"It's very bittersweet," Mekash says, of the contrast between silver-screen glamour and the decidedly less attractive inner workings of the industry, both of which are depicted in Hollywood in equal measure. "The subject matter [shows] how badly people were treated, the behind-the-scenes things they had to cover up." For the most part, the seven-episode series is a work of fiction, but the stories it tells are plausible for the time period: a silent-movie actress (played to perfection by Patti LuPone) forced to give up her career after being labeled too "Jew-y" for talkies; a young Black, gay screenwriter who does sex work to stay afloat financially.