Jeff Zucker spent nearly three decades running networks. On Saturday night at the Venice Film Festival, he stood on the red carpet playing a version of himself, and the film he's in got an eight-minute standing ovation.

The former CNN and NBCUniversal boss makes his acting debut in Lance Oppenheim's "Primetime," an A24 title built around a turning point in Dateline's run and Chris Hansen's "To Catch a Predator" franchise. Robert Pattinson plays Hansen. Merritt Wever plays his producer. Zucker plays the network executive deciding whether the show deserves a slot opposite ABC's "Lost."

His one line in the cameo does a lot of work: "I don't really like your show. But America loves it." He also shows up later via a phone call, voice only.

Zucker told The Hollywood Reporter on the carpet that the whole evening felt strange in a good way. "This is very surreal," he said, "but a lot of fun." Asked why he agreed to act at all, given a resume that includes running NBC Entertainment, then NBCUniversal, then CNN Worldwide for close to ten years, his answer was almost bored in its simplicity. "Because I hadn't done anything like this and somebody asked so I said yes."

He's not new to playing himself on screen. Cameos on "My Name Is Earl" and Kirstie Alley's "Fat Actress" happened years back. But a feature was different. "It was a once in a lifetime opportunity," he said.

There's a second Venice thread running through Zucker's night. He now runs RedBird IMI and works as an operating partner at RedBird Capital Partners, whose Media Res backed Danny Boyle's "Ink" alongside Studio Canal, this year's opening night film. Zucker couldn't make both premieres and picked "Primetime," even though he'd already seen a cut. "It's terrific," he said, calling it "a very big year for me and the Venice Film Festival."

Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera made a point of walking over to congratulate him before the screening, according to The Hollywood Reporter, not the kind of welcome a studio executive usually gets on a night built around Pattinson and Phoebe Bridgers, the latter making her own acting debut in the film.

Zucker watched his own ovation from inside it, filming the crowd on his phone instead of standing still for it. Asked if he'd act again, he kept the joke going. "I'll have to speak to my agent," he said. "But I have to get an agent first."

No word yet on when "Primetime" reaches audiences beyond the festival circuit, or whether A24 leans on the Zucker cameo as a talking point once it does.