When Bollywood and Hollywood stars are coming together in many movies and even shows, how can producers be far behind. In the latest of collaborations between a Hollywood biggie and an Indian business magnate, director Steven Spielberg ( of Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park fame) and Anil Ambani have come together to form Amblin Partners. The entity will primarily focus on producing and distributing films using the DreamWorks Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Participant Media brands.
Ambani already has a joint venture worth US$1.2 billion with Steven Spielberg’s production company DreamWorks and the tieup has contributed to the production of a number of films with Steven Spielberg, including the Academy Award winning film Lincoln in 2012.
The newly formed entity will use the Amblin label for family-friendly movies, the DreamWorks label for adult-themed movies, and the Participant label for social/justice movies, although Participant will remain a separate company.
Spielberg, announcing the joint venture, said, “We are honoured to continue our long-term association with our dear friend, Anil Ambani and his team at Reliance. We have had the opportunity to develop and produce wonderful films, thanks to their ongoing support.”
Anil Ambani said, “We are delighted to continue our now seven-year-strong relationship with our valued partner, Steven Spielberg and extend this alliance to the formation of Amblin Partners with Jeff Skoll. We look forward to the combination of Steven’s passion and integrity with Jeff’s unique socially-conscious vision to create uplifting and quality content to entertain global audiences.”
Anil Ambani is one of the largest producers of Bollywood and his major interests in entertainment include 44 FM radio stations, nationwide DTH business, animation studios, and several multiplex cinemas throughout India. Under the Reliance Entertainment umbrella of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), Ambani owns entities like Adlabs media, Bigadda.com, Talenthouse, BigFlix, BigMusic, Phantom films, amongst others.