Jessie Dicovitsky Joins Higher Ground As Head Of Television

EXCLUSIVE: Higher Ground is stepping up its TV series efforts. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s media company, which just re-upped its Netflix deal with a multiyear first-look film and TV agreement, has brought in Showtime’s Jessie Dicovitsky as Head of Television. This marks the first time Higher Ground has had a dedicated senior TV executive.

Dicovitsky is joining Higher Ground having just left her post as SVP of Original Programming for Showtime & Paramount+ last week after her most recent contract with the network came to an end. She is reuniting with former Showtime Documentary chief Vinnie Malhotra who is now President of Higher Ground Productions. Reporting to Malhotra, Dicovitsky will lead the company’s TV division, working to build out a comprehensive television production arm.

“While shepherding some of the most beloved shows on TV, Jessie has earned a remarkable reputation as a tasteful, trustworthy, and forward-thinking media executive,” Malhotra said. “As we further build out our television offerings, we’re thrilled to welcome Jessie to the Higher Ground team.”

At Showtime, Dicovitsky spent the last decade working across the development and production of comedy, drama and documentary programming, including Halo, Billions, Shameless, Black Monday, The L Word: Generation Q, Episodes, Three Women and docu-series The Circus. She also has been responsible for building the company’s acquisitions and co-production arms with such series as Dreaming Whilst Black, We Hunt Together, and Ill Behavior.

In addition to personnel management and business development, Dicovitsky ran the corporate partnership with Simon & Schuster and key talent relationships/overall deals, including Adam McKay, Ethan Hawke, John Wells, Ilene Chaiken, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, and Sterlin Harjo. Promoted to SVP in 2021, she has been an advocate for underrepresented voices, championing talents responsible for such series as Flatbush Misdemeanors, Dreaming Whilst Black, and Woman in the Wall.

“The Obamas have built a powerful platform to inspire and entertain globally, and I am deeply energized by their cultivation of talent and mission to amplify the best stories and storytellers of our time,” Dicovitsky said. “I couldn’t be more excited to lead their efforts in building a culture-moving slate to share with the world.”

Higher Ground’s first foray into non-childrens scripted series, the Will Forte crime drama series Bodkin, was released in May, spending three weeks on the Netflix global Top 10 list. Higher Ground’s television projects with Netflix also include Working: What We Do All Day, the Emmy-winning docu limited series inspired by Studs Terkel’s classic 1974 nonfiction work, the Emmy-winning Our Great National Parks and music-fueled animated educational series We the People, as well as established kids and family series Waffles + Mochi and Ada Twist, Scientist.

The company is in production on The Later Daters, an unscripted series about older people finding companionship, produced alongside Harvard-trained behavioral scientist, Logan Ury, who will serve as an on-air expert. It is also partnering with Words and Pictures, the team behind The Last Dance, and the International Olympic Committee on a documentary series following the Olympic Basketball Tournament in Paris later this year.

Higher Ground’s development slate includes an adaptation of S.A. Cosby’s bestselling crime thriller All The Sinners Bleed with Amblin Entertainment, Hello, Beautiful, a family drama by Ann Napolitano, and Dyersville, a Chicago-set crime thriller inspired by real life events, directed by Grant Singer.