Review: If you like Movies or Shows About Making Movies, ‘The Studio’ May be the Satire for You

***Caution. Mild Spoilers ahead***

I often wonder if movies about making movies appeal to people outside of L.A. or New York. But as of Thursday afternoon, “The Studio” was running second only to “Severance” in the AppleTV+ ratings this week. I think it’s because people outside of industry towns often romanticize what it must be like working in a field they’ll never really see. Or maybe they are just drawn to a good comedy regardless of the subject matter.

Well, lucky for all of you that I live in L.A. and love movies – or a TV show – about making movies. And through the first three out of seven Season One episodes, I’m enjoying The Studio immensely.

It centers on Continental Studios, a fictional legacy film company in Los Angeles. Their corporate parent, executive Griffin Mill* (played with exaggerated confidence by Bryan Cranston) has ousted the studio head, Patty Leigh (Catherine O’Hara), and has called Matt Remick (played by Writer/Co-Creator and Co-Director Seth Rogen) to see if he’s up for the job and shares Mill’s vision for less auteur-driven content and more tent pole money makers. He says to Matt, “We don’t make films. We make movies.” Matt, a bit conflicted because Patty is his mentor, coupled with the fact that he’s a lover of all things film – including the artistry – lies and says he’s absolutely on the same page and accepts.

*(Sidebar: That name, “Griffin Mill” was so eerily familiar I had to Google it to see if it was just my imagination. It wasn’t. Griffin Mill was also the name of the studio executive played by Tim Robbins in Robert Altman’s 1992 classic movie about the film industry, “The Player.” [a movie I’ve seen no fewer than five times, but just not in the last 20 years] But the homage is appreciated).

Specifically, Mill is thrilled that Continental has secured the rights to “Kool-Aid,” and wants Matt’s first project to be finding a director who can make a big, fun Kool-Aid movie. Matt agrees, thinking this could be his “Barbie,” and sets off to find his director.

After being told by trusted peer Mitch (a perfectly cast David Krumholtz) that the Kool-Aid man doesn’t exactly have Barbie’s sex appeal, he can forget about asking the likes of Wes Anderson or Guillermo del Toro. So he meets with writer/director Nick Stoller (who has a real relationship with Rogen having written/created both “Neighbors” and Rogan’s other AppleTV+ show, “Platonic”). Nick has what Matt feels is a pretty solid idea for a profitable movie, but isn’t quite done trying to have it both ways – a profitable movie that also has the prestige of a film.

But while out on the town, Matt and his once competitor, now loyal lieutenant Sal Saperstein (played by the always funny Ike Barinholtz) run into Martin Scorsese (playing himself of course). Marty (can I call him Marty?) coincidentally has a script about the Jonestown massacre, which immediately appeals to Matt because of the Kool-Aid tie-in (Remember, Jim Jones told all of his followers to “drink the Kool-Aid?”). An auteur-driven film that still checks the Kool-Aid box! So Matt agrees to buy Scorsese’s script.

This upsets the studio’s head of marketing, Maya (played by the always wonderful Kathryn Hahn), who had a perfect TikTok marketing video at the ready for the Stoller vision for the film. But Matt seems to abandon Scorsese anyway when Sal proposes they take a “one for them, one for me strategy.” Give in to Mill on this movie to then make something else their way. So he takes the video to Mill, pitches him Stoller’s vision, and tells Mill he also bought Scorsese’s script so that it can never get made. Mill thinks he’s hired a master at work.

There’s just one problem. They had already told Stoller off and he has no interest in coming back. This leads Matt to his mentor Patty’s, who has a relationship with Stoller, to ask her to beg him back. They argue and Patty tells Matt he’s stabbed her in the back. Nevertheless, she agrees, but only if Matt brings her back to produce for the studio.

So Matt and Sal head out to a party being given by Charlize Theron, where they try to duck an also attending Martin Scorsese. But when Marty gets the news of what they’re going to do, he gets in Matt’s face. The bruh-ha-ha is enough to get Matt and Sal thrown out by Charlize.

And all of that was just episode one, and I even left a few funny bits out for the sake of column length.

The second episode illustrates Matt’s love of cinema. He insists on catching the filming of a final scene of one of the studio’s other movies starring “The Morning Show’s” and “Past Lives’” Greta Lee. Matt’s particularly fond of a “good oner,” or a long tracking shot that follows an actor through several location changes without cutting (interesting that “The Studio” is also filmed to look like one big, long, “oner” in its some of its episodes, especially this one). Sal goes with him, and the episode opens with a frontal shot of the two of them speeding in Matt’s classic convertible to the upscale L.A. home where a lighting-sensitive sunset shot is being filmed. Timing is everything. Sal – knowing that actors and directors can get a bit nervous when the studio boss wants to come to a shoot – tries to manage Matt’s expectations and tells him to basically stay out of everyone’s way. Matt insists all will be fine and that no one will know he’s there.

When they arrive, Matt insists on parking in the driveway of the home, pulling an “I’m the head of the studio” attitude about it. This will come back to haunt them later. Once inside, the episode becomes a series of absolutely cringe-worthy screw-ups on Matt’s part – one after another. It’s like the first time you saw “Meet the Parents” level of embarrassment. I won’t spoil the exact happenings, but basically, Matt ruins everything. It’s hilarious. Actor-turned-director Sarah Polly plays herself as the director of the picture. Greta Lee tries sucking up to Matt for a very humorous reason.

The third episode again entails some cringe-worthy comedy when Matt and his team realize they need to give Ron Howard a “note,” or suggest a change to his latest movie yet to be released. Howard, let’s just say, has made a personal choice that has added 45 minutes to an already two-hour film. It’s a disastrous choice, but Matt doesn’t have the guts to say anything because 24 years ago when he was new to the company, Matt gave Howard a ridiculously bad suggestion about “A Beautiful Mind” at a VIP screening that resulted in Howard making a mockery of Matt in front of other prestigious directors. He doesn’t know if Howard has pieced together that Matt the Studio Head is the same low-level newcomer from 2001, but doesn’t want to take a chance. And apparently, the choice to add a 45-minute segment about the movie is a deeply personal one for Howard, one that he thinks will help him excise the trauma of a personal loss.

It’s a comedy of errors as they try to figure out some way to tell Howard he can’t do the added segment, as it destroys the movie and the added length would mean two fewer screenings at every theater per day. Again, very funny stuff. Anthony Mackie guest stars as the star of Howard’s film.

I think you’ll get a kick out of “The Studio” whether you understand Hollywood or not. There are some universal themes here that keep the laughs coming, and you can’t beat all of the guest star cameos. Enjoy!

And that’s what Todd’s watching.