Verve Signs Filmmaker & Former Focus Features CEO James Schamus

Manchester City's new superstar signing reminds Joleon Lescott of a player who famously fell out with Pep Guardiola.

As inflation and interest rates rise, there is a “very, very high risk” factor for an economic recession. That’s according to former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who addressed the issue Sunday on CBS talk show Face The Nation.

EXCLUSIVE: Rising Polish writer-director Natasza Parzymies (Control) has signed with APA for representation.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) has cast Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) to lead her second feature film.

EXCLUSIVE: James Morosini, the writer, director and star of the splashy SXSW comedy I Love My Dad, has signed with Anonymous Content for management.

EXCLUSIVE: Indya Moore (Pose, Aquaman and the Last Kingdom) has signed with UTA and Management 360 for representation across all mediums.

EXCLUSIVE: After recently wrapping production on the Pet Sematary origin pic, Paramount is looking to stay in business with writer-director Lindsey Beer as the the multi-hyphenate has entered into a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures to produce, write, and direct feature projects. Beer is already developing several projects under the deal, with several films being kept under wraps. One that isn’t being kept secret is Susie Thunder, which after the studio won a ten-party bidding war, Beer has boarded the movie to develop with Beer producing alongside Epic Magazine’s Arthur Spector, Josh Davis and Josh Bearman. The project is based on the true story of Susan Thunder, one of the first and most infamous hackers in the 1980s.

Elizabeth Olsen has opened up about the many opinions over Marvel movies as of late.

EXCLUSIVE: Scoot McNairy (Narcos: Mexico), Jack Reynor (Midsommar) and Emily Browning  (American Gods) are set to lead cast in psychological thriller Brightwater, which James Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) is aboard as executive producer.

EXCLUSIVE: Broadway playwright and American Rust TV writer Adam Rapp has signed with CAA in all areas.

EXCLUSIVE: British-American filmmaker Sacha Gervasi (My Dinner with Hervé) has signed with Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment for management.

EXCLUSIVE: WME has inked double BAFTA nominated filmmaker Rose Glass.

Flash Before the Bang,” which is being produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Pearl Street Films. He’s also appeared on “CSI: NY,” “Scrubs, “Criminal Minds” and directed his first film, “No Ordinary Hero.” Kotsur grew up in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona, where his father was police chief. Kotsur studied theater, television and film at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., but left after two years to join the Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles, where he starred in productions including “Cyrano,” “Of Mice and Men” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He was nominated for the 2015 LA Drama Critics Circle Award in the Deaf West Theatre production of “Spring Awakening” and appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-nominated ASL (American Sign Language) production of “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Troy Kotsur lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his wife, deaf actress Deanne Bray, and his daughter.

Portuguese film director Miguel Gomes is one of the premiere filmmakers of the playfully absurd and the surreal, employing a strange mix of those tones. He dazzled audiences in 2012 with “Tabu,” his surrealist meditation that broke through to international audiences, and then in 2015, he made his opus with the three-part “Arabian Nights” that was six hours in total.

Matt Judge is reported to have stood down from his position as head of corporate development for Manchester United and will not play a part in their upcoming recruitment drive. Judge has been a key figure when it comes to negotiations at Old Trafford and beyond since being appointed to his current role in 2016.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterFormer AMC Networks chief Josh Sapan’s compensation for 2021, his final year as CEO of the company, rose 30% over the previous year to $15.3 million.According to a proxy statement filed with the SEC Friday, Sapan’s total pay from the company for 2021 was $15.3 million compared to the $11.8 million he received in 2020 and the $20.2 million he was paid in 2019.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.Sapan’s successor, AMC Networks interim CEO Matthew Blank, was paid $6.97 million for the year. Blank joined AMC Networks in his new role in August just as Sapan stepped down.Blank’s base salary for 2021 was $630,136, while Sapan’s was $2 million.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed almost a dozen senior production figures to its Production Arts division in the wake of the Oscar telecast snub to several major categories, including those who’ve worked on Dune, You and Mrs America. 

EXCLUSIVE: When Downton Abbey first burst on the scene in 2010, the Julian Fellowes-created series quickly drew audiences and made headlines for its unique spin on the traditional British period drama. This was not your grandmother’s upstairs/downstairs look at the upper crust, rather its take on the aristocracy gave contemporary audiences characters and storylines they could relate to with strong women, quotable dialogue and tons of heart.

EXCLUSIVE: Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment-owned Halcyon Studios has signed industry vet Dara Cohen as Vice President of Scripted Entertainment.