Latest news with #FridaPerez
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How ‘The Studio' Producer Frida Perez Went From Seth Rogen's Assistant to Making Emmy History
As final-round Emmy voting approaches, Apple TV+'s The Studio has emerged as a serious contender, after tying the all-time nomination record for a comedy series with 23 nominations and becoming the most-nominated freshman comedy in Emmy history. The workplace satire's success could mark several historic milestones, particularly for Dominican-American producer Frida Perez, who stands on the cusp of making Emmy history. More from Variety With the Media, the Arts and Los Angeles Under Direct Attack, Here's What the Emmys Should Do Harrison Ford Goes Deep on 'Star Wars,' His First Emmy Nomination for 'Shrinking' and the Future of America: 'Rich Get Richer. Poor Get Poorer. That Ain't Right' Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen to Receive the TV Academy's Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmys If 'The Studio' wins outstanding comedy series, Perez would become the first Latina to take home a trophy in that category and only the second Latino ever to win as a producer in any top series race in Emmy history. Currently, only Cuban American Celia D. Costas holds that honor for HBO's 'Angels in America' in 2004. Perez, 29, has already made history as the first Latina nominated for outstanding writing in a comedy series for the pilot episode 'The Promotion,' which she shares with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory. 'I think about my parents, honestly, because they came to America in the '80s, and they were born in the D.R.,' Perez tells Variety, paying tribute as a child of immigrants. 'They're both public school teachers in the South Bronx. I'm so proud of where I'm from. And I hope I won't be the last one.' The Bronx native's path to Hollywood began without industry connections. After graduating from Brown University, she worked her way up from Seth Rogen's assistant to co-creator and executive producer of 'The Studio.' 'I started as his assistant,' Perez explains. 'Because of that, you're just talking all day, every day. I was on set with him all the time, and we got to know each other, and he began to trust me.' Perez's rise exemplifies the critical importance of allyship in creating meaningful change within Hollywood's power structures. Rogen, an established producer and star, could have easily maintained traditional hiring practices, but instead recognized Perez's talent and elevated her to co-creator status. This type of backing from industry leaders proves essential for breaking down barriers that have historically excluded underrepresented voices from decision-making roles. 'When he gave me the 'creator' credit, everybody I talked to was like, 'Oh my God, he did not have to do that,'' Perez says. 'Most people, if it's your first writing gig, producing gig, would be like, 'Oh, thanks, have fun — staff writer.'' She emphasized Rogen's generosity in recognizing her contributions: 'I think he wouldn't have given it to me if I didn't work as hard as I did, but it is so nice, and there are so many things in the pilot that I was like, 'Yes, I was a huge part of that.'' Latina representation in Emmy's top categories remains scarce. In the comedy series category, Perez joins a select group that includes Selena Gomez, a four-time nominee for Hulu's 'Only Murders in the Building' and, now, the most-nominated Latino producer in Emmy history. Other trailblazers include Salma Hayek, nominated for ABC's 'Ugly Betty' in 2007, and Carla González Vargas, recognized for Netflix's 'Wednesday' in 2023. The inadequate representation extends across categories. Only three Latinos are nominated for acting this year: Pedro Pascal for 'The Last of Us' in lead drama actor, Liza Colón-Zayas from 'The Bear' in supporting comedy actress, and Colman Domingo in supporting comedy actor for 'The Four Seasons.'Perez's achievements come at a time when Hollywood continues its reckoning with equity and inclusion. Despite comprising roughly 20% of the U.S. population, Latinos remain dramatically underrepresented in key creative roles. 'The Studio,' which lampoons the inner workings of Hollywood through the story of executives at fictional Continental Studios, stars Emmy nominees Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O'Hara and Ike Barinholtz, along with guest stars Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Anthony Mackie, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and Zoë Kravitz. One of the most memorable moments during 'The Studio's' production came when legendary director Martin Scorsese, now an Emmy acting nominee for guest comedy actor, filmed his appearance. Perez described the atmosphere on set as electric, with the entire crew treating the occasion with special reverence. 'It was like the President came to set,' Perez says, laughing at the comparison. 'Everybody got dressed up a little nice. Everybody's laughing. Everyone took a shower. Everyone got it together because literally everybody on that set has grown up with his movies.' The experience proved both thrilling and nerve-racking for the production team, with Perez noting how the crew wanted to ensure they didn't disappoint one of cinema's most celebrated filmmakers. Looking ahead to Season 2, Perez teased expanded ambitions: 'We want to make it better. We're constantly raising the bar, and we don't want to disappoint people a second time around. So we're just going to try to do crazy storylines, crazy locations, more glam, more stars.' Should 'The Studio' triumph on Emmy night, it would mark Apple TV+'s third win in the comedy category, following 'Ted Lasso's' back-to-back victories in 2021 and 2022. Moreover, it would demonstrate that Latino-led productions represent mainstream, award-worthy content that resonates with broad audiences, without having to be 'specifically about Latinos.' Win or lose, Perez's nominations are a seismic jolt to the system and a reminder that the future of TV won't be written solely by the usual 'studio' suspects — pun intended. The 77th Emmy Awards will be hosted by Nate Bargatze and broadcast live Sunday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, as well as stream live and on demand via select packages on Paramount+. Awards Circuit Predictions: Emmys Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in August 2025 What's Coming to Netflix in August 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Geek Tyrant
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Zoë Kravitz on Playing a "More Psychotic" Version of Herself in THE STUDIO - "If You Can't Make Fun of Yourself, I Think There's Something Wrong" — GeekTyrant
Zoë Kravitz has played her unhinged alter ego in the series The Studio for a few fun guest appearances. She fondly describes the character as a 'more psychotic' version of herself, and she talked about playing this 'Zoë' in a recent interview with Deadline, where she talked about first being approached for the blisteringly funny satire via a call from her agent. 'I hadn't read anything, and I also didn't even really know how many guest spots they were planning on having and who they were going to get. It was just really about loving the thing they were wanting to explore in terms of filmmaking and the industry and where we're at right now. And I thought it was really thought-provoking.' A self-described 'huge fan' of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's — who co-created the inside-baseball Hollywood series alongside Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez — Kravitz was eager to take the meeting; she first appeared as an alternate of herself slyly campaigning for a Golden Globe despite a shallow veneer of humility, with impeccable line readings like, 'I'm already rich, I'm already famous, winning awards is like the only thing that's left,' and an awards speech template so meticulously choreographed that it borders on terrifying. After that, Rogen and Goldberg were just as keen to continue collaboration, rewriting the final two scripts to add her character in after working with her. 'She's so funny, she's incredible,' Rogen told Deadline in an earlier interview, adding, 'And everybody was so relieved when I sobbed like twice, which came out after we shot the episode, and it was really good, and I was like, 'Oh thank God, the whole episode makes a little more sense now.'' Given the show's long shots, everything is filmed fairly 'by the book,' Kravitz said, though there's a 'lot of conversation' before the camera begins rolling and she praised the longtime Point Grey Pictures producers for being 'incredibly collaborative' and holding steadfast to a 'super clear' vision. Kravitz went on to say: 'I would like to believe that I'm not this person that, like, desperately wants an award. But there is this really interesting thing, where, obviously, if you're campaigning for an award, in order to even kind of be nominated, you do have to participate a certain amount, which means it's something that you want, which is OK, but it's funny how people do pretend like they don't care at all when you do have to care a certain amount to even be considered. 'So I think that kind of humble game that we like to play — of course, there's elements of all of us that want to win, that want to be the best and so while I do think I was channeling hopefully a person that is a little bit more psychotic than I am, I do think that we all have parts of us that do want to win and are embarrassed to let that part be seen. And I thought it was a cool thing to really play both sides of that.' Kravitz was thrilled to return for Episodes 9 and 10, which see her buttoned-up A-Lister succumb to a truly ungodly grammage of psilocybin mushrooms thanks to Remick's ill-fated party platter of assorted drugs. The chaotic finale follows a deeply inebriated Kravitz (and Dave Franco and Bryan Cranston's Continental CEO Griffin Mill) as she is coddled and cajoled into sobering up enough to pull off an onstage presentation to tease her forthcoming 'Black Wing' project. 'Especially after knowing what you know about this version of Zoë, who's kind of a control freak in a lot of ways, it was really cool to be able to put her in a situation where she's completely out of control,' the Caught Stealing star explained. Minutes before she takes the stage, Kravitz's character is mimicking every word spoken to her and feeling like a 'skin sausage.' Despite this, she miraculously nails her presentation and heads off stage, where she gleefully exclaims, 'I'm going pee-pee,' indicating the evidence on the front of her trousers. When asked if she had any reservations about spoofing herself on screen, Kravitz was adamant: 'Oh, no. If you can't make fun of yourself, I think there's something wrong. And so I was really excited to make fun of myself, or the idea of myself, and the awards cycle, and all of that. I think it's something to laugh at and to explore — it's not just pointing and laughing.' The reason it works, Kravitz maintained, is because the lampooning of the industry — which can feel like 'the center of the universe' — is 'really done through the lens of people who love film. And so I think that is the part that you also really feel, is that this isn't just making fun of something, this is making fun of the complications around something that we all care for so deeply.' The Studio is now renewed for Season 2, and Kravitz hopes to get back into the shenanigans next year. She said of her hopeful return: 'Oh, my God, not only would I be open, but I would be very disappointed if I didn't get to [come back]. I have always really wanted to do more comedy. It's something that I really like and something that I want to get better at. I like comedy, I'm a pretty ridiculous person, so it's fun to be able to play in that space … comedy is so hard, and I think people forget that because the whole point is to make it look easy.' The season 1 finale of The Studio has now been released, and all episodes are available on Apple TV+. via: Deadline
