# Hollywood (2020)

> A group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in postwar Hollywood chase stardom through a glossy, rewritten studio system.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/73940

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 7
- Episode runtime: 49 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: David Corenswet, Darren Criss, Laura Harrier, Joe Mantello, Dylan McDermott, Jake Picking, Jeremy Pope, Holland Taylor
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9827854/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: glossy, melodramatic, bitter, hopeful, sudsy

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, praising the ensemble cast and the glossy revisionist take on postwar studio filmmaking while noting its fanciful rewriting of history.

## Synopsis

Hollywood (2020) is a American limited series created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan for Netflix. Set in post-World War II Los Angeles, the seven-episode miniseries follows an ambitious group of aspiring actors and filmmakers, including Jack Castello (David Corenswet), Raymond Ainsley (Darren Criss), and Camille Washington (Laura Harrier), who will do almost anything to make their showbiz dreams come true. Their engine is the hunger for a break in a studio system that guards its gates, so each episode turns on auditions, back-room deals, screen tests, and the compromises required to get a foot in the door. Joe Mantello and Jim Parsons add menace as studio power brokers, while Holland Taylor anchors the story as a formidable industry figure. The series is a reimagining of the era in which the usual barriers fall away, a rewritten history that gives outsiders the stage they were denied. Its tone is glossy and melodramatic, with a sheen of old hollywood glamour that keeps cutting against the racism and exploitation beneath. Fans of Mad Men, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and American Horror Story: Cult will find resonance in its period style, bitter ambition, and restless energy. Expect a bright, sudsy surface with sharper undercurrents.

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