HBO’s “Mountainhead” premiered on Monday night

Just following the election in late November, Jesse Armstrong was attempting to avoid narrating yet another tale about unimaginably wealthy tycoons. Less than two years had passed since the note-perfect HBO finale of his Emmy-winning, culturally iconic series “Succession,” which followed the corrosive family behind a vast media empire. It seemed foolish to venture back into the realm of extreme wealth. Armstrong, however, fell into a rabbit hole of research into the strange world of tech bro billionaires after reviewing a book about cryptocurrency scammer Sam Bankman-Fried for the Times Literary Supplement in late 2023.

He asserts, “Until I can hear their voice, I cannot write about them.”. Because tech professionals frequently appear on each other’s podcasts, it’s easy to get started in this field and hear the CEOs of these companies speak directly. The voice tone was one I couldn’t stop thinking about. “.”.

Armstrong created the plot of “Mountainhead” to get rid of those voices in his head. It tells the story of four billionaire friends who get together for a poker weekend with no staff and only guys, just as the world is about to descend into disinformational chaos due to a new AI release from one of the quartet’s businesses. He presented it to HBO chief Casey Bloys as a TV film the following month. Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman (“Asteroid City”), Ramy Youssef (“Poor Things”), and Cory Michael Smith (“Saturday Night”) joined the cast in January. Filming had started in Park City, Utah, by March. Also, the film, which marks Armstrong’s first feature directing role, will debut on HBO and Max on Saturday, May 31. It took a little more than six months to complete the project from start to finish.

For the tech industry, let alone the slow rhythms of Hollywood, that is a frantic pace. But for Armstrong, getting a glimpse into the lives of the wealthiest and most influential men in the nation also meant figuring out what they are doing to the nation at the moment.

He says, “I hope that this will still be a good piece when people watch it in a few years.”. However, I really wanted to write it and have viewers who share my news consciousness. The bubble of nowness rises and falls rather quickly. “.”.

Before delving into the lives of media titans for “Succession,” Armstrong wrote on the British political satire “The Thick of It” and its American cousin, “Veep,” so he is no stranger to capturing the ridiculous spirit of modern society. However, the stark immediacy of Silicon Valley’s influence made Armstrong believe that his movie required the most recent production schedule.

Executive producer Frank Rich (“Veep,” “Succession”) explains, “This is about a group of increasingly powerful guys — and they are all guys — who have an enormous impact on America and the world at a very chaotic and traumatic moment.”. Given Jesse’s prior writing style, it appears to be highly newsworthy and appropriate for him. “”.

When asked how much President Trump’s election to a second term affected his sense of urgency, Armstrong is less certain.

“It might not have felt as important if he hadn’t won,” he says. However, given the development of AI and the consequences of obtaining a large amount of our information from social media, I believe I would have gone ahead and done it regardless. “”.

Regarding the Trump factor, Rich claims, “We never talked about it that way.”. There is a particular type of astute writer who occasionally senses events in politics, society, and the media before they actually occur. However, we weren’t following those headlines, even though the news continued to support Jesse’s observations about this world and these characters. Often, it felt like we were being chased by the headlines while we were shooting. “.”.

Despite his agreement with HBO to write, cast, shoot, and edit “Mountainhead” in six months, Armstrong claims he simply “didn’t know if that was possible.”. The director, his actors, and his production crew, who were mostly (though not totally) “Succession” veterans, talked to Variety about how they actually managed to pull it all off.

I wanted to direct, but it wasn’t like, “How can I direct something? This would work,” said writer and director Jesse Armstrong. In other words, “I’d love to do this thing.”. Oh no, I think that directing it might be beneficial. “.”.

Executive producer Jill Footlick: I recall saying, “I’m going to tell you about a job, and if you want to hang up on me at any point, please do so,” when I first received the call from HBO. At the beginning of our conversation, Jesse said something quite similar. “This is… doable,” we said, laughing a little. Yes, indeed. Even so, it appeared—and, to be honest, still appears—to be a bit crazy.

Production designer Stephen Carter: Jesse probably first contacted me before Christmas. “This would probably be unavoidable in other situations,” I told myself. However, Jesse is involved, and I believe that “Succession” will contribute enough shorthand to this project that the advantage tip just enough to make it feasible. It sounded like a fun ride, but at that point, we had no idea which country it would be filming in. I responded, “Yes.”. All right, let’s go. “.”.

Susan Lyall (costume designer): I believe the proposal was submitted on Tuesday, met with Jesse on Wednesday, was hired on Thursday, and started work on Monday. Since everything is usually completed in the final four or five weeks for costumes, I wasn’t worried about the amount of time. There aren’t many people there. It lasts for thirty-six hours. Since I love skiing, I couldn’t tell if it was Park City or Vancouver.

Editor Bill Henry: When I received the email, I was so excited that I gave a loud shout. I believe that sometime in February, I was tapped. The most important thing I had to do, given the extremely tight post-schedule, was to manage my anxiety. I talked to Jesse early on, though, and we both reassured ourselves that it was only a maxi “Succession” episode. We have climbed much larger mountains, after all. He has a reputation for writing extensively. “Well, this is within the realm of what I’m used to,” I thought when I saw that it was 124 pages long. There, we’ll get it. “”.

Cinematographer Marcel Zyskind: Jesse asked if I was up to the task, even though I was a newcomer to this group. When it comes to people I feel comfortable around, I’ll stop at nothing. I didn’t have any arguments with these people because they seemed so nice right away.

Armstrong: About ten days were spent on the core writing. I pitched it, took a Christmas break, returned, and had a meeting with the executive producers and writers of “Succession” (Lucy Prebble, Jon Brown, Tony Roche, and Will Tracy). I explained the concept to them, added details to the characters, and so forth. I made a valiant effort to avoid it, but Jill urged me to look at places while I was writing in the van as we went around.

Footlick: I do have a lot of photos of Jesse using his laptop to write while standing in the van.

Armstrong: When I returned to London, I spent ten days writing the hard stuff. Redrafting took place for, I believe, three or four weeks after that. In some ways, it’s similar to a TV play. About two weeks prior to the start of filming, I believe we locked it to give the actors a fair opportunity to learn. In my opinion, it might take more than ten days in the end.

Armstrong rushed to find the ideal quartet of actors while collaborating with casting director Francine Maisler, another “Succession” alum.

Armstrong: Everything was a complete mess. Process, then, is a better word to describe a mess.

It wasn’t a mess, Footlick said. It was challenging.

Armstrong: So, it was either complicated or a mess. Most of the actors, I believe, joined the cast before the script was complete. Steve Carell undoubtedly did. We were on the scout in Vancouver, probably in the middle of January, and I recall pitching the film to him. Even though we had no script, no location, and just Jill on her cell phone and me saying we were going to make it, he was very kind enough to sign up. We had a huge boost in momentum because of his generosity and confidence in signing up, which made us think, “Oh, well, this looks like it really might happen.”. “”.

Carell agreed to play Randall, the group’s elder statesman, whom the other three view as a father figure of sorts.

Steve Carell: “I don’t have a script,” was how he pitched it. I’ve got a notion. I haven’t directed before. Would you be interested in participating?” Immediately: “Yes, I am interested. I don’t even give a damn. Since it was him, I knew it would be fantastic. After I received a script in the middle of February, we began filming in March. It moved incredibly quickly.

Schwartzman portrays Hugo, the host of the quartet and the proprietor of the mansion bearing the same name situated atop a snow-capped mountain in the Rockies. He is the only member of the group who has not yet achieved the status of a billionaire.

Jason Schwartzman: When it was presented to me, Steve was involved, the script was largely written, we would be filming it over the course of the next two weeks, and it would be released at the end of May. It felt like we were all in this together and there was no time to overthink it, which is why I found it so enjoyable. I have never heard of anything happening so swiftly.

Smith plays Venis, the CEO of a Facebook-like social media platform whose independent release of AI visualization tools causes violent, destabilizing upheavals all over the world, and Youssef plays Jeff, the CEO of a cutting-edge AI company. Much of the story revolves around their prickly relationship.

When I heard, “Tech bros on a mountain,” I became very excited, said Ramy Youssef. Since it was Jesse, I knew there would be something sharp to say.

Jesse sent a draft of a portion of the first act to Cory Michael Smith. And I thought, “Yeah, let’s go!” as a huge fan of “Succession,” staring at all those actors as though they were the luckiest people in the world.

Jesse, he didn’t make it easy on himself, Schwartzman said. “Yes, I will serve as the director, and it will be released in six weeks.”.

Smith: They seem to be working on this process at the same time, so I don’t understand how they cut it short. Because many of these individuals work together, there is a sort of shorthand and awareness of their goals as well as how to communicate and work together.

At first, I was unaware of how fast it was coming out, Youssef said. I had no idea how desperate they were. We are merely acting in it, after all. I simply said, “Good luck, editors.”. Wishing you luck in the production. We got off with it easily.

The release date that Armstrong and HBO agreed upon, May 31, is not coincidental with the last day to be eligible for an Emmy.

Armstrong: Casey thought of it. Though I hope it wasn’t the primary factor, it is unquestionably taken into account. But an alarm cord was in the hands of Jill, Casey, and me. Our constant attitude was, “Let’s quit and do it later if we ever feel that this will be bad because of how quickly we’re doing it.”. Pulling that alarm cord becomes increasingly frightening, but I believe that one of us would have done so and said, “Look, this just isn’t going to work,” if we hadn’t located the house, for instance, or if Steve hadn’t signed up. We are unable to make this happen. And it would have been acceptable. Later on, we could have done it.

Footlick: We had to meet certain requirements. I made a calendar that said, “If we don’t get this by this date, if we don’t have this by this date….” I made an effort to keep those deadlines a secret from Jesse.

Armstrong: We must have wildly missed them all. Not wildly, that is.

Footlick: Certainly, there was a lot of shifting. It was the largest of the houses.

Despite being the literal title role, Hugo’s house serves as the fifth character in the movie, but there was not enough time to design and construct one on a soundstage. The production then looked at options in Whistler, British Columbia, after searching listings of possible real-world candidates in rarefied mountain communities in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and other locations in Colorado.

Carter: With its excellent crews, Whistler was undoubtedly appealing. Many of the people who had recently completed filming “The Last of Us” were available, and it seemed like having a fantastic team sort of lined up and waiting for us would be fantastic given the number of unknowns in the script and casting. A number of the places we visited were, to put it plainly, disappointing because they were surrounded by a lot of new construction and other things that weren’t visible in the pictures we had looked at.

Following that, the production moved to the lavish ski villas scattered across the peaks in the Park City, Utah, area, but Armstrong and Carter had to depart the city before they could find any suitable locations.

Carter: At the last minute, a different location was made available for inspection. Although Jesse and I didn’t see it, we believed that the house we had given the nickname “Rockstar” might be the one based on the pictures and the atmosphere that everyone was reporting. That house had been taken off the list of potential homes by the morning I returned to Park City, so we had nothing. But we had located the house by the end of the day.

Armstrong: Ultimately, I had to rely on Jill, Stephen, and Marcel as I truly wanted to be present to see the house.

Carter: I’m not sure I’d ever want to live there myself. However, there was plenty of material to work with when it came to grounding these characters for a condensed weekend. When I receive a script, I usually break it down completely. If it doesn’t meet all of the requirements, we’ll use some tricks to address those issues. The question I was genuinely asking in this instance was, “Is there enough variety to keep us interested for an hour and a half to two hours worth of material?” Some homes had that range, but they didn’t fit the demographics. I thought, “Yeah, there’s enough going on here,” when I first entered this house. “.”.

Carell: It’s not possible for it to be another house. It expanded the film’s horizons. Because of this house, different scenes were chosen. It’s 8,000 feet up on a cliff and features an outdoor pool, a climbing wall, a basketball court, a bowling alley, and a bar. The atmosphere captivated us all as soon as we entered.

Armstrong: Marcel appeared to have an almost physical depressive reaction to this house, which was another factor that drew us in. “It’s perfect,” he said. My goal is to end my own life. “.”.

Footlick: I recall seeing his face. Marcel nearly puked as soon as we entered.

Zyskind: I felt really annoying just looking at that house. I simply experienced some physical effects from it. That house is like a violation on the mountain.

Armstrong: That’s the instinct we were searching for.

Schwartzman: That house is my character’s thing, so in a sense, my character was complete when I first entered it. Since this is the first time the house has been used in the film’s plot, my character is equally amazed by it and making notes about things that may not have gone as planned.

Youssef: I missed that house even though I would never live there. I have Stockholm Syndrome, for example.

Carter: We brought in a respectable amount of decorations. However, we didn’t do much in the architectural field. Just to add a little more photographic interest, we covered up some white walls. Given the amount of glass, I believe Marcel faced the most difficult lighting-related challenges. Though it was difficult to control the light, to put it mildly, we enjoyed the views and the sense of isolation.

The famous filming technique used on “Succession” was adopted in “Mountainhead,” where actors acted out entire scenes while camera operators recorded them as they happened.

Zyskind: I love “Succession” a lot. I therefore had no trouble at all being a part of that DNA. All of that would not be changed by me coming in. We worked ten-hour days and ran lunch. Since we didn’t take an hour’s break to eat, we wouldn’t return, and all of a sudden the sun would be in a different position. They were also quite dramatic scenes. Some of them were roughly six, eight, or ten pages long. To be honest, we shot them in record time.

Armstrong: Although Marcel is usually modest, I had already come to appreciate his work. It’s kind of a circle because I learned a lot from Armando Iannucci, who worked on films like “The Thick of It,” “In the Loop,” and “Veep,” as well as from Adam McKay, who shot the “Succession” pilot and was a big fan of Michael Winterbottom and his movies, many of which were directed by Marcel. Like, it was pre-influenced already. He guided me gently through what could and couldn’t work as a nervous first-time director. Shooting this fast in a house with so many shifting light conditions presented significant technical challenges.

Zyskind: It is evidently beneficial to shoot the scenes fully in a single shot. Fortunately, you can plan with the aid of certain tools. Snowstorms have the power to alter everything, and they have on multiple occasions. However, the acting, directing, and writing are so excellent that, in many shots, you don’t notice that it’s suddenly snowing outside, or the guys have done a good job of hiding it in the editing. Every time, the actors were simply hitting home runs. Those scenes would be well-known to them. Looking at the script, I’m thinking, “Oh my God, to remember all this?” It was truly remarkable to witness.

Admirers of “Succession” are accustomed to Armstrong’s proficiency with the humorously incomprehensible language used by C-suite executives, which is further enhanced in “Mountainhead.”. “.”.

Youssef: Filming is always hurried. To make a day, you’re always up against the wall. So, aside from the fact that it is a dense script, I didn’t find it to be all that crazy.

Smith: This is almost like having a dialect, which is why I appreciate working with them. Because these guys have influence over our lives, it’s really pleasant to go through the mental jargon of attempting to listen to them and comprehend what they’re saying. They are developing technology that has an immediate impact on us. They are engaging in activities that our government finds difficult to comprehend and regulate. So, it’s like, get on board and comprehend the vortex they’re generating in real time.

Schwartzman: I had a ring of index cards with every word I had written down that I was unfamiliar with. Aside from the vernacular, I learned a lot. There were times when I read passages in the script and wasn’t sure if they were grammatical errors or if he had spelled a word incorrectly. For example, it is absurd to say, “That’s four times bigger,” as you may already be aware, but in this world, they would say, “That’s 4x.”. I thought, “Who speaks like this?,” but after I dug deeper, I discovered that there is a completely different language. I’m eager to find out what those who use this vernacular as their primary language think of it.

The production did benefit from shooting in a single location.

Lyall: A gorgeous house just up the hill housed the hair and makeup and costume departments, which were much nicer and much smaller. Each performer had a separate room, many of which offered expansive valley views. I have never had a more exquisite holding work area than this one. Compared to being in a fifty-foot trailer in the parking lot, this is far superior.

Armstrong: The fact that they are all on top of one another has many benefits as well. I dash down to see Susan examining the costumes, and then I dash back up to see Stephen. The chaos of this strict schedule and the restless nights that some people experienced give you a positive creative boost. I’d like to know who found this schedule to be the worst. It was probably Bill, in my opinion.

Henry: The [editing] crew being in the United States has a lot of advantages. K. entailed processing it overnight after it left Utah, and the assistants would work on it while I slept. They would readily have some of these scenes put together for me when I hit it in the morning instead. On Saturdays, Jesse and Mark Davies, the other editor who was in London, would meet and look over our work from the previous week. As a result, we were able to show Jesse what he was receiving and how things were going.

Armstrong: Despite the fact that everything has happened so quickly, I don’t believe that any of it has felt out of control or that we’ve compromised in any way. However, I had a few panic attacks. In the first, the script was still unfinished even though Steve had signed up, we had the house, and we were unquestionably succeeding. At the start of the edit, when we were still in London and had a two-and-a-quarter-hour cut, there was just a glance at the calendar and a feeling that this might not happen. That was a difficult moment: “Have I bitten off more than I can chew?”. Is it possible for us to get rid of that time, make all the right choices, and remain sane?

The film was trimmed to 109 minutes (including credits) because they did, in fact, keep their heads. Though some are more excited about it than others, it’s noteworthy that everyone who talked to Variety about making “Mountainhead” stated they would work this absurdly fast again.

Lyall: I think it was one of my all-time favorite movie experiences. You never had to say, “I have to go home,” which was one benefit of the minimal schedule. I was not at all weary of it. To be honest, I was a little sad it was over. I didn’t think my work was done.

Footlick: To be honest, it was like a catch-22. Sure, we would like more time. However, I would absolutely do it again in a heartbeat.

Carell: I believe that what made me happy was that there was no room for doubt in any situation. Everyone had to trust their instincts and had little opportunity to think things through. When you’re doing it, you can feel it. The finished product, in my opinion, also shows that all of the decisions were made on instinct.

Carter: At some point during the journey, I told a few members of my team that Jesse had set us up for suicide. If we make a mistake and the result is awful, we have clearly failed. They will attempt to force us to repeat the process repeatedly using this new model, though, if we are successful. However, like everyone else, I would definitely do it again. I’m relieved there weren’t fifty-five places.

“Perhaps we could have had another month, and that would have been nice,” Henry said to Jesse after we wrapped up the mix. That being said, I do appreciate how quick the process is. I began in features, but I quickly became disinterested and annoyed with all the niggly details of bouncing back and forth, questioning everything, and trying it a million times. I simply begin to become less objective.

Armstrong: I’m not sure how the movie will be received. They might not find it as enjoyable as we did, so there might still be some difficult situations in the future. Overall, though, I think this is the only way I would work. It is beneficial to the creative metabolism. After sending the email and receiving a response, you decide and proceed. Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved in this movie, I never felt pressured to make a choice I wasn’t prepared for because Jill created the schedule, Marcel handled the shooting, Stephen had the options, Susan had the costumes, and Bill had made 100 excellent choices so that we could concentrate on the ten that remained. Since I enjoy working in this manner, it is somewhat of a suicide mission.

These are shortened and edited interviews.