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
Blackstone Raises its Largest Asia Private Equity Fund at $13.1 Billion2.6.2026 04:00:00 EEST | Press release
Blackstone (NYSE: BX) today announced the final close of Blackstone Capital Partners Asia III (“BCP Asia III”) at $13.1 billion, exceeding its $10 billion target and marking the firm’s largest private equity fundraise in the region. The oversubscribed fund reached its hard cap and builds on the strong performance of the strategy’s first two vintages, with this close representing more than double the amount of capital raised for its predecessor vehicle. Joe Baratta, Global Head of Blackstone Private Equity Strategies,said: “We are grateful for the continued trust of our investors in Blackstone and our leading Asia Private Equity franchise. This successful fundraise reflects the strength of our platform and our ability to perform through cycles. Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing region in the world, presenting compelling opportunities to invest at scale behind our high-conviction themes and deliver for our investors.” Amit Dixit, Head of Asia for Blackstone Private Equity, said: “For t
Phison Collaborates with Intel to Bring Larger Local AI Workloads to Intel AI PC Platforms2.6.2026 03:00:00 EEST | Press release
COMPUTEX — Phison Electronics (8299TT), a global leader in NAND flash controllers and storage solutions, today announced a collaboration with Intel to enable AI PCs to deploy larger, more capable AI applications locally. The collaboration combines Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 3 processors with Phison’s Pascari aiDAPTIV, a memory extension solution that unblocks memory-constrained systems to support larger Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) AI models, longer-running AI sessions and agentic AI workflows. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260601878925/en/ Phison and Intel collaborate to bring larger local AI workloads to Intel AI PC Platforms Today, AI PCs are moving beyond simple assistant applications toward more advanced local AI use cases. These solutions now support end users and businesses in document analysis, multi-step workflow execution and private data protection while reducing reliance on cloud-only AI services. As
Phison Unlocks Full-Scale AI Deployment Across Industries2.6.2026 03:00:00 EEST | Press release
Phison Electronics (8299TT), a global leader in NAND flash controllers and storage solutions, today announced a new strategic initiative at COMPUTEX 2026 under the theme “AI Enabler: Evolving Data Storage Intelligence.” Expanding beyond its role as a storage technology leader, Phison is taking a systems-level approach to AI solutions spanning AI infrastructure, edge AI computing and AI software platforms. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260601070396/en/ Phison evolving data storage intelligence at COMPUTEX 2026 At COMPUTEX 2026, Phison is showcasing comprehensive AI storage and computing architecture solutions designed to address key challenges facing enterprises and end users in the AI era, including high AI deployment costs, GPU and memory limitations, data privacy concerns and the increasing storage bandwidth and power demands driven by AI workloads. Four Core Technology Directions for AI and High-Speed Sto
SymphonyAI Brings AI-Powered Assortment and Space Platform to Global CPGs, Compressing Category Review Cycles from Weeks to Days2.6.2026 01:35:00 EEST | Press release
Planogram compliance failures, undetected out-of-stocks, and the lag between headquarters planning and store-level execution cost grocers measurably in comp sales, shrink, and associate labor hours. The tools built for category planning have never been designed to close that execution gap. In response, SymphonyAI, a global leader in Vertical AI, today announced the availability of CINDE Assortment and Space for CPGs, an AI platform that closes the loop between assortment strategy, planogram execution, and in-store compliance, compressing the category review cycle from four to six weeks to a matter of days. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260602137061/en/ The platform is underpinned by SymphonyAI's Transferable Demand AI, a model trained across 25 years of retail data and validated in production across more than 500 global CPG deployments, including PepsiCo, Southern Co-op, and every one of the top 25 global CP
SymphonyAI Launches CINDE Retail Media Intelligence to Connect Merchandising and Media for Mid-to-Large Grocers2.6.2026 01:05:00 EEST | Press release
Retail media has become the fastest-growing profit line in grocery, yet the billions of dollars CPG advertisers invest in it every year flow through a system where media buyers and merchants never see the same data. Merchants plan assortments, negotiate trade spend, and execute resets with no visibility into which CPG media investments are driving category velocity, while CPG advertisers renew or walk based on incrementality proof that most retailers cannot provide. To solve for this, SymphonyAI, a global leader in Vertical AI, today announced the general availability of CINDE Retail Media Intelligence (RMI), an AI platform that connects merchandising, media, and shopper intelligence into a single closed-loop system, giving retailers and CPG partners shared visibility into how every media dollar moves category turns, trade spend ROI, and gross margin across every reset cycle, joint business planning negotiation, and campaign flight. This press release features multimedia. View the full
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