The Studio Shines by Shitting on Hollywood
Seth Rogen’s The Studio is as punchy and straightforward as a Hollywood project scrutinizing insider Hollywood can be- while still receiving mainstream distribution, of course. The show centers around one main question, posed by Rogen’s character, Matt Remick: In the current state of Hollywood, can money and film come together to create high quality film. Not just movies. Real, tear-jerking, gasp-inducing, awe-inspiring, film.
When I think of the golden age of Hollywood, I think of glamorous sets, glitzy stars, gorgeous sunset one-shots, and classics like The Godfather. Now, we seem to be getting more films about irrelevant IP (I know I didn’t ask for a Minecraft movie), countless remakes (Snow White? Good Night.) instead of taking the heartfelt passion projects of either new or seasoned creatives and establishing new trends and new ideas for what audiences want to see. Hollywood has prioritized money over quality at every turn since COVID, and the financial return they hail above all else is suffering too. Box Office numbers are down even for films that are playing off of long-standing institutions. Disney should be able to play off of parents’ nostalgia and the big dreams of their new little audience, while Marvel should be bringing in a slew of crime-fighting kids who want to save the world. But that’s the problem. Whether it’s “Disney” or “Kool-Aid” and they’re casting John Doe or Jesus himself, Studios believe that names bring money. Their name, their director’s name, their leads’ names. But we saw that plan tank with the Christmas movie Red One and with Marvel’s Eternals. Rogen brings light to this beautifully by killing a Scorsese film about Jonestown (the only content pitched in the show that piqued my interest, for the record) in favor of a Kool-Aid man movie after failing to combine the two into what one could call a “Main Stream Festival Darling,” which, dear readers, is an oxymoron.
The show was very clearly about Rogen’s, and many other industry insiders’ (and outsiders’), feelings toward the current state of Hollywood. Prioritizing remakes, reboots, and existing IP means that original content is dead in the water, Studios are losing money left and right, and people are watching TikTok instead of TV. A bunch of adaptations, both good and bad, have been done to death at this point, and audiences are collectively realizing that we’ve strayed far away from sharing stories that are relatable and for us, and more towards sharing stories that studios think (wrongly, a lot of the time) will make them money. But something both real life executives and Rogen’s Remick have yet to figure out, is that nostalgia is a gamble that doesn’t always pay off. People can tell when you’re in it for money or in it for the art, and money grabs are driving people further and further away from Theaters. So what do we do about it?
Executives don’t understand their audience because they’re looking at balance sheets instead of the current culture. People are looking for honesty and vulnerability. Audiences are looking for change, for something real, for something that’s going to make a difference. The series’ main question is revisited in multiple ways throughout the show, often in statements made by Rogen’s character directly. From my perspective, he seems to be holding a microphone up to the voices not of just bored movie-goers, but even Insiders at Martin Scorsese’s level and telling us that it’s not their fault. They’re bored too. They want new material for us. They have new material for us. Has capitalist greed has destroyed Hollywood for good?
With six episodes to go, I wonder whether (and hope) Rogen will be able to bridge that gap and help set a genuine path for executives and Hollywood to potentially make a change; or, if he’ll learn what Studios have been concerned about all along: money and film don’t mix.
