Malia Obama DITCHES Her Famous Last Name! Here’s What She’s Going By Now! _ E! N
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00:00 No nepo babies here. Malia Obama is ditching her famous last name. The eldest daughter of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama is dropping Obama from the end of her name, opting to go by Malia Ann, which is the 25 year old's middle name.
00:20 Malia's new moniker pops up in a recent meet the artist video to promote the release of her new short film, The Heart, which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
00:33 My name is Malia and I am the writer/director of a short called The Heart. Here are some stills from the film, which will be screened with the US Fiction Short Films this year at Sundance. This is an odd little story, somewhat of a fable, about a man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him in unusual request in her will.
00:55 The former first daughter also recently made her first ever red carpet appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah last month. The project is Malia's directorial debut, though she's been working hard behind the scenes for many years, beginning with her internship on the hit HBO series Girls.
01:14 She later went on to become a staff writer for the Amazon Prime series Swarm. In fact, the Harvard grad has proven her talent, with or without the name Obama. Just take it from Donald Glover, whose company Gilga produced her directorial debut and Swarm.
01:30 He told Vanity Fair in March of 2022, "I feel like she's just somebody who's gonna have really good things coming soon. Her writing style is great." Swarm's co-creator Janine Nabors also sang Malia's praises to Entertainment Tonight in March, saying, "Some of her pitches were wild as hell, and they were just so good and so funny. She's an incredible writer. She brought a lot to the table. She's really, really dedicated to her craft."
01:59 The film is expected to be released in the U.S. in early 2020.
02:00 The film is expected to be released in the U.S. in early 2020.
02:06 (upbeat music)