The filmmaker, 26, helmed the social media short videos, which are tied to the launch of the WNBA star’s signature shoe
Malia Obama is just doing it!
The elder daughter of former president Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama has harnessed her directorial skills for a pair of social media vignettes in support of A’ja Wilson’s new Nike shoe, PEOPLE can confirm.
Obama, 26, was at the helm of two videos tied to the WNBA star’s new signature shoe for the brand, the A’One, set to drop on Tuesday, May 6.
In one of the shorts, a young girl teaches the Las Vegas Aces center how to play “Miss Mary Mack” — with different lyrics that reflect Wilson’s contributions to basketball.
“A’ja Wilson’s on top, top, top,” the girl sings. “Can’t take her spot, spot, spot.” And while Wilson struggles to learn the clapping choreography — “Girl, let me show you how a professional does it,” the kid jokes at one point — the three-time WNBA MVP eventually figures it out.
Obama’s second video featured an interview with Wilson at Big T’s Bar-B-Que in Columbia, South Carolina, where the basketball star grew up and later won an NCAA championship with the Gamecocks.
Wilson spoke to PEOPLE last month about her excitement surrounding the shoe’s launch.“When you see young people, young girls and boys want to wear your shoe, want to be a part of your journey and your legacy, that’s what it’s truly all about for me,” she told PEOPLE during Final Four weekend in Tampa, Fla. “So I will try not to cry, but it’s a big moment.”Obama’s big moment with Nike may have begun in February, when social media users claimed that they saw the Harvard graduate in Columbia, S.C. on the same day that Wilson’s jersey was retired by her former team, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Obama’s work with Nike is another chapter in her burgeoning career in filmmaking.Last fall, Obama attended the 50th annual Deauville American Film Festival in France, where she presented her short film and directorial debut, The Heart.
Honored with the Young Spirit award at the festival, she admitted she wasn’t used to life on the red carpet while speaking at the event.
“I’m so excited. I mean, I’ve never done anything like this … so of course [I’m] a little bit terrified, but mostly just excited,” the filmmaker told Paris Match in a clip shared to TikTok.