The production design team behind Apple TV's "The Studio" successfully created such a convincing Frank Lloyd Wright building that industry professionals have questioned whether they filmed at an actual Wright structure. Art director Brian Grego recently explained how the Emmy-winning team designed and constructed an original Wright-inspired studio building from scratch for the hit television series.
"One of the biggest compliments I've gotten about the show is from people who work in the art departments, who do what I do, and have asked, 'did you film at a real Frank Lloyd Wright building?'" Grego told Dezeen. "We're like, 'you do this, you should know', but because of so many things that added together in a really magical fashion, what we did almost is a magic trick – it's a really fragile illusion."
The production team wanted the building to serve as a realistic headquarters for Continental Studios, the fictional company at the heart of the series. Continental Studios is depicted as a major player that had its golden age during the 1920s and 1930s. After researching the architectural styles of actual legacy Hollywood studios, production designer Julie Berghoff made the bold decision to create a building that would have been designed by America's most famous architect.
"Most of us have worked at the big film lots around LA, so we kind of have an intuition about the way the different ones look – some are more Spanish and some are more deco," Grego explained. "Julie was looking at the architects that were working during that time, and there was just something that resonated about Frank Lloyd Wright during that era." The choice made perfect sense historically, as Wright was at the peak of his fame in the 1920s and was actively working in Los Angeles, designing significant houses including Hollyhock House in 1921 and Ennis House in 1925.
Rather than simply designing in Wright's style, the production team aimed to create a building that could realistically be attributed to the architect himself. Wright is actually name-checked as the building's designer several times throughout the show. According to Grego, this ambitious approach contributed to the idea that Continental Studios was a significant industry player in its heyday, but it also added tremendous pressure to get the details right.
"We were stressed," Grego continued. "I have to hand it to Julie, she's a tremendously courageous designer. I think some designers wouldn't even attempt it – I'm just really proud that she had the conviction to go for it." The team didn't want to directly replicate an existing Wright building but instead aimed to envision what he would have created if commissioned by a major Hollywood studio in the 1920s.
The aesthetic was primarily derived from Wright's Mayan revival houses, which he was building in Los Angeles during that period. "We wanted to be inspired by Frank, but wanted it to feel unique to Hollywood and to Continental Studios," said Grego. "We have a tremendous amount of respect for him. And we spent a lot of time doing research into his work and really looking at the stuff that he was building in LA during that time and trying to channel it into what we do."
"The Studio" follows Matt Remick, played by Seth Rogen, as the newly appointed head of the fictional Continental Studios. "The intent was to imply that Continental Studios was kind of an era gone by – it was big and grand and great at one time, but we are kind of past that time," explained Grego. This narrative context influenced every design decision for the building.
The ambitious set was constructed on Warner Bros' lot in Los Angeles, with the ground floor exterior built alongside a parking area and a two-story interior set built at the studio. A tour guide in the show describes the building as designed in Wright's "signature Mayan revival style," and the structure faithfully follows the aesthetic of his Los Angeles homes from the period, featuring his signature "textile blocks" – a crucial element in maintaining the illusion of authenticity.
Creating these textile blocks presented a massive logistical challenge. "Every house he did had a different textile block," said Grego. "He created a new pattern for each building, so what would he have done for Continental Studios?" Working with graphic designer Zach Fannin, production designer Julie Berghoff developed a "C" motif that could be repeated throughout the building as a thematic element representing Continental Studios.
The production team manufactured thousands of these custom blocks using multiple fabrication techniques. "Okay, we have thousands of these textile blocks to manufacture in time, so we were doing CNC routing, we were doing laser cutting, we were doing foam casting," explained Grego. "It was a total patchwork of different fabrication methods of the blocks, and then it all got sprayed with plaster to unify it all."
After extensively researching Wright's Los Angeles houses, the team worked to imitate the unique texture and finish of the concrete Wright used in his constructions. "One of the really unique things about the [Wright] houses was in the concrete – he would mix in something that added shine to it," explained Grego. "At Hollyhock House, all of the concrete has brass shavings in it, so when you're there in person, there's kind of like this very faint shimmer." To recreate this effect, the plasterer would spray the wall and then throw different materials like welding slag at it while the plaster was still wet.
Maintaining the Wright illusion extended beyond architecture to interior design and furnishings. Set decorator Claire Kaufman led a team that furnished the studio with pieces authentically within Wright's style. "He's known for designing, essentially, all the furniture that goes into his projects, so we thought 'okay, that's what he would have done here too,'" said Grego.
Given the extremely tight timeline for creating the set, much of the furniture had to be designed and built from scratch in Wright's style. This included signature pieces such as desks, chairs, and conference tables. "Claire started six weeks before we filmed, so the ability to design and build and dress in that amount of time is really remarkable," said Grego. "She really found some incredible things and actually built a lot, like the massive walnut desk in Matt's office – they designed and built that."
The team initially looked into reissues of Wright furniture by American brand Steelcase, but the one-month timeline made custom fabrication the only viable option. This approach ultimately contributed to the authenticity of the overall design, as Wright was indeed known for creating custom furniture for his architectural projects.
Grego believes that creating a high-quality, authentic-feeling building was essential given that the show frequently makes fun of Hollywood culture and practices. "I think the approach to the craft of making the show was so deliberate and so intentional, because I think you can get away with making fun of something if you prove that you know it really well," he said. "So for us, it felt really important to do something excellent." The success of this approach is evident not only in the show's Emmy win for production design but also in the genuine confusion it has created among industry professionals about whether they filmed at an actual Wright building.
