The 1968 Spielberg short film that inspired the name Amblin Entertainment was Amblin’.
Written and directed by Steven Spielberg, Amblin’ was his first completed film shot on 35 mm. It is a 26-minute, largely dialogue-free love story about a young man and woman who meet while hitchhiking through the Mojave Desert. Their journey takes them through friendship and romance before they part at a Pacific coast beach.
The film’s title later became the name of Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Entertainment. The company was founded in 1981 and became associated with major films including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park. Escape to Nowhere and Firelight were earlier Spielberg projects, but neither supplied the company’s name; Slipstream is also unrelated.
Amblin’ helped attract industry attention. After seeing it, Universal Television executive Sid Sheinberg signed Spielberg to a seven-year television directing contract. The short premiered in Los Angeles on December 18, 1968, Spielberg’s 22nd birthday.