Unlike The White Lotus, The Studio had to make its international film festival from scratch

“We recreated the entire festival ourselves,” Rogen tells Variety during, funnily enough, Cannes. Commenting on how the series is built around long, continuous shots, Rogen continues, “We need to literally control every element of everything that’s in the frame. Everyone in our shot, from background actors to supporting actors, have to be placed in very specific ways so we can reset and do it again.” 

“We have a keen eye to make the show as cinematic and romantic as we can in this old Hollywood way,” says Rogen elsewhere in the interview. “Venice is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it’s a place I’ve longed to film. We scouted the festival last year, and we thought, ‘This would be a fun scene to dive into.'”

It’s unclear when the second season of The Studio might actually debut on Apple TV; the season was filming at least as recently as last month, and Rogen has been pretty upfront about how the death of Catherine O’Hara in January required them to readjust their initial plans. Season one of The Studio premiered on Apple TV in March 2025.