Amblin is named after Spielberg's first commercially released film, Amblin', a short independent film about a man and womanhitchhiking through the desert. The film, which cost $15,000 to produce, was shown for Universal Studios and won Spielberg more directing roles. Although Amblin is an independent production company, Universal distributes many Amblin productions, and Amblin operates out of a building on the Universal lot. Its logo features the silhouette of E.T. riding in the basket on Elliott's bicycle flying in front of the moon from the 1982 movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
History
Amblin Productions
On December 17, 1970, Steven Spielberg established and incorporated the company as Amblin Productions, Inc. On July 14, 1975, Spielberg signed a four-picture agreement with Universal Pictures to produce its feature films through its Amblin label, to built upon the success of its first two theatrical pictures The Sugarland Express and Jaws. In 1981, Frank Marshall joined the company, followed it up in 1982 by Kathleen Kennedy. They both leave in 1992 to start their own production company.
Amblin Entertainment
In 1983, Amblin started making a split partnership between Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., and the first pictures made for the latter were Gremlins and Fandango. Later that year, it was renamed to Amblin Entertainment. In 1984, the company started developing TV shows with its first project, Amazing Stories. In 1985, Spielberg and Don Bluth started a partnership to produce animated feature films. The only two films that were made from the Spielberg-Bluth deal were An American Tail and The Land Before Time. In 1989, a dispute over film-making budgets caused Spielberg and Bluth to part ways, and Amblin's animation department was rebranded to Amblimation, which was headquartered in London. The only three films that were released under the Amblimation banner were ', We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story and Balto. A fourth film, an animated film adaptation of Cats, was in development, but it was cancelled following the studio's closure in 1997. The same year, Amblin signed a deal with Turner Network Television to produce TV movies. In 1992, Amblin launched a visual effects studio Amblin Imaging, headed by visual effects pioneer John Gross. It was later shut down in 1995. In 1993, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, joined the company and merged its Aerial Pictures' banner with Amblin Entertainment, and the first picture Parkes involved was Little Giants''. In 1994, DreamWorks Pictures was launched, making Amblin Entertainment a subsidiary of it, and relegating it for films directed and produced by Steven Spielberg, and sequels for films developed prior to the formation of DreamWorks. In 1995, Amblin Entertainment and Playwrights Horizons signed a deal to make plays.
Amblin Partners
On December 16, 2015, Spielberg, Reliance, Entertainment One and Participant Media partnered to launch the content production company Amblin Partners, relegating Amblin Entertainment to a brand for family-themed films produced under the new company. In addition to Amblin Entertainment, the new company also would produce films under the DreamWorks and Participant banners. On the same day, Amblin Partners announced a five-year distribution deal with Universal, under which the company's films would be distributed and marketed by either the main Universal label or its specialty label, Focus Features. The Girl on the Train was the first film released under the new agreement. On February 15, 2017, 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 DreamWorks Animation.
Motion pictures
Note: The films marked with "*" are ones that Spielberg had no involvement with.
