It's a BIG Deal for Steven Spielberg. But Who is Billionaire Anil Ambani?

It's a BIG Deal for Steven Spielberg. But Who is Billionaire Anil Ambani?

Most initial news reports about the $1.2 billion deal between media mogul Steven Spielberg and the Reliance ADA Group have focused on the implications on Spielberg, on his current relationship with Viacom's Paramount Pictures and perhaps on future deals with GE's NBC Universal. But who and what is behind India-based Reliance ADA?

Ask the India Expert Gunjan Bagla for this. Bagla says, Reliance ADA's primary investor and chairman is the sixth richest man in the world, Anil Ambani. His empire includes telecommunications, energy and financial services and entertainment. Married to a former movie star, Ambani has recently launched the brand "BIG" to bring his diverse entertainment interests under one brand. In India this includes theatrical movie production (via the former Adlabs Films), exhibitions across the country, online video games via Zapak, and special effects production via an investment in Prime Focus. India produces far more movies than Hollywood on an annual basis and Indian movies are very popular across Asia, Africa and Russia.

In the US, Ambani's companies have bought up a series of small theater chains and may soon relaunch them under the BIG brand. At Cannes, his team announced $1 billion in development deals with George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Nick Cage, Jim Carrey and others.

Gunjan Bagla is author of Doing Business in 21st Century India and is founder and principal of Amritt Inc. (http://www.amritt.com/ ), based in Los Angeles. Bagla helps American companies succeed in making successful deals with India. He also teaches an executive seminar at Caltech on business in India. Numerous senior Hollywood executives have attended his seminars. He travels to Mumbai frequently. His book includes a section on Mumbai, which he describes as the "maximum city."

CONTACT: Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications, Office: +1-734-667-2090, Cell: +1-248-705-2214, or scottlorenz@westwindcos.com

PRNewswire - September 20

Source: Gunjan Bagla of Amritt Inc.

Web site: http://www.amritt.com/

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