What's Inside?
- Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman says Seth Rogen’s 'The Studio' contains truth but largely exaggerates Hollywood, branding most of it “horse sh*t.”
- Rothman admits he laughed at the satire, even joking at CinemaCon, but stressed most executives love movies and act with integrity.
- 'The Studio' earned 23 Emmy nominations, with Rogen and guest stars like Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard making the satire both hilarious and unsettling.
Hollywood loves a good satire, but not everyone takes it lying down. Seth Rogen’s Apple TV+ series The Studio has been showered with critical acclaim and Emmy nominations for its sharp, exaggerated take on the inner workings of Tinseltown. Yet, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman has made it clear that while the comedy captures “a kernel of brilliant, blinding truth,” much of it, in his words, is pure “horse sh*t.”
Tom Rothman Shared Honest Thoughts on Seth Rogen’s Satire The Studio
Seth Rogen’s show, The Studio, co-created with Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, takes aim at the absurdities of Hollywood decision-making. He plays Matt Remick, the fictional CEO of Continental Studios, who juggles his passion for cinema with an industry obsessed with intellectual property, algorithms, and streaming-first strategies. The first season is filled with outrageous scenarios — including a pitch for a Kool-Aid movie and a surreal, drug-fueled trip at CinemaCon.
In a chat with Letterboxed, Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman insists the series only reflects a sliver of reality.
“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.
Rothman continued—
“Besides that kernel, everything else is horse sh*t. Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons.”
Rothman added that he was able to laugh along, even referencing the show himself during CinemaCon earlier this year.
“When I took the stage a few months ago at CinemaCon, I walked out and said, ‘Hi, everybody, I’m Seth Rogen!’ which was good for a laugh there.”
But the Sony chief was also quick to draw a distinction between satire and reality. According to him, most studio executives are far from the morally compromised caricatures portrayed on screen—
“What it gets right is that there’s a fundamental truth of studio executives trying to do the right thing, and there being many, many obstacles to doing [so]. 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.”
Seth Rogen’s The Studio Strikes a Nerve in Hollywood
While Rothman might not agree with all of Rogen’s creative choices, he isn’t alone in recognizing the sting of truth in the satire. Before The Studio premiered, Rogen revealed that several high-ranking executives reached out after watching early cuts. “I’ve been reached out to by almost every head of every major studio throughout the day-to-day,” Rogen admitted (via Variety). “They told me, ‘This is great, but very traumatic to watch.’”
That mix of praise and discomfort has turned The Studio into one of Apple TV+’s most talked-about comedies. Its debut season earned a record-tying 23 Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy for Rogen, and multiple nods for writing and directing. High-profile guest stars such as Martin Scorsese, Olivia Wilde, Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston, and Zoe Kravitz added to its meta-Hollywood flavor, blurring the line between parody and reality.
Rogen himself has described the show as a love letter wrapped in frustration:
“It’s genuinely an industry we love. It’s written from the perspective of people who can’t deny that our dreams have come true because of this industry in many ways, but it’s also so fucking frustrating and aggravating. You’re constantly seeing people make choices that are confounding and contrary to their own love of film.”
The Studio is streaming on Apple TV+
