Ali Abbasi Signs With UTA

It appears as though “The Apprentice” director Ali Abbasi has survived his stint without representation, as the filmmaker has now signed with UTA, according to multiple media reports.

The news comes two weeks after it was reported that Abbasi parted ways with CAA and Management 360 after an alleged January groping incident with an unnamed A-List actor.

“I made an over-familiar gesture — a slap on the rear — which I intended as playful and not in any sexual way whatsoever,” he told TheWrap last month. “I apologized to him on the spot, and the following day I made sure my apology was reiterated through my representatives.” 

“The suggestion that I was dropped by my representation due to this interaction is false,” Abbasi added. “My decision to part ways was a long-term career decision that was not shaped by short term motivations.”

The director will continue to be represented by Lark in the U.K., per Deadline, which was first to report the news on Friday. TheWrap has reached out to UTA for further comment.

Abbasi’s filmography includes 2016’s “Shelley,” 2018’s “Border,” 2022’s “Holy Spider” and this past year’s Oscar-nominated “The Apprentice,” as well as the final two episodes of “The Last of Us” Season 1. He won an Un Certain Regard award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for “Border.”

The post Ali Abbasi Signs With UTA appeared first on TheWrap.