Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC, doing business as Amblin Partners, LLC., is an American independent

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

production company. It develops and produces films under the Amblin Entertainment and

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film studio and Film distribution, distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action a ...

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. Films produced by Amblin Partners are primarily distributed by either Universal or its specialty label Focus Features in North America and select international territories, and by third-party distributors through Mister Smith Entertainment in other countries.

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

, Amblin Entertainment, and Participant Media brands. For films, it uses the original DreamWorks label for mature content, the Amblin label for family-friendly content (with the exception of '' Maestro'', which is rated R), and the Participant label for social justice content, although Participant remained as a separate company. 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. '' The Girl on the Train'' was the first film released under the deal. Mister Smith Entertainment, which began its international distribution deal with DreamWorks in August 2012, continued to handle distribution sales for Amblin Partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 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. On February 15, 2017, Comcast's Universal acquired a minority stake in Amblin Partners, strengthening the relationship between Universal and Amblin, and reuniting a minority percentage of the DreamWorks Pictures label with its former DreamWorks Animation division, which Comcast acquired in 2016. On December 18, 2017, Amblin Partners signed a music publishing deal with BMG Rights Management, covering music from its films and television series.

Transfer of eOne's stake

On August 22, 2019,

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

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. On November 30, 2020, Amblin Partners renewed its distribution deal with Universal, which continued to be an equity stake holder. That same month however, Participant terminated its equity stake in Amblin Partners, ending its relationship with the company. On June 21, 2021, Amblin Partners signed a multi-year deal to produce "multiple new feature films per year" for Netflix. On November 17, 2022, Hasbro announced that was selling part of Entertainment One's television and film business not directly supporting their Branded Entertainment strategy, which included their stake in Amblin Partners. In March 2023, '' Deadline'' reported that Lionsgate (which Hasbro attempted to acquire in 2017), Fremantle, and Universal's former co-financing partner,

Legendary Entertainment Legendary Entertainment, LLC (also known as Legendary Pictures or simply Legendary) is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major stu ...

were among bidders for the assets of Entertainment One. 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. 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. On July 11, 2023, Amblin Partners announced it entered a partnership with its distributor, Universal, where Universal will co-finance Amblin's productions, as Amblin announced it would lay off 20% of its staff. 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. On August 3, 2023, Lionsgate announced it would acquire Entertainment One from Hasbro for $500 million, with the transaction closed on December 27, 2023.

Shutdown of Participant

On April 16, 2024, Participant ceased operations due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.

References

External links

* {{Comcast Amblin Partners Film production companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States Television production companies of the United States Steven Spielberg Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Universal City, California American companies established in 2015 Entertainment companies established in 2015 Mass media companies established in 2015 2015 establishments in California Joint ventures Alibaba Group Lionsgate Studios Reliance Entertainment subsidiaries Universal Pictures subsidiaries Cinema of Southern California