Apple TV+ subscribers get an inside have a look at Hollywood’s streaming wars by means of Seth Rogen’s hit comedy sequence The Studio — full with a shocking visitor look Wednesday night time from rival streaming govt Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix. Apple tried to stop the Netflix CEO cameo with a Tim Prepare dinner substitution, in response to a brand new report Wednesday.
Netflix CEO will get cameo in The Studio regardless of Apple request for Tim Prepare dinner substitution
In a daring inventive choice, Rogen just lately revealed on the SXSW Movie & TV Competition that Apple executives urged changing Sarandos with Apple CEO Prepare dinner for a cameo position in The Studio.
“They requested if we may use Tim Prepare dinner as an alternative, and we stated no,” Rogen informed Enterprise Insider on the occasion.
The Netflix govt seems in episode eight, the place Rogen’s character Matt Remick — a struggling studio head — attends the Golden Globes for a movie nomination. All through the occasion, winners from Netflix productions effusively thank Sarandos of their acceptance speeches, creating an ongoing comedic bit.
Throughout their encounter within the males’s toilet, Sarandos reveals to Remick that he contractually requires artists to thank him in acceptance speeches. In a second of candor, he forces Matt to acknowledge that neither of them are true artists however somewhat the “bean counters” supporting inventive expertise.
Artwork versus commerce theme resonates in streaming panorama
The present’s fictional world carefully mirrors actuality, the place Netflix dominates the streaming panorama whereas Apple TV+ faces challenges. In response to business stories, Apple is shedding over $1 billion yearly on its streaming service with roughly 45 million subscribers. In the meantime, Netflix has turn out to be extremely worthwhile with reportedly over 300 million subscribers by late 2024.
Rogen not solely stars in The Studio but additionally created and directed this affectionate critique of Hollywood’s flawed enterprise mannequin. The comedy follows his character Remick, newly appointed head of the fictional Continental Studios, as he navigates the tough steadiness between creating worthwhile artwork and producing earnings. That’s a rigidity acquainted to many within the leisure enterprise.
Actual business experiences inform storytelling
The present’s themes of inventive integrity versus business pressures draw immediately from Rogen’s personal profession experiences. He and producing accomplice Evan Goldberg deliberately integrated actual business encounters into the sequence. One notable instance features a memorable line from the pilot the place Remick laments: “I acquired into all this as a result of I like films, however now I concern it’s my job to destroy them.”
Rogen revealed the dialogue got here immediately from an govt who as soon as reluctantly gave notes to him and Goldberg early of their careers. That govt, Steve Asbell, presently runs Fox — a element Rogen shared with laughter, suggesting the business relationships portrayed within the present stay complicated in actual life as properly.
So Apple took no for a solution from Rogen. However possibly newly green-lit season two will maintain a spot for Tim Prepare dinner.
