Matt Remick falling off a water taxi outside the Excelsior? Matt Remick being kicked out of his own party at the Cipriani by an angry Italian bouncer? Matt Remick desperately trying to work an unenthused crowd into giving his terrible out-of-competition film a half-decent standing ovation? Keep an eye on the next season of Apple TV+’s entertainment industry satire “The Studio” as these scenes may well make it in.
Seth Rogen — who co-created the show and plays fictitious studio head Remick — was in research mode at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. Though he’s not involved with A24’s “The Smashing Machine,” he attended the afternoon press conference for the Dwayne Johnson’s wrestling drama before hitting the red carpet for the world premiere. During the film’s 15-minute standing ovation (something Remick’s Continental Studios could only dream of), while Johnson and Safdie both wept for joy, Rogen — sat a few rows back from the main stars — spent much of the time capturing footage on both his phone and a chunky digital camera (and also cheering and merrily posing for the occasional selfie with fans). He later carried on to the after party, where he chatting to fellow guests — and took more photos, with organizers telling Variety that he’d been dubbed “The Snapping Machine.”
Speaking to Italian website Adnkronos, Rogen said he was at the festival “scouting locations” for “The Studio” season two, which was announced in May by Apple TV+.
Rogen’s reps didn’t immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.
While a Golden Lion might be some way off for Remick and Continental, “The Studio” series could be headed towards Emmys glory. Its 23 nominations broke records for a comedy in its first season, and tied the record set by “The Bear” last year as the most nominated comedy series ever.
For all the insider-y laughs, however, “The Studio” recently came under fire by a real-life studio boss, Sony’s Tom Rothman, who told Letterboxd that there was a “kernel of brilliant, blinding truth” in each episode, but “everything else is horse shit.”
How that barb will manifest in the shenanigans of season two is anyone’s guess.