Apple TV Plants a Flag in LA Production: From Anya Taylor-Joy’s ‘Lucky’ to ‘Sugar’ Season 2

Apple TV is making its mark in Los Angeles, with a handful of new and returning series being produced in the city while other film projects move elsewhere.

A notable number of productions touted Los Angeles as their home base during Apple TV’s press day this week, answering the call to #StayinLA following the devastating wildfires that wrecked havoc on Southern California in 2025. While a handful of Apple series have already set up shop in L.A., including returning shows “Sugar,” “Shrinking” and “The Studio,” several of the streamer’s new productions similarly embraced the city of stars in the wake of the tragedy, including Anya Taylor-Joy’s “Lucky.”

“We were making this in the aftermath of the L.A. fires, I think we were one of the first shows that really got going after that,” Taylor-Joy said while on stage at Santa Monica’s The Barker Hangar on Tuesday. “Just the sensation of pride and love that our cast and our crew had every single day going into work, and how grateful we were that we all had something that we could focus on and try and give back to the community in that way … that was really magical.”

Kerry Washington shared similar sentiments about filming her limited series “Imperfect Women” alongside co-stars Kate Mara and Elisabeth Moss. “To be able to shoot here after the fires last year was so meaningful to the city and
meaningful to us and our crew.”

While Araminta Hall’s “Imperfect Women” centers on three British women, Moss credited Washington for the idea to bring the limited series to Los Angeles, noting it “meant a lot to bring some work here … and not only use all the beautiful places, but to use these incredible crews.”

Moss added that the shift in setting was also exciting creatively, with Washington noting the team played around with the “city itself and what it means to
different people.”

“When we think about Los Angeles, we think bright sunshine, bright lights, glamour and beauty, and then there is this other kind of dark underbelly and long history where things are not new and fabricated, they’re grounded and older,” Washington said. “There’s a richness to the culture and the history here.”

David E. Kelley’s adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” which stars Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman, also found a home in Los Angeles. The production marked Irish actress Thaddea Graham’s first time working in the U.S., let alone in a lot, with Graham noting “To be with this cast and this team was a real privilege.”

Filming in Los Angeles was also a draw for Shea Whigham to join the second season of “Sugar,” as well as the chance to work alongside longtime friend Colin Farrell, who stars in and executive produces the series.

“He came to me — It was like Super Bowl this time last year. My family and I, we went to his place. And he and his lovely sister, Claudine, came and said, ‘We have this thing. Take a look at it.’ I said, ‘I don’t even need to read it.’ I took the chance to go to work with him,” Whigham recalled of Farrell. “And he would say, ‘No, no, no.’ But we’re going to shoot in Los Angeles. And I love this place. And I love ‘Sugar’ and the crew —The crew … they’re amazing — Everything you said lived up to it.”

Comparing Los Angeles to character in the series, Farrell noted that “very little shoots here” these days and pointed to the “cinematic richness” of the city.

“I was watching Friedkin’s ‘To Live and Die in L.A.’ the other day and just seeing … how rich and cinematic a city Los Angeles is,” Farrell said. “‘Cause what’s it mean, cinematic? And what’s it mean, rich? It just means there’s a lot going on. And all that’s going on in this town, it all has different origins, whether it’s South American, European influence, Asian influence, California in itself. East coast of America that comes here. There are so many different cultures, not, unlike New York — not unlike a west coast version of New York — that converge together in this city.”

While Farrell noted Los Angeles is known for the “cutthroat” film business, he noted it’s a “very accepting city in many ways” that offers a safe haven for his character. “You can be whatever you want to be here,” he said.

We would be remiss not to note the production brought to L.A. via “The Studio,” which bowed out of Tuesday’s press day following the sudden loss of comedy great and series star Catherine O’Hara.

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