Netflix Inc added acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg to its roster with a joint announcement on Monday of a deal for his Amblin Partners production company to supply multiple movies a year for several years.

The Academy Award-winning director of big-screen classics such as “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan” will continue to direct and produce movies for Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures under a separate agreement.

The new arrangement brings a high-profile name to the list of talent working with Netflix at a time when a host of competitors including Walt Disney Co and Amazon.com Inc are competing for streaming audiences.

Spielberg had been at odds with Netflix in recent years when he argued that movies seen primarily on television should be eligible for Emmys and not Oscars. He has spoken out about wanting to preserve the experience of seeing movies in theaters.

“My entire life has been spent trying to give audiences something in a large, large forum,” Spielberg said in 2018. “I love the whole feeling of social interaction outside … Those are the kinds of audiences I like to talk to.”

In a statement, Spielberg said discussions with Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos showed “it was abundantly clear that we had an amazing opportunity to tell new stories together and reach audiences in new ways.”

Amblin produces several movies beyond the ones that Spielberg directs himself.

Recent Amblin projects included 2018 best picture winner “Green Book” and 2019 World War One drama “1917,” both distributed by Universal. It is possible Spielberg could direct some of Amblin’s movies provided to Netflix.

Financial terms of Amblin’s deal with Netflix were not disclosed.

Hollywood is finally revving up the summer blockbuster engines for the first time since the pandemic idled the movie business.

“F9,” the ninth installment in the popular “Fast & Furious” saga, hits U.S. and Canadian cinemas on Thursday night. The movie is the first big-budget action spectacle being released exclusively in theaters this year.

Cinema operators hope “F9” will kick-start domestic ticket sales to help them recover from extended closures and restricted reopening with few new movies to show.

Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures postponed the May 2020 release to give fans the chance to safely watch “F9” on a big screen in a crowd, director Justin Lin said.

“When we make these movies, it’s about connection,” Lin said in an interview. “It’s about people going to the cinemas with their friends and family, to be able to hopefully cheer together and laugh together with strangers.”

The “Fast” saga started as a story about illegal street racing and evolved into the tale of a close-knit team involved in heists and espionage. It is one of Hollywood’s most successful franchises, collecting more than $5 billion worldwide since the first film in 2001.

On a small island where the Senegal River meets the sea, hundreds of jazz enthusiasts listened to French-Senegalese vocalist Awa Ly sing the blues for uncertain times.

“Once you touched the sky and you went down,” she crooned. “Use your inner senses and you’ll figure it out, like a dream you can’t remember.”

Last year COVID-19 halted Saint Louis’ jazz festival for the first time in its 29-year history. This year it was back, bringing much needed life to the Island of Saint Louis, a UNESCO World Heritage site famed for its colonial architecture and pastel-coloured houses.

African rhythms, funk, gospel and blues could be heard along the narrow streets last weekend, emanating from restaurants, bars and hotels into the early morning.

“I was relieved, and everybody else was relieved too,” Ly said after her performance. “It was a beautiful energy, a beautiful vibration and a beautiful link between the stage and the audience.”

Saint Louis, in northern Senegal, was spared the deadliest impacts of the pandemic. But a decline in tourism and an economic crunch have left residents hungry for a boost that only its largest annual event could provide.

Billed as Africa’s biggest jazz festival, it has struggled with dwindling attendance since its days hosting headliners like American pianist Herbie Hancock, who played there in 1996.

But it does draw enthusiasts from across West Africa and Europe and is a source of pride for the city’s street performers.

“Jazz attracted a lot of tourists so we could play in the streets, so we managed to collect a little money,” said Adama Ndaw, 25, who busks near the Faidherbe Bridge, which ties the island of Saint Louis to the rest of the city on the mainland.

“Nothing was there last year, but today it is good because we still managed to at least build a stage.”