Standing near the entrance of Sala Grande on the Lido Saturday night, Jeff Zucker could almost pass for a typical Venice Film Festival attendee — almost.
Dressed for the occasion of a red carpet world premiere in a dark suit and tie, he shakes a few hands while hanging with a large crowd that’s gathered to wait for a group photo that happens only after movie star Robert Pattinson has finished greeting adoring fans along the barricade. Amid the delay, Zucker takes out his iPhone and proceeds to snap a few photos of the glamorous scene, including one of indie pop star Phoebe Bridgers, who is making her major acting debut in Lance Oppenheim‘s Primetime for A24.
Moments later something happens that shows just how atypical this attendee is: Venice Film Festival leadership, including artistic director Alberto Barbera, move in to approach and offer congratulations on his feature film debut and thank him for coming out to support the A24 release. Zucker is more than just a man about to sit for a movie on the festival’s most crowded night so far of the 83rd edition. He’s got a role in Oppenheim’s Primetime playing himself during his high-profile tenure running NBC Entertainment.
As one of the most powerful and prolific entertainment executives — he rose through the ranks on Today, served as president of NBC Entertainment before taking over as CEO of NBCUniversal, and then ran CNN Worldwide for nearly a decade — Zucker easily could’ve passed on the acting gig and slipped the filmmakers a list of names to audition instead. (He joked to Variety that “Jacob Elordi probably wasn’t available, right?)
