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Amblin Partners

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This article is about the parent and film company. For the film production subsidiary, see Amblin Entertainment. For the television production subsidiary, see Amblin Television.

Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC
Amblin Partners, LLC.
Company typeJoint venture
IndustryEntertainment
PredecessorDreamWorks SKG
FoundedDecember 16, 2015; 8 years ago (2015-12-16)
Founders
Headquarters
Universal City, California
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
  • Motion pictures
  • Television
Owners
Divisions
Websiteamblin.com

Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC, doing business as Amblin Partners, LLC., is an American independent entertainment production company. It develops and produces films under the Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures banners, as well as television series through Amblin Television.

The company's investment partners include Reliance Group's Reliance Entertainment, Lionsgate Studios, Alibaba Group's Alibaba Pictures, and NBCUniversal/Comcast's Universal Pictures.[3] Films produced by Amblin Partners are primarily distributed by Universal in North America and select international territories, and by third-party distributors through Mister Smith Entertainment in other countries.[4][5]

History

Amblin Partners, LLC. was founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll of Participant Media, Anil Ambani of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and Darren Throop of Entertainment One on December 16, 2015. The company primarily would focus on producing and distributing films and television using the DreamWorks Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, and Participant Media brands.[6] For films, it uses the original DreamWorks label for mature content, Amblin label for family-friendly content (with the exception of Maestro, which is rated R), and Participant label for social justice content, although the latter remained a separate company.[7]

On the same day as the company's formation, Amblin Partners announced that it entered into a five-year distribution deal with Universal Pictures by which the films would be distributed and marketed by either the main Universal banner or its specialty label, Focus Features.[4][8] The Girl on the Train was the first film released under the deal.[9] Mister Smith Entertainment, which began its international distribution deal with DreamWorks in August 2012,[10] continued to handle distribution sales for Amblin Partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[5]

On October 9, 2016, Amblin Partners struck a deal with China's Alibaba Pictures, in which Alibaba acquired a minority equity stake in the company and would handle marketing, distribution support, and merchandising of Amblin Partners films in China in addition to co-financing Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures films worldwide.[1][11] On February 15, 2017, Comcast's Universal acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners,[12] strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin.[2]

On December 18, 2017, Amblin Partners signed a music publishing deal with BMG Rights Management, covering music from its films and television series.[13]

Transfer of eOne's stake

On August 22, 2019, Hasbro announced that it would acquire Entertainment One for at least $4 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 30, 2019, resulting in the toy company inheriting Entertainment One's stake in Amblin Partners.[14]

On November 30, 2020, Amblin Partners renewed its distribution deal with Universal, which continued to be an equity stake holder.[15] That same month however, Participant terminated its equity stake in Amblin Partners, ending its relationship with the company.[15]

On June 21, 2021, Amblin Partners signed a multi-year deal to produce "multiple new feature films per year" for Netflix.[16]

On November 17, 2022, Hasbro announced that was selling part of Entertainment One's TV and film business not directly supporting their Branded Entertainment strategy, which included their stake in Amblin Partners.[17][18] In March 2023, Deadline reported that Lionsgate (which Hasbro attempted to acquire in 2017), Fremantle, and Universal's former co-financing partner, Legendary Entertainment were among bidders for the assets of Entertainment One.[19] The following month, it was reported Lionsgate, Legendary, and GoDigital Media Group were among the potential buyers, with Fremantle dropping out of contention following an increase in the selling price, which was beyond what the company was willing to pay for the assets.[20] On April 20, 2023, it was reported that Hasbro was in talks with Throop, whose bid was backed by CVC Capital Partners, on the possibility of buying the company back.[21]

On July 11, 2023, Amblin Partners announced it entered a partnership with its distributor, Universal, where the latter will co-finance Amblin's productions, as Amblin announced it would lay off 20% of its staff.[22] In the same month Deadline reported that Lionsgate was a frontrunner to acquire Entertainment One, with Legendary and GoDigital still among the potential buyers and Throop attempting to launch another bid for the company after his previous attempt with CVC failed.[23]

On August 3, 2023, Lionsgate announced it would acquire Entertainment One from Hasbro for $500 million, with the transaction closed on December 27, 2023.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b Frater, Patrick (October 9, 2016). "Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners Inks Strategic Pact With Alibaba Pictures". Variety. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Perry, Spencer (February 15, 2017). "Universal Studios Buys a Minority Stake in Amblin Partners". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  3. ^ "DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, Reliance Entertainment and Entertainment One Form Amblin Partners, a New Film, Television and Digital Content Creation Company". Participant. December 16, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Lang, Brent (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Bring Amblin Partners, LLC. to Universal". Variety. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  5. ^ a b McNary, Dave (November 4, 2016). "AFM: Mister Smith Pacts Power its Picture Pipeline". Variety. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  6. ^ Cieply, Michael (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Studios in Deal to Form New Company". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  7. ^ "Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Relaunches as Amblin Partners". The Wall Street Journal. December 16, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  8. ^ Busch, Anita (December 16, 2015). "It's Official: Spielberg, DreamWorks, Participant, eOne, Others Pact For Amblin Partners". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Pamela McClintock; Gregg Kilday (December 16, 2015). "Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll Team to Form Amblin Partners, Strike Distribution Deal With Universal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  10. ^ Fritz, Ben (August 29, 2012). "DreamWorks replaces Disney with new international partner". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Faughnder, Ryan (February 15, 2017). "Universal buys minority stake in Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Lieberman, David (February 15, 2017). "Universal Buys Minority Stake In Amblin Partners". Deadline. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  13. ^ "Amblin Partners Inks Exclusive Music-Publishing Deal With BMG". December 18, 2017.
  14. ^ Low, Elaine (August 22, 2019). "Hasbro Acquires Entertainment One in $4 Billion All-Cash Deal". Variety. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  15. ^ a b Lang, Brent (November 30, 2020). "Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners Extends Deal With Universal". Variety. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  16. ^ "Spielberg's Amblin inks multiyear feature film deal with Netflix". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  17. ^ "Hasbro Puts eOne up for Sale Less Than 3 Years After Closing $3.8 Billion Acquisition". Variety. November 17, 2022.
  18. ^ "Hasbro Initiates Sale Process for eOne TV and Film Business". Hasbro. November 17, 2022.
  19. ^ "eOne: Fremantle, Lionsgate & Legendary In Pursuit Of Hasbro Company As Sale Process Enters Final Stage". Deadline Hollywood. March 15, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 17, 2023). "eOne: Lionsgate & Legendary Remain Among 4 Potential Buyers As Hasbro Company Sale Nears Finish Line". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  21. ^ Shaw, Lucas; Buckley, Thomas (April 20, 2023). "Hasbro Is in Talks to Sell 'Yellowjackets' Studio to Its Founder". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  22. ^ "Amblin Partners And Universal Pictures Set New Multi-Year Partnership As Amblin Expects Future Job Cuts". July 11, 2023.
  23. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr.; Andreeva, Nellie (July 17, 2023). "Lionsgate In Pole Position On Entertainment One Acquisition: The Dish". Deadline. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  24. ^ "Hasbro to Sell eOne Film & TV Business to Lionsgate" (Press release). August 3, 2023.
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