(Reuters) - Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) MGM Studios has entered a multi-year film partnership with Scott Stuber, the former longtime head of films at Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), to finance and release movies from his new production company, it said on Friday.
Stuber, who left Netflix in March to start his media company, will produce several films annually under United Artists (UA), a relaunched label that once operated under MGM. The films will be released both theatrically and on Prime Video.
The agreement with Stuber, who will be involved in all projects released by UA, includes a first-look deal and gives his company a base at Amazon MGM Studios' Culver City lot.
UA was first launched by Charlie Chaplin, among others, in 1919 as a production and distribution company and was acquired by MGM in 1981.
Amazon bought MGM, or Metro Goldwyn Mayer, the fabled U.S. movie studio home to the James Bond franchise, for $8.45 billion in 2021, giving it a huge library of films and TV shows and ramping up competition with streaming rivals Netflix and Disney+.