Seth Rogen satirized Hollywood with the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio earlier this year, where he plays the head of a fictional film company called Continental Studios. The Emmy-nominated show teased many real-life Hollywood figures and featured filmmakers and actors who performed themselves, including Martin Scorsese and Olivia Wilde. But Tom Rothman, CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, has called BS about the less expensive aspect of the hit show.
Speaking to the letterbox, Rothman said, “Well, Oscar Wilde said, ‘Every joke is the truth of the womb of time.’ Each of these episodes has a shining core of truth.
He added: “I took it with my intended sense of humor. When I went on stage at Cinemacon a few months ago, I went out and said, ‘Hello, guys, I’m Seth Rogen!” There is the fundamental truth about trying to do the right thing.
Seth Rogen’s character, Continental Studios executive Mattremic, is portrayed as a film enthusiast who has to put aside some of his personal preferences to make a film in Hollywood, where IP-driven streaming dominates. The highlights of Season 1 include Matt and his team developing a Kool-Aid film, giving Ron Howard (playing himself) tough feedback, stumbling with mushrooms at the cinema con. The latter episode is probably the least realistic.
Before “The Studio” premiered, Rogen said “we were contacted by almost every head of every major studio every day.” He told him, “It’s great, but it’s very traumatic to watch.”
“It’s really an industry we love,” Rogen added. “This is written in terms of people who cannot deny that our dreams have come true in many ways for this industry, but it has become very frustrating and worse.
“The Studio” will be nominated for several Emmy Awards, including an outstanding comedy series, lead actor in Rogen’s comedy, and best writing and directing the comedy series.
