Seth Rogen returns to familiar comedy form as Matt Remick, newly appointed Studio Head of Continental Pictures. A film studio with a storied history of cinema classics, but in recent years has devolved into focusing more on money-grabbing crowd pleasers than making Criterion Collection-esque cinematic art.   

 

Matt strives to return the studio to its glory days of golden age filmmaking, while also meeting the demand of the studio which is to make a profit by any means necessary. 

 

The Studio creates fictional movies in its world, helmed by real-life filmmakers and actors who make cameos throughout the series. These movies have impressively high production value and do an excellent job of satirizing the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations of movie productions. I especially enjoyed a pseudo-version of Taxi Driver, directed by an exaggerated version of Ron Howard whom Matt and his team of executives are petrified to give notes to. 

 

The show was clearly inspired by the styles of Birdman and Babylon, with its thumping drum and cymbal heavy score that pick-up speed along with the intensity of the show’s building tension. The camera work utilizes a ‘one shot’ filmmaking style, even incorporating the ‘one shot’ into the plot of one of its episodes. This stylistic approach creates an intimate experience for the audience, beyond ‘fly on the wall,’ flying directly into the fly swatter of show business along with the characters. 

 

Matt often finds himself in cringe-inducing situations, along with his right-hand man Sal Seperstein (Ike Barinholz), a smarmy self-centered studio exec that lacks the passion and genuine love Matt has for movies. Similar to Michael Scott on The Office, Matt has good intentions but often digs himself deeper into trouble the more he tries to ‘help.’

 

Even though Matt and his loyal(-ish) team of studio executives are propped up on a pedestal of money and success many of us won’t be able to relate to, beneath this veil of their success is an itching desire to be liked and a constant, dwelling insecurity we all can relate to and be sympathetic with. 

 

The Studio delivers well-earned laughs, thoughtful cameos that subvert expectations of real-life personas, and a talented ensemble cast that is both hilarious and relatably human and imperfect.