After Scorsese said yes to appearing in the first episode of The Studio, the real worry began for Rogen and Goldberg. “I remember my mother called me that morning and was like, ‘Oh my God, you have to direct Martin Scorsese. How scary is that?’ And I’m like, ‘Thanks, Mom. Yes, it’s terrifying. That’s not helping,’” Rogen says.
They shot The Studio with a single camera rather than having multiple concurrent setups because they favored long, unbroken shots that built tension and culminated in chaos. But they were afraid that using only one camera might seem amateurish to Scorsese. “We actually had a whole second camera crew stashed away in another room in case he had a fundamental issue with the way we were shooting,” Rogen says. “Luckily, he was like, ‘Oh, it’s like French New Wave,’ and was enthusiastic about doing it in that way.”
Scorsese did have opinions, which he tried (and failed) to keep to himself. Goldberg noticed him repeatedly muttering asides to one of the other actors in the scene. “I was like, ‘What were you whispering that whole time?’” Goldberg says. “He was like, ‘That you were doing the wrong thing, and I was waiting for you to do the right thing. Then you did the right thing. But I didn’t want to say it because I didn’t want to be rude. I knew you’d get there eventually.’”
Scorsese was game for everything they had planned, but other guest stars on The Studio had notes. “We really had to make sure everyone had a joke that was good, even if they’re onscreen for 10 seconds,” Rogen says. “They all were like, ‘What’s my joke? How am I not just window dressing? How am I actually delivering a moment that is funny?’”
