The Big Picture

  • Will Ferrell's involvement in the show Succession can be attributed to his production company, Gary Sanchez Productions.
  • Adam McKay, co-founder of Gary Sanchez Productions, is another executive producer of Succession and is known for his transition to satirical films.
  • McKay's involvement in the show's visual style, as seen in The Big Short, and his comedic history contribute to Succession's unique blend of drama and comedy.

HBO's groundbreaking show Succession has only become more popular with each season, ending on a high with a successful finale that was almost universally praised. The series follows media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as he toys with his dysfunctional family over who will inherit his multi-billion-dollar empire. His sons Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) and daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) are depicted as the front-runners, with Shiv's husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) and Logan's firstborn, Connor (Alan Ruck), as potential dark horses.

Succession relishes in its unique blend of drama and comedy. Very few shows and movies are able to take themselves as seriously as this show (which is often referred to as modern-day Shakespeare) while also providing laugh-out-loud dialogue of the darkest quality. It might surprise you, while watching the show, to find the name "Will Ferrell" among Succession's executive producer credits. No, that's not a different WIll Ferrell. Although executive producer is a title with no firm definition, the Elf actor's involvement is tied to a Paraguayan named Gary Sanchez.

succession-poster
Succession
TV-MA

The Roy family is known for controlling the biggest media and entertainment company in the world. However, their world changes when their father steps down from the company.

Release Date
June 3, 2018
Creator
Jesse Armstrong
Main Genre
Drama
Seasons
4

Who on Earth is Gary Sanchez?

In 2006, Will Ferrell and filmmaker Adam McKay founded their own production company named Gary Sanchez Productions. McKay told Marc Maron on his WTF Podcast that Gary Sanchez was a fake name Ferrell put on his BlackBerry and the two comedians' "yes-and" instincts led them to create a fictional Paraguayan entrepreneur and financier of the same name. When it came time to name their company, what better name than Gary Sanchez to represent their new venture as financiers and entrepreneurs in their own right?

Gary Sanchez Productions has gone on to produce several Will Ferrell vehicles including, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, and Daddy's Home. It has also produced low-budget productions such as 2012's Bachelorette and big-budget movies such as 2013's Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. Often they produce projects from frequent Ferrell and McKay collaborators such as HBO's Eastbound and Down starring Danny McBride. In 2007, the pair also founded Funny or Die, a website and TV company responsible for bringing us Between Two Ferns, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

McKay Is Key To Understanding Ferrell's Involvement in 'Succession'

Gary Sanchez Productions went on to produce Succession for HBO, making Adam McKay another name that appears as executive producer in the credits alongside Ferrell. McKay's career was cemented in comedy for many years, having directed both Anchorman movies, Talladega Nights, and some aforementioned Ferrell projects at Gary Sanchez Productions.

In more recent years, McKay has made the move from raunchier comedies to more straight-played satires, earning him recognition at the Academy Awards. 2015's The Big Short starred Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt among others, and followed the 2008 Housing Market Crash with biting humor. McKay followed this up with 2019's Vice, a meta look at the life of Dick Chaney which was also produced by Ferrell. In 2021, McKay directed Don't Look Up which featured an all-star cast and used the plot of an impending world-ending comet to comment on recent political and environmental headlines. With that in mind, Will Ferrell's link with Succession's brand of boardroom-drama comedy starts to make more sense.

'The Big Short' Gave Way To 'Succession's Visual Style

Ryan Gosling as Jared Vennett in The Big Short
Image via Paramount Pictures

Succession was created by British TV writer Jesse Armstrong. Armstong's previous credits include several collaborations with the comedy duo of David Mitchell and Robert Webb, including Magicians, That Mitchell and Webb Look, and Peep Show. He also worked as a writer on the UK political satire The Thick of It as well as its spin-off movie In the Loop and its American remake Veep. His show Babylon (as well as The Thick of It) truly reveals the same creative DNA as is present in Succession and Babylon is a treat for anyone looking to fill that Succession-shaped void after the series finale.

Still riding the wave of success from The Big Short, McKay directed the pilot episode of Armstrong's Succession, establishing its visual style as well as its performance style. The tone visibly matches that of The Big Short and not just in its use of boardroom discussions. The camera is lively at all moments, punching in and out to capture everyone's reactions, as if openly referencing an off-screen camera crew that doesn't exist within the world of the story. In theory, this style mixed with McKay and Ferrell's involvement and comedic history could have just as easily led to a more Arrested Development result, but with Armstrong's more understated humor, it's far from that. The Big Short also marks McKay's first collaboration with Succesion's composer Nicholas Britell and its star Jeremy Strong, who McKay urged the Succession team to cast as Kendall.

Succession's Willa Ferreyra is Named After Will Ferrell

Justine Lupe and Alan Ruck with each other in Succession Season 4 Episode 7
Image via HBO

In the show, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Spin City star Alan Ruck plays Connor Roy, Logan's eldest son. With all the money and very little self-awareness, the show sees Connor paying an escort (Justine Lupe) to be his long-term girlfriend. This character has since become one of the show's more complex and interesting characters, earning the respect and sympathy of many viewers. Her name is Willa Ferreyra, and although there has been no official confirmation, the internet has deduced that this is in reference to none other than the show's executive producer, Will Ferrell. The character of Willa began as a way of making a fool of Connor, however, as the series progressed, she has proven that there's not much difference between her escort service and the ways in which many other characters play Logan's game of succession.

After 'Succession', Ferrell and McKay's Working Relationship Is Over

Another Succession alum of note is director Mark Mylod whose work on shows such as Game of Thrones and Showtime's Shameless makes him one of Succession's most exciting directors. Since the show began, Mylod has directed the 2022 film The Menu to major critical success. This movie was produced by Will Ferrell, as well as Adam McKay and Gary Sanchez Productions, but sadly marks the beginning of the end for the production company as well as potentially the friendship of its founding partners too.

In 2019, it was announced that Ferrell and McKay were parting ways and ending their creative partnership for the foreseeable future. This was seemingly brought on by the fact that McKay had acquired the rights to the book Showtime by Jeff Pearlman which became the HBO limited series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. As a huge Lakers fan, Ferrell was hoping to be cast in the role of Jerry Buss, but the role was given by McKay to actor Michael Shannon. Ferrell accepted this, but when Shannon dropped out, McKay offered the role to Ferrell's close friend and Step Brothers co-star John C. Reilly in a way of handling things that McKay later admitted he regrets.

Reilly made sure Ferrell was aware of the situation before accepting the role, but Ferrell and McKay have decided to go their separate ways as a result. The Gary Sanchez Production company will continue to produce everything they have started, and will only fully end upon the completion of all its pre-arranged productions, which, of course, includes Succession.

You can watch all episodes of Succession now on Max in the U.S.

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