Joanna and I had a quick meeting this morning about TIFF and scheduling and I asked her if Seth Rogen would be coming for Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune in which he co-stars with Aziz and Keanu Reeves. While Seth’s presence in Toronto is tbc, Joanna asked if I saw him in Venice this weekend, and how funny it was. 

 

Which I totally missed but now that I’ve caught up, I get why so many people were amused. Because Seth wasn’t at the premieres and press conference in his usual capacity, on the celebrity side of rope.

 
 

Evan Goldberg, of course, is Seth’s longtime friend and producing partner. They’ve a lot of success together. Their biggest success, though, might be The Studio, the breakout comedy of 2025 and a frontrunner for multiple Emmys in a couple of weeks. And that’s why they were in Venice: research for The Studio season two. So, obviously, Continental Studios will be taking a film to Venice at some point? They’ve done the Golden Globes and Comic-Con, the show is about Hollywood and the industry machine, it makes sense that they’ll be featuring major film events and the spectacle on the carpets and behind the scenes. 

 

But it looks like Seth is experiencing it for the first time on the other side – closer to a member of the media than an actual celebrity. Or maybe a hybrid between media and documentarian. And fan. 

 

I wonder if they’ll be using the footage as a re-creation of a standing ovation at a fictional premiere, not unlike the way the Golden Globes scenes played out in season one. I’ve been there, it was super realistic. I’ve never been to Venice for the festival but I imagine they’re going for the same authenticity, and it’ll be interesting to see how ambitious they get in scale. If they’re shooting part of season two in Venice, Apple’s throwing a lot more budget at them. 

 

Seth Rogen at the premiere of The Smashing Machine in Venice, September 1, 2025
Photo credits: ZUMAPRESS.com/ MEGA/ WENN, Anthony Harvey/ Marechal Aurore/ ABACA/ Shutterstock

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