Sony’s boss has recently given his thoughts on Seth Rogen‘s new TV drama The Studio, which is a satire about the Hollywood film industry.
The Apple TV+ show sees Rogen play an executive called Matt Remick, who is promoted to be the head of the fictional Continental Studios as the film industry undergoes huge changes.
Now, Tom Rothman, CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, said that he believes that the show is “horseshit” and that “most days [they’re] not morons.”
Speaking to Letterboxd, he said: “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 horseshit. Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons. I did take it with the sense of humor intended.”
He later said that people such as himself have “a lot of integrity” and care about what they do. He said: “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. 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.”
The series was created by Rogen, Evan Goldberg and others, and also features Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders and Kathryn Hahn, while stars including Charlize Theron, Zoë Kravitz, Martin Scorsese, Olivia Wilde and Zac Efron have cameos.
Earlier this year, Rogen told The Guardian that they used The Office as a touchstone for the show, notably the boss dynamic.
“We talked a lot about The Office, which I love, and how the boss is the most tragic figure on the show,” he said. “Just because you’re at the top of the power structure, it doesn’t mean you’re less relatable or funny.”
Rogen further noted that, unlike The Studio‘s tackling of Hollywood, The Office wasn’t conceived as a “love letter to the paper industry”, though was careful not to fall into self-indulgence with his show.
“We took great care to make sure the comedic premise itself was relatable to anyone watching,” he added.
NME awarded The Studio five stars in a review. It read: “Alongside an impressively starry cast of A-listers, they deliver a 10-part self-loathing love letter to the biz that just might be the sharpest, funniest show of 2025 so far.”
The Studio was praised for its “technical, practical and comedy genius”. The review concluded: “There’s a genuine love for the film business hidden under all the in-jokes and it’s that passion that keeps The Studio from feeling like cheap satire, even if the real message is just how flimsy the whole industry is. Now, does Apple have the guts to fund a second season?”
