Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman Slams Depiction of Hollywood Execs in ‘The Studio: “We’re Not Morons”

Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman knows what it takes to be a studio exec, and he called out the way people in the role are depicted in The Studio.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Hollywood satire series follows Matt Remick (Rogen), the new executive of Continental Studios who struggles to run the fictional company.

“In each one of those episodes, there is a kernel of brilliant, blinding truth, and that’s what makes great satire,” Rothman told Letterboxd in an interview published on Thursday. “The show is wonderfully satiric.”

While he was able to admire “that kernel,” Rothman said that “everything else is horseshit.” He continued, “Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons.”

Despite his issues with the portrayal of studio execs, Rothman insisted he was able to view the Apple TV+ series “with the sense of humor intended.” In fact, he even referenced The Studio while giving a presentation in March.

“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,” he said, referring to Rogen’s character on the show. During the final two episodes of Season 1, Remick presented at the Las Vegas exhibitors’ conference.

Meanwhile, Rothman also said that The Studio accurately depicts Remick’s undying passion for cinema despite the persistent mistakes he’s made as an exectuive. “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],” Rothman said. “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.”

Season 1 of The Studio was critically acclaimed and nabbed 23 nominations at the 77th Emmy Awards. Additionally, the show made headlines for featuring an all-star cast of guest stars including Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Zoë Kravitz, Anthony Mackie and Dave Franco.

Following the Emmy nominations, Rogen and Goldberg spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about tying the record with The Bear for most comedy nominations in a season.

“I think I’m still in shock a little bit, but it’s very, very, very nice. It’s not something that has been a part of our career, really, in any way, shape or form,” Rogen said. “We’ve had a lovely career despite awards, and so the fact that at this age, there’s a whole new novelty and level of recognition that we’ve never gotten is very nice, and it’s surreal that it’s for something that is so Hollywood specific.”