When Robert Altman directed his Hollywood satire “The Player” in 1992, he opened the film with an elaborately choreographed shot that ran eight minutes and introduced the audience to several key characters without a cut. Altman’s long take was immediately celebrated by critics and cinephiles, and while “The Player” wasn’t necessarily a movie that directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen grew up idolizing, it was definitely on their mind when the time came to make their own comedy skewering the Hollywood studio system.

“That opening really inspired us,” Goldberg told IndieWire on an upcoming episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast while talking about “The Studio,” his and Rogen’s Apple TV+ series about a Hollywood executive (Rogen) trying — and mostly failing — not to ruin the art form he loves. Following Altman’s example, Rogen and Goldberg decided not only to open their show with a demanding, intricate oner — they...