‘The Studio’ is the defining portrait of modern Hollywood

NEW YORK (AP) — The studio head has historically been seen as a fearsome and all-powerful figure, capable of ending a career with the snap of a finger or changing lives with an impulsive greenlight. In “The Studio,” though, Seth Rogen’s studio chief is more Selina Meyer (“Veep”) than Louis B. Mayer.

As much as Rogen’s Matt Remick, head of the fictional Continental Studios, sits in a sought-after seat of power, he’s helpless against larger trends in the film industry. He wants to be making “Chinatown,” but instead his most important task is getting a Kool-Aid movie off the ground. Bryan Cranston’s Continental chief executive asks: Can he do this? “Oh, yeah!”

“As pitiful as it is, the conflict that my character lives and breathes every second of his life is one a lot of people with his job are facing in real life,” Rogen says. “They love movies. They’re also responsible to a very specific bottom line and they have to defend the choice they make to a board of people who don’t give a s--- about movies.”

“The Studio,” the 10-episode series debuting Wednesday on Apple TV+, may be the definitive portrait of contemporary Hollywood. If movies like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Player” captured the movie industry in full swagger, “The Studio” belongs to a more desperate chapter where even the all-powerful feel impotent. Studio heads, too, must tolerate conversations with people who haven’t been to the movies in ages, but who loved “The Bear.”

In a recent interview, Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the longtime writing, producing and directing duo behind “Superbad,” “Pineapple Express” and “This Is the End,” said “The Studio” isn’t quite a Hollywood postmortem, no matter how much Cranston’s performance in the helter-skelter CinemaCon-set finale verges toward “Weekend at Bernie’s” territory.

“We’re people who have been given great lives from this industry who, in general, though it’s been very frustrating, have gotten to do what they want,” Rogen says. “The show is very specifically written from the perspective of people that think things can work out in Hollywood.”

There always is, and probably always will be, reason for optimism in Hollywood. The next big hit is perpetually just around the corner. But as audiences have become increasingly distracted by streaming, TikTok and video games, the film industry — or at least the major studio version of it — has turned into an IP-factory, hoping that franchises, superheroes and horror can sustain itself.

There’s still time for a turnaround (there’s that optimism again), but ticket sales in 2025 are down 6.9% from last year and 38.6% from 2019, according to Comscore. The trends are worse if you look at tickets sold rather than dollars earned, since large-format screens beef up ticket prices.

More than that, though, “The Studio” — with a boatload of cameos of everyone from Martin Scorsese to Netflix chief Ted Sarandos to Zoe Kravitz — taps into a deeper demoralization. Flanked by a team of executives (Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders), Remick finds himself — when not directly obstructing filmmakers he adores, like Scorsese and Sarah Polley — beset with questions over whether they’ve cast a racist Kool-Aid movie, if their “Smile” knockoff “Wink” can work or how to sell a movie with zombie diarrhea.

Matthew Belloni, the former editor of The Hollywood Reporter and founding partner of the media company Puck, appears as himself in the series. He says that there’s truth underlying almost every scene in the “The Studio,” “for better and mostly worse.”

“It captures the existential dread that seems to permeate every conversation,” says Belloni. “People recognize that the glory days of Hollywood are over and the whole concept of what Hollywood even means is being redefined. And that has caused everybody in town to go completely crazy. This show captures that craziness very, very well.”

“The Studio” isn’t the first time Rogen and Goldberg have had a role in revealing the inner workings of a Hollywood studio. When their 2014 North Korean comedy “The Interview” led to the hacking of Sony Pictures, the studio’s private correspondence landed on the internet.

“Without ‘The Interview,’ a show like this would have been much harder for us to write,” Rogen says, chuckling. “We got to the CEO-level of problem.”

Those problems ultimately included Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal stepping down. Pascal, who has since been a highly successful producer, has remained a mentor to Rogen and Goldberg. In “The Studio,” she’s fictionalized by Catherine O’Hara as a savvy producer and Remick’s former boss.

“One of the biggest misconceptions people seem to have with Hollywood is that it’s run by people who only care about money and don’t at all care about film,” Rogen says.

“There’s a few of those people,” Goldberg chimes in.

“They are out there, for sure,” continues Rogen. “But in general, the people who have ascended to Amy’s level to run studios are people who love movies and can sit in a room with the greatest filmmakers on earth and have an on-the-level conversation about filmmaking.”

Rogen and Goldberg, who created the show with Frida Perez and a pair of “Veep” veterans in Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory, began developing “The Studio” during the pandemic. Then, they thought it really might be a satirical elegy for Hollywood. The twin blockbusters of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” though, prompted them to give the series a more hopeful spin. But they were never short on fodder.

“Most of it is very directly from our lives,” Goldberg says.

“As soon as we thought of it, we thought of a hundred episode ideas,” adds Rogen.

That includes one episode where Remick joins a date at a hospital fundraiser attended by doctors. That came from Rogen’s own experience attending galas for the Alzheimer’s disease charity he runs with his wife, Lauren Miller.

“I find myself at a lot of medical galas and at a lot of tables with doctors who save people’s lives. And they seem to take particular joy in diminishing what I do for a living,” Rogen says laughing.

Those scenes — the doctors are the ones who love “The Bear” — unfold with Remick claiming that what he does matters, even if that includes a movie that sounds not too dissimilar in vulgarity to his and Goldberg’s R-rated animated comedy “Sausage Party.”

“What’s funny about Hollywood is how people have imbued every moment with life-altering stakes that could last forever,” says Rogen. “People seem to take their jobs in Hollywood more seriously than the people who are actually making nuclear decisions. That’s what’s terrifying.”

As much as it lampoons Hollywood, “The Studio” is also an ode to it. An episode about a missing reel is done in the style of “Chinatown.” Most of the series, which Rogen and Goldberg directed, are shot in long, balletic takes — even the episode in which Remick keeps fouling up an ambitious long take attempted by Polley.

Those are just some of the ironies of “The Studio,” which, at the next fundraising gala in Los Angeles, is sure to be, more than any new movie, what most people are talking about.

Ike Barinholtz, a cast member in the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Catherine O'Hara, a cast member in the Apple+ series "The Studio," poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Evan Goldberg, from left, James Weaver and Seth Rogen, the executive producers of the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," pose for a portrait on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Chase Sui Wonders, a cast member in the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," poses for a portrait to promote the show on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Ike Barinholtz, a cast member in the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Catherine O'Hara, a cast member in the Apple+ series "The Studio," poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Seth Rogen, a cast member, co-creator, executive producer, director and writer of the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Seth Rogen, left, and Evan Goldberg, co-creators of the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," pose on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Chase Sui Wonders, from left, Kathryn Hahn, Seth Rogen, Ike Barinholtz and Catherine O'Hara, cast members in the Apple TV+ series "The Studio," pose together on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from Myanmar's powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake keeps climbing amid rescue efforts.

The military government said Saturday that 1,644 people have been killed, with thousands of others injured and dozens missing.

The earthquake struck midday Friday, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.4.

In Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, leaving 10 people dead.

Several countries, including Malaysia, Russia and China have dispatched rescue and relief teams.

Here is the latest:

Myanmar’s ruling military said on state television that the confirmed death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake increased to 1,644.

The new total is a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139 from Friday's quake.

Russia has sent a medical team to Myanmar to care for earthquake victims, a Health Ministry official said.

According to Alexey Kuznetsov, the medics include specialists in infectious diseases, resuscitation and traumatology.

Separately, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that two planes carrying Russian rescue workers have landed in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Earlier, the ministry reported that a mission, including search and rescue teams, canine units, anaesthesiologists and psychologists, was on its way to the disaster-stricken country.

The ministry said that its rescue teams are equipped with “endoscopes and acoustic devices for searching for people in rubble up to 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) deep, as well as ground-penetrating radars and thermal imagers.”

Hong Kong sent a group of 51 search-and-rescue personnel to help with earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar. The group includes firefighters and ambulance personnel as well as two search-and-rescue dogs, among others.

The group brings along nine tons (18,000 pounds) of equipment including life detectors and masonry cutting machines, as well as an automatic satellite tracking antenna system that provides network connection, according to a statement on the Hong Kong government’s website.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport.

The photos taken Saturday show the tower toppled over as if sheered from its base. Debris lay scattered from the top of the tower, which controlled all air traffic in the capital of Myanmar.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there had been any injuries in the collapse, though the tower would have had staff inside of it at the time of the earthquake Friday. It likely also stopped air traffic into the international airport, given all electronics and radar would have been routed into the tower for controllers.

Flights carrying rescue teams from China have landed at the airport in Yangon instead of going directly to the airports in the major stricken cities of Mandalay and Naypyitaw.

A spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said that Beijing will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake relief efforts.

An additional rescue team of 82 people left Bejing, hours after a different team of emergency responders from the Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, arrived in the earthquake-stricken country.

Additionally, 16 members of the Chinese civil relief squad Blue Sky Rescue Team in the city of Ruili, Yunnan, departed to Muse City in northern Myanmar to help with relief efforts, according to state broadcaster CGTN. Chinese authorities also sent a first batch of 80 tents and 290 blankets.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The earthquake was felt in parts of China's Yunnan province, though casualties were limited. Two people in Ruili suffered minor injuries and 847 homes were damaged, according to authorities. Some high-rise buildings and older houses in urban areas were also partially damaged, but power and water supplies and transportation and communications lines have been restored.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says that his government will support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross Movement."

“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters posted on X.

South Korea will send the aid through international organizations to support recovery efforts following the recent earthquake.

The Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Seoul will closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if needed.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese rescuers arrive at the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Haymhan Aung/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 29, 2025, Russian Emergency Ministry employees gather to board one of two planes with rescuers to Myanmar following Friday's earthquake, from a Moscow airfield, Russia. (Russia Emergency Ministry press service via AP)

Rescuers walk past the ruin of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

People stand near a damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Rescue workers help an injured women who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, center, inspects damaged road caused by an earthquake Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)

Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)

Rescue workers take an injured man who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

People wait at the damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after an earthquake. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Relatives of workers of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake wait as rescuers search for victims, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

Volunteers look for survivors near a damaged building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, victims caused by an earthquake is seen compound of government hospital Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)