Amblin Partners Announces New Multi-Year Film Distribution Partnership With Universal Filmed Entertainment Group
1.12.2020 00:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Amblin Partners today announced a new multi-year film distribution partnership with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, as well as a series of new agreements that chart a clear course for the next phase of growth for one of the world’s leading independent film and television studios. The new deals were announced this morning by Steven Spielberg, Amblin’s Founder and Chairman.
Remarked Spielberg: “My decades-long relationship with Universal truly transcends any single business deal, and to once again renew our corporate vows reaffirms that Universal is Amblin’s home. In addition to Universal, we are blessed to continue forward with a global family of partners, including Alibaba, eOne and Reliance, each of which has supported us for many years and enabled our storytelling to touch the lives of millions of moviegoers around the world. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to my dear friends Jeff Skoll and David Linde for an incredible run as formal partners; and my congratulations on what I know will be a successful next chapter in Participant’s journey. While in a different form, we look forward to continuing our collaborations to create the type of culturally-impactful content that only Participant can deliver.”
Donna Langley, Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, said: “Steven Spielberg and Amblin Partners have delivered award-winning critical and commercial hits that stand the test of time amongst films in the Universal canon. We’re proud to continue our partnership and reinvest in the future of Amblin Partners.”
Amblin’s continuing partnership with Universal Filmed Entertainment Group builds on a long history between the two companies, dating back to Spielberg’s arrival on the Universal lot as an intern in 1968. The new agreement further evolves the entities’ 2015 agreement that resulted in a number of critical and commercial hits, most recently Oscar Best Picture Winner Green Book, and 1917, which won three Oscars, two Golden Globes and grossed more than $385 million at the worldwide box office.
The new deal calls for multiple Amblin films to be marketed and distributed theatrically via Universal Pictures and Focus Features each year, while also providing Amblin with new opportunities in the streaming film marketplace. NBCUniversal has also agreed to re-invest in the Company, continuing its position as an equity holder and providing fresh capital to fund new production and development efforts across the Company’s film and television businesses.
Jeff Small, Amblin Partners CEO, commented: “Universal is simply the best in the business, and we are beyond fortunate to have Donna Langley and her team supporting our films. In addition, the evolution of our partnership provides flexibility for us to continue supplying the fast-growing streaming marketplace on an even greater scale, which will no doubt be a key growth driver for Amblin Partners in both film and TV in the years ahead.”
Alibaba Pictures, eOne and Reliance Entertainment will all continue as equity holders, with Alibaba releasing Amblin films in China; eOne releasing in the U.K., Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Benelux; and Reliance releasing in India.
Participant, which as a founding partner played a key role in the formation of Amblin Partners in 2015, will now exit its role as an equity holder of the Company. This transition will allow Participant flexibility with respect to distribution of its films, while still keeping open opportunities to work together with Amblin on future projects.
“We have enjoyed our relationship with Amblin Partners and are proud of the many notable films we have produced together,” stated Participant CEO David Linde. “Exiting our formal position will allow us the flexibility to evolve our business as our strategic goals and the marketplace dictates. Both Universal and Focus have been great distribution partners; and we have been incredibly fortunate to work closely with Steven, well pre-dating the formation of Amblin Partners, and look forward to finding new projects with him, Jeff Small and the entire Amblin team.”
Amblin also announced the close of an amended and restated syndicated revolving credit facility led by J.P. Morgan and Comerica. The facility continues longstanding relationships with a number of additional banking partners, and in total includes City National Bank, Union Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank Hapoalim, CIT Bank, East West Bank, Fifth Third Bank, California Bank & Trust, Citizens Bank and Preferred Bank. The facility will fund ongoing corporate operations, as well as production and development activities for both film and television.
“For nearly three decades, J.P. Morgan has had the pleasure of working with Amblin through its many significant achievements and milestones,” said David Shaheen, Head of the West Region and Entertainment Industries Group for J.P. Morgan’s Corporate Client Banking business. “We are proud to support the ambitious and creative Amblin team as they write the next chapter of their impressive story.”
About Amblin Partners
Amblin Partners is a film and television production company, led by Steven Spielberg, that develops and produces films using the Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures banners, and includes Amblin Television. The Company’s investment partners include Reliance Entertainment, Entertainment One (eOne), Alibaba Pictures and Universal Pictures.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201130005872/en/
Contact information
Dan Berger
+1 818-733-9645
dberger@amblinpartners.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
ARIS Announced as Exclusive Process Intelligence Launch Partner for AWS European Sovereign Cloud8.6.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
ARIS, the process context foundation for enterprise AI deployment, today announced its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support organizations navigating increasingly complex digital sovereignty requirements while accelerating AI-driven transformation. Many European enterprises face growing pressure to ensure sensitive operational and business data remains under European governance and regulatory control. Through the AWS European Sovereign Cloud (ESC), they will be able to combine advanced cloud and AI capabilities with enhanced operational separation, EU-based governance, and strict data residency controls. ARIS will support customers looking to operationalize AI safely and at scale within these boundaries by providing the process intelligence, governance, and operational context required for trusted enterprise AI deployment. “AI is moving rapidly from experimentation to operational execution, but organisations cannot scale AI without trust, visibility, and control,” sai
Cosylab Launches PlanOne™ Treatment Planning System for Particle Therapy8.6.2026 09:00:00 EEST | Press release
Cosylab today announced the commercial launch of PlanOne™, a treatment planning system for particle therapy, bringing physics-accurate, radiobiologically informed planning and a unified clinical workflow into a single environment. PlanOne™ is FDA 510(k) cleared. "PlanOne™ began with listening. Over the years, our work on control systems in radiation oncology has put us in direct, ongoing contact with medical physicists and clinical teams at some of the leading facilities in the world," said Mark Pleško, CEO of Cosylab. "Our partners have been clear on what matters most for particle therapy: physics accuracy they can defend, clinical confidence at the point of plan approval, and a platform built to grow with AI and adaptive workflows. We designed PlanOne™ around those three priorities, and we'll keep developing it together with the clinical community that helped shape it." Physics-accurate, radiobiologically informed planning PlanOne™ is built on a GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo dose engin
BitGo MENA Launches Regulated Electronic Trading, Delivering Full Suite Trading Services to the Region8.6.2026 07:00:00 EEST | Press release
BitGo MENA FZE (“BitGo MENA”), a subsidiary of BitGo Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BTGO) (“BitGo”), the digital asset infrastructure company, today announced the launch of electronic trading in the Middle East and North African (MENA). With this launch, clients can now access a comprehensive trading solution combining BitGo MENA’s established over-the-counter (OTC) trading offering with institutional-grade electronic execution, all operating under BitGo MENA’s Broker-Dealer license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). The launch further expands BitGo MENA’s regulated product suite under VARA’s oversight, marking another step in the region’s continued buildout of institutional digital asset infrastructure amid growing demand for integrated execution and custody solutions. “The Middle East and North Africa has quickly become one of the most exciting regions in the world for digital assets, with regulators, institutions, and innovators moving with real purpose,” said Mike Bels
Vertex Presents New Data on ALYFTREK ® at European Cystic Fibrosis Conference5.6.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced data demonstrating the potentially transformative impact of treating cystic fibrosis (CF) with ALYFTREK ® (vanzacaftor/tezacaftor/deutivacaftor) in children ages 2 to 5, as well as data from 96-week interim analyses of two open-label extension studies of ALYFTREK in children 6 to 11 years and people 12 years and older demonstrating the long-term safety and efficacy profile of the medicine. The data, presented at the European Cystic Fibrosis Conference, show children ages 2 to 5 with vanzacaftor/tezacaftor/deutivacaftor-responsive genotypes including those who are homozygous for the F508del mutation (F/F) and those who have F508del/minimal function mutations (F/MF)on ALYFTREK had further improvement in CFTR function from a TRIKAFTA ® baseline as measured by sweat chloride (SwCl), with 65% having achieved SwCl <30 mmol/L after treatment with ALYFTREK. Vertex also presented Phase 3 data of children ages 1 to <2 with TRIKAF
Owkin to Build AI Agents as Part of a Multi-Year K Pro Collaboration with Sanofi5.6.2026 14:00:00 EEST | Press release
Owkin, the agentic AI company pioneering Biological Artificial Superintelligence to transform drug discovery and development, today announced a multi-year collaboration with Sanofi to co-develop next-generation biopharma agents, to be backed by a five-year license for K Pro, Owkin’s AI Scientist. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260605704506/en/ K Pro, Owkin's AI scientist for biology, powered by multimodal patient data for smarter biopharma decision making. Owkin and Sanofi have collaborated since 2021 through a €90 million strategic partnership focused on target identification in oncology and patient subgrouping. The collaboration was later expanded to include drug positioning for Sanofi’s immunology pipeline. This new collaboration represents the next evolution in the partnership. During the five-year collaboration, Owkin will lead the end-to-end development of novel AI-driven biopharma agents purpose-built
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom