Sony Pictures CEO praises The Studio for its true representation of Hollywood

The Apple TV+ drama, The Studio, earlier this year, climbed to the top with the highest Emmy nominations for a first-year comedy series in the history of the award.

It received nods in the form of nominations for the writing, the directing, and the acting as well. Much of this had to do with the fresh satirical take from the show on the Hollywood entertainment business.

A newly promoted studio head, Matt Remick, played by Seth Rogen, struggles to balance his passion for the cinema with the more corporate side of the business. The comedy also included multiple appearances from filmmakers and actors such as Olivia Wilde, Ron Howard, and Martin Scorsese, playing themselves.

Recently, the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO revealed how much of The Studio was actually based on the truth, and it is not what one would expect from a satirical comedy show.

Keep reading to find out how the Sony CEO felt about the satirical representation of Hollywood.

Sony Pictures CEO on the representation of Hollywood on Apple TV+'s The Studio

The Emmy-nominated comedy show did not leave any opportunity to make fun of the Hollywood culture, from the Kool-Aid movie to driving the IP that the fictional Continental Studio owns to the mushroom-tripping executives at CinemaCon.

Most studio heads had a similar reaction to the depiction of Hollywood on the show, saying that even though The Studio was fantastic, it was traumatic for them to watch it. This must mean that while the show is a satirical take, it must be based on some truth.

The Sony Pictures CEO, Tom Rothman, had something similar to say about it. While he took the chance to call out that the show has a lot of satire, making it a great comedy, he also had some praise for The Studio.

In Rothman's words, most of the show was 'horse shit,' referring to the truth being represented about the Hollywood culture. However, in between all the wonderful satire that led to the multiple Emmy nominations for the show, there is a bright, burning piece of truth hidden about the reality of what Hollywood is like.

So, even though in real life, no executives are tripping on Comi-Cons, there are a lot of executives in the industry who just want to be a part of great art being created and have to face a lot of problems in their efforts to do so.

"Well, Oscar Wilde said that ‘every jest is a truth in the womb of time.’ In each one of those episodes, there is a kernel of brilliant, blinding truth, and that’s what makes great satire. The show is wonderfully satiric. Besides that kernel, everything else is horse shit. Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons."

As Seth Rogan has previously expressed that The Studio is largely fictional, it does try to explore from the perspective of the people who have to deal with the frustration and obstacles that fall in their path. So, while some might feel that for executives, the job is, as Matt Remick puts it:

"I got into this job because I love movies, and now my job is to ruin them."

However, Rothman thinks that most of them are just executives who have a love for the industry they are a part of and who, while keeping their integrity intact, do the best they can.

"The difference there is it depicts a great deal of moral compromise in pursuing that. That’s not really the way it is. Most people are people like me, who love movies, have a lot of integrity and are just trying to do the best we can."

So, while a lot of The Studio is based on real experiences of studio heads, including Catherine O'Hara's character, which is based on former Sony head Amy Pascal, and Bryan Cranston's character, on Warner Bros. Discovery Head David Zaslav, there is a lot of dramatization involved.

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