. He also said that Meyer “doesn’t forget a detail” and that he cares deeply about every client.
Christine Schirmer (previous Pinterest communications chief) is the head of public relations. Schirmer was taken by the Duchess of Cambridge two months after she quit her Pinterest job in July 2020.
Schirmer, one of Harry’s top aides is responsible for overseeing Sunshine Sachs’s representations of the Sussexes and their UK publicist James Holt.
Holt was responsible for the couple’s UK media relations. He also became the Archewell Foundation’s Executive Director in 2013.
Last year, Meghan is reported to have fired Nick Collins, her longtime agent. He was reportedly relieved but still consults on behalf of the Duchess.
According to state filings, Meghan’s longtime attorney and business manager, have incorporated 11 companies and one trust for them since April 2020. One of these was a company that Harry allegedly set up for his memoir book deal.
And according to The Telegraph, two further companies were also registered on the same date, including Cloverdale Inc – which bears the same name as the street that the Duchess lived on with her mother in Los Angeles as a child.
Riversoul, the second company’s name, is not currently known.
Both companies are set up explicitly in the ‘entertainment’ space, meaning the couple now have seven separate firms in the industry.
All the firms have their headquarters in Beverly Hills, where Richard Genow (an attorney who worked for the Duchess of Cornwall) has been based.
Andrew Meyer, her business manager, is also listed in the company filings. Andrew Meyer is a highly-connected money expert whose clients include Jon Chu, Anna Kendrick and Adam Driver.
After her divorce, Meghan moved in with her mother to a first-floor apartment at S. Cloverdale Ave in Mid-Wilshire.
This was the original garage and loft area for the front property.
Two publishing companies are also inked by Meyer & Genow.
Peca Publishing LLC (the first), was created in September 2020. Meghan uses it to secure the rights for The Bench, her children’s book.
The same day a second company was incorporated, Orinoco Publishing LLC – though it didn’t register its status in California until December 22 last year.
Orinoco isn’t known for what purpose, although it is possible that Orinoco was created to handle Harry’s lucrative book deal with Penguin Random House. The rights are for Harry’s memoir due later this year.
One of the Delaware-based companies owned by the Sussexes was set up in order to protect the trademarks associated with their charity Archewell.
Harry and Meghan created Cobblestone Lane LLC to hold the Archewell logo. However, they filed another trademark application for a second logo with only the letters “AW” on top. This was done under an entirely different Delaware company, IPHW LLC.
Cobblestone Lane LLC, which was formed in Delaware on February 20, 2020 was then used five days later to apply for the Archewell trademark.
Archewell Audio LLC & Archewell Productions LLC have been a major focus of international media attention because they signed high-profile entertainment contracts with Spotify and Netflix.
One of the Duke and Duchess’ new businesses is Cloverdale Inc – which bears the same name as the street that the Duchess lived on with her mother in Los Angeles as a child (pictured her childhood home on South Cloverdale Avenue)
The companies are in the tax haven of Delaware, despite the couple living and doing business in California. This is the Montecito estate they live in.