Steven Spielberg strikes production deal with Netflix

Steven Spielberg’s home production banner Amblin Partners has signed a major partnership with Netflix to produce multiple films every year. This partnership with one of the most renowned Hollywood filmmakers comes at the right time for Netflix, especially when streaming rivals HBO Max and DisneyPlus are upping their game.

Amblin Partners has already been in a long term partnership with Universal, the releases of which are theatrical. The pact was renewed in December last year. In a statement commenting on the pact, Spielberg said, "At Amblin, storytelling will forever be at the centre of everything we do, and from the minute Ted (Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer) and I started discussing a partnership, it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways.”

Reflecting on the changing forms of content consumption, he said, “This new avenue for our films, alongside the stories we continue to tell with our longtime family at Universal and our other partners, will be incredibly fulfilling for me personally since we get to embark on it together with Ted, and I can’t wait to get started with him, Scott, and the entire Netflix team.”

Ted Sarandos, calling Steven Spielberg a 'creative visionary' added, "We cannot wait to get to work with the Amblin team and we are honoured and thrilled to be part of this chapter of Steven's cinematic history." The deal comes years after Spielberg commented on making films for streaming platforms by saying, " Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie” and expressed that good TV movies deserve an Emmy and not an Oscar.