At a climatic moment near the end of the first episode of “The Studio,” Matt Remick (Seth Rogen), the newly installed President and Chief Creative Officer at the fictional Continental Studios, is beyond desperate. He’s practically begging his former boss, the previous head of the studio, Patty Liegh (Catherine O’Hara, with a wink to former Sony Pictures head Amy Pascal), to take a producing deal to keep a project key to the future of the company alive. He follows her around her stunning Hollywood Hills home as she vents over how horribly mistreated she has been. And how could he, her protoge, stab her in the back by accepting this position? And to ask her to return as a producer? She’s over-the-top, she’s angry, she’s acting as though she’s lost her only child. And then she stops. She pauses, and in a manner only a comedic master such as O”Hara could pull off, and without a lick of emotion, she cooly retorts, “O.K., here’s my counter.” And yes, you will laugh, but anyone who has worked in this town will guffaw. It’s a hilarious moment not only because it’s funny but because it wonderfully captures the inherent camp that occurs when you attempt to meld art and commerce together. Specifically, the movie business. And it’s the first time you realize, oh, this show might be something truly special.
READ MORE: “The Studio”: Seth Rogen says his new series is inspired by “The Fabelmans” and “The Larry Sanders Show”
Created by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyuck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, “The Studio” is the most entertaining and spot-on depiction of Hollywood since Robert Altman’s “The Player.” Granted, that’s high praise, but Rogen and Goldberg, who also direct the 10-episode series, swing for the fences with one home run after another. They are aided by stellar scripts and an ensemble of actors who are having an utter blast. Primarily using extended, often stunning one-take shots conceived by cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”), the series navigates a sometimes heightened farcical tone with scenes that depict possibly hard to believe but real events that are occurring in studio board rooms, screening rooms, and restaurants across Los Angeles. There simply has not been this true-to-life depiction of the movie business, the entertainment industrial complex, specifically in Los Angeles, in decades. At times, the whole endeavor is an absolute wonder.
Debuting on Apple TV+ after a world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, the series begins with Remick’s dream finally coming true. After two decades of climbing the ranks at a struggling Continental, he has been handed the keys to the castle. Yes, his best friend, fellow creative executive Sal Seperstein (a fantastic Ike Barinholtz), has to come to terms with missing out on the same gig, and his former assistant turned creative director Quinn (Chase Sui Wonders, quite good), may be a little too overeager, but he’s finally has the power to make the films he’s always dreamed of, the next “Rosemary’s Baby” or “Annie Hall.” Except, of course, that his boss, eccentric media company chairman Griffin Mill (Bryan Cranston with a nod to Robert Evans), has a bigger priority. He’s secured the big screen rights to Kool-Aid and immediately dumped it in Remick’s lap. Yes, the soft drink with the big Kool-Aid Man who knocks through walls. That one. Mill thinks this is the studio’s chance at a blockbuster “Barbie” tentpole, and he expects Remick to make it happen.
The machinations Remeck goes through to put the project together in the few days that follow involve Martin Scorsese, Nick Stoller, and a script about the Jonestown massacre (oh, there is a connection, trust). The jam Remick gets stuck in will seem utterly preposterous, except it’s not. Versions of this story have happened multiple times in Hollywood history, and the events smartly set the tone for where the series will go next.
The second episode finds Remeck and Seperstein visiting the Hollywood Hills set of “The Silver Lake,” a movie that is attempting a dramatic, extended one-shot take as the sun sets. The entire episode is also one shot filmed at golden hour over 25 minutes (there is an in-joke about stitching, so maybe there is a digital stitch or two, but it’s seamless). Remick cannot help but get in the way of everything going on as the fictional movie’s director, Sarah Polley, increasingly loses her patience over his presence (yes, Rogen convinced his “Away from Her” director to act on screen for the first time in 15 years). The entire scenario finds Greta Lee as the star of the one-take within the one-take while also kissing up to Remeck just to use the studio’s private jet. The entire half-hour is a meta-filmmaking gem that stands on its own, and there are still eight episodes to go.
As “The Studio” progresses, the hits keep coming, and we mean smash hits. In one episode, Remeck attends a fundraiser with a doctor he’s dating (Rebecca Hall, one of the few major guest stars not playing themselves) only to encounter a whole world of physicians who simply do not understand what he does for a living. It’s a masterful flip on a common refrain from people in entertainment who will often say to those outside the business, “Well, at least you help people.” What if those people outside the business turn out to be the real a-holes?

In another chapter, Remeck’s head of marketing, Maya Mason (Kathryn Hahn, she’s great, the character seems off), realizes the racial casting of the “Kool-Aid” movie may be slightly, well, problematic. Remick and his team then jump through hoops to try to fix it before a pending CinemaCon announcement. There is also an entire episode, again one shot, with the most realistic depiction of what it’s like to attend an awards show, in this case, the Golden Globes, that we’ve ever seen. And this is all in the context of a who’s who of famous faces dropping by as themselves. The guest stars are incredible, beginning with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos remarkably appearing as himself in an Apple TV+ show (again, it’s his competitor’s series). The standouts include Paul Dano, Anthony Mackie, Olivia Wilde, Ron Howard, Dave Franco, and Zoë Kravitz. All game and willing to skewer the business with utter glee.
The series also turns out to be a timely love letter to Los Angeles. Rogen, Goldberg, and their production team not only capture the often frenetic energy of the town but its inherent beauty, too. In the premiere, a real rainbow appears over the city skyline in a spectacular long shot as the camera zooms in on Remick and Leigh taking a much-needed moment to breathe. Leigh waxes over how difficult his job will be but then remarks, “When it all comes together and you make a good movie…it’s good forever.”
Make no mistake, there is a lot of insider baseball in “The Studio.” Some of it will go completely over the heads of everyday viewers, but the whole program works so well as a straight comedy; it won’t matter. But for those Hollywood lifers who have lived this life, endured many of these experiences, and wondered why they just didn’t get out while they still could. It will remind them why they still love this crazy town in the first place. [A]
“The Studio” begins streaming weekly on Apple TV+ with a two-episode premiere on Wednesday, March 26.