Ambani-Spielberg JV by Jan, likely to set up studio in LA "Dreamworks"

[dhilipkumar]

        The joint venture between Anil Ambani's Reliance Big Entertainment and Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks is expected to be launched within three months. Top brass of both the groups, including Mr Ambani and Mr Spielberg, met on Friday in Los Angeles to discuss the nitty-gritty of the $1.5-billion deal. Co-founders of DreamWorks, Stacey Snider and David Geffen, also attended the meeting.

          The broad contours of the deal suggest that Mr Ambani will create a new motion picture studio with Mr Spielberg. The new studio, aimed at producing films for the global audience, is proposed to be set up in Los Angeles, a source in the Ambani group said requesting anonymity.

The JV will produce 30-35 films over the next five years. This deal will help Steven Spielberg break away from Paramount Pictures to join hands with one of the leading industrial houses in India.

According to sources, Stacey Snider, the chief executive officer of DreamWorks, will hold the same position in this joint venture. Prior to joining DreamWorks in 2006, Ms Snider served as chairman of Universal Pictures. Reliance ADAG is expected to invest about $550 million as equity. The JV is likely to raise another $750 million of debt from JP Morgan Chase.


When contacted an ADAG spokesperson declined to comment. Reliance ADAG group has been making forays into the entertainment industry in a big way ever since it acquired Adlabs Films in 2005. In the film festival held at Cannes in May 2008, Reliance Big Entertainment, the entertainment wing of ADAG, expressed its intentions to enter into Hollywood and develop projects involving actors such as Nicolas Cage, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Tom Hanks.

Three-time academy award winner Steven Spielberg has directed and produced some of the most successful films in Hollywood including Jurassic Park, ET — The Extra-Terrestrial, and the Indiana Jones series.

This pact is being keenly watched as it involves the coming together of an Indian company that has its own grand plans in the media and entertainment space, and one of the most decorated filmmakers in the world.