Last week, HBO Max hosted another fun virtual premiere to celebrate its new movie “American Pickle,” directed by Brandon Trost and starring Seth Rogen.
Based on Simon Rich’s New Yorker novella, Rogen plays Herschel Greenbaum, a struggling laborer who immigrates to America in 1919 with dreams of building a better life for his beloved family. One day, while working at his factory job, he falls into a vat of pickles and is brined for 100 years. The brine preserves him perfectly and when he emerges in present-day Brooklyn, he finds that he hasn’t aged a day. But when he seeks out his family, he is troubled to learn that his only surviving relative is his great-grandson, Ben Greenbaum (also played by Rogen), a mild-mannered computer coder whom Herschel can’t even begin to understand.
Taste Catering assembled a fun pickle themed array of snacks for the premiere including dill pickle Kennebec potato chips, pickle shaped sugar cookies, McAfee’s Benchmark Old No. 8 Brand with pickleback, The Pickle Guys pickles and heirloom non gmo national pickling cucumber seeds. Other swag included a SodaStream Fizzi and a potato knish recipe kit! Attendees were also able to participate in an old-timey photo booth.
Pfeiffer Consulting curated the VIP guest list to attend the virtual event in lieu of a traditional red carpet. Support from celebrities and influencers on social media has been a cornerstone of the virtual event model, with Pfeiffer’s long-standing industry contacts leading the charge, including confirmed names such as Maya Rudolph, Zoey Deutch, Paul Feig, Jason Reitman, Ava DuVernay, James L. Brooks, Neil Patrick Harris & David Burtka, Noah Galvin, Busy Philipps, Lena Waithe, Anthony Anderson, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Jay Ellis, Nick Kroll, Natasha Rothwell, Ben Schwartz, Cobie Smulders, Peter Gallagher, Alyssa Milano, Chloe Grace Moretz, Lea DeLaria, Rob Corddry, Jason Blum, Chloe x Halle, and more.
The full celeb guest list included: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Malin Akerman, Chef Roble Ali, Anthony Anderson, Katie Aselton, Sean Baker, Lance Bass, Brec Bassinger, Doug Benson, Summer Bishil, Michael Ian Black, Jason Blum, Joey Bragg, Janicza Bravo, Mara Brock Akil, James L. Brooks, Yvette Nicole Brown, Quinta Brunson, Cara Buono, D’Arcy Carden, Chloe x Halle, Jeremy Cohen, Rob Corddry, Lea DeLaria, Zoey Deutch, Guillermo Diaz, Ava DuVernay, Jay Ellis, Brad Everett Young, Paul Feig, Shiloh Fernandez, Nathan Fielder, Kate Flannery, Colin Ford, Brittany Furlan and Tommy Lee, Peter Gallagher, Noah Galvin, Janina Gavankar, Ilana Glazer, Noah Grossman, James Gunn, Catherine Hardwicke, Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, Marielle Heller, Megan Hilty, Abbi Jacobson, Jordan Klepper, Nick Kroll, Sophia Lillis, Keiynan Lonsdale, Danielle Macdonald, Billy Magnussen, Heather Matarazzo, Molly McCook, Josh Meyers, Ingrid Michaelson, Alyssa Milano, Chris Miller, Chloe Grace Moretz, Arden Myrin, Casey Neistat, Oscar Nunez, Sharon Osbourne, Adam Pally, Tom Payne, Busy Philipps, Esther Povitsky, Jason Reitman, Frank Rich, AnnaSophia Robb, Natasha Rothwell, Inanna Sarkis, Ben Schwartz, Adam Shankman, Iliza Shlesinger, Hannah Simone, Cobie Smulders, Dita Von Teese, David Wain, Alisha Wainwright, Lena Waithe, Zelda Williams, Mara Wilson, Elijah Wood, and more.
After the film screening star and Producer, Seth Rogen; Producer Evan Goldberg; Director Brandon Trost and Writer Simon Rich, participated in a conversation moderated by Rotten Tomatoes Jacqueline Coley. Seth spoke about the challenge of playing both characters in the movie and the technical aspects of filming the movie twice and working with a wonderful stand in actor. He decided to film the movie in two parts because he hated the idea of wearing a prosthetic beard.
In support of the virtual premiere for HBO Max made donations to the NYC Health + Hospitals COVID-19 fund and to HFC to aid its efforts to provide additional support during COVID-19 for family caregivers of those impacted by Alzheimer’s.
An American Pickle debuted on HBO Max Thursday, August 6th.
