There are mega mansions and then there are mega mansions worth $500 million. The loot concerns the latter.
The Loot streaming series has something its rivals can’t boast of: a $500 million mansion.
“It was listed as the most expensive property ever [listed] into human existence,” Alan Yang, co-creator of Loot, told news.com.au. “When we were doing research and scouting, we would find these places and say, ‘Yeah, this is a $40 million or $50 million mansion, what’s the next level?
“So we pushed the crew to go deeper and deeper and bigger and bigger.”
Loot, as the name suggests, plays in an ultra-rich sandbox. Its main character is a woman named Molly (Maya Rudolph), who discovers the infidelity of her tech mogul husband (Adam Scott) after 20 years together.
In the ensuing divorce, she walks away with $87 billion — and a compulsion to find her purpose and herself through her charitable foundation.
Hence, the stunning and insanely expensive mega mansion. The location is an actual house (if you can even call it a house) in Los Angeles called “The One”. It has seven swimming pools, a garage for 50 cars and its own nightclub.
The world of super yachts, private jets and mega mansions Booty is far from the small government offices of Parks and recreationwhere Yang and his co-creator Matt Hubbard first worked together.
Since then, Emmy-winning Yang has been responsible for some of the most beloved works of the past decade, including the led by author master of nothingthe philosophy Still and the home movie tiger tailbased on the experiences of his father who emigrated from Taiwan to the United States.
But with Loot, he and Hubbard wanted to do something different, something more fun, and something with a higher laughs-per-minute ratio.
“We talked about wanting to do another workplace comedy. We both worked Parks and Matt had worked on 30 Rock. These shows are really fun and they ended up reaching a lot of people.
“This project was a fun idea and a nice change of pace, a bit broader. We wanted to make a fun, fun show that also had ideas and heart behind it, but something that’s just kinda fun to watch.
“For me personally, I would come out of a few more dramatic plays, and in the last couple of years the world is going through a lot more drama – a cataclysmic pandemic, an insurgency, a recession, gas prices are a million dollars per gallon. Can you go home and put on a show that makes you laugh and brings you a little joy?
“We definitely wanted to go a little more towards comedy. We kind of missed the days when comedy was a little more downright funny.
Although Yang doesn’t explicitly name-check Melinda Gates and Mackenzie Scott, the former wives of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos respectively, Yang refers to “real-life analogues” to Molly’s character.
Rudolph had previously worked with Yang and Hubbard on Stillso they knew she could pull off the comedy and pathos of a woman who emerged from emotional trauma and a long-term relationship to find herself alone, cashed in and on a journey of self-discovery.
“We don’t have billions of dollars, well most of us don’t, and we don’t have access to that kind of wealth, but I think everyone can identify with a breakup, and with someone you’ve built a life with for 20 years.
“What is the challenge in your life resulting from this? Especially when you add on top of that, your spouse or partner was that person who was your whole world, and was such a globally significant and powerful figure and in some ways you were the most one of that person.
“In the back of your mind, in the deep, dark recesses of when you go to bed at night, you’ve probably thought, ‘Is there more to life than this? Is there something more than I can offer, as me?
“This character is thinking, ‘Do I have a bigger purpose, is there somewhere else I can go, what is the rest of my journey?'”
It is the heart of Booty. The ideas part stealthily challenges the effect of extreme wealth, examining it through how Molly’s personal journey intersects with awareness of widening inequality.
“I know it sounds grand in some ways, but it’s the best storyline on this show. It’s kind of a Trojan horse, this idea of looking at why inequality happens, who these billionaires are, what do with the world.
“If you go to the season one finale, you’ll see even Molly herself goes through some kind of reckoning and has a bit of a change.”
Loot is now streaming on Apple TV+
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