Stock owners are not liable. The company is. Right?

When the stock owner is another company that has a majority (or 100%) stake it's usually considered one company for liability purposes, at least in the U.S.

Otherwise every company would set up dozens of intermediary shell companies to protect every valuable subsidiary in the hopes of a favorable court ruling if things go belly up.

that kind of is how hollywood and vc firms work

No, that's definitely not how VCs work, there's a reason why no singular firm buys up more than half of any company.

And probably other folks more knowledgeable on how Hollywood legalities work can confirm a similar taboo exists there.

Is it hard to sell half a company you bought for a $1? Seems like more of a psychological problem than a technical one..

I mean sure the whole market could realize your purchase was an absurd liability, but they would still be immune as long as they only own their fraction, so unless the whole market prefers your bankruptcy over a free bet..