Hello, you lovely lot. How you doing? Hope you're good. Welcome to the Filmmakers Podcast. I'm Giles Alderson. I'm a little broken at the moment, so this one is going to be nice and short for you, and it's short because it's a classic. It's brilliant because today we're dealing with the pure, unadulterated Hollywood royalty. Yes, that's right. We have back onto the podcast the amazing Jerry Bruckheimer. He's a legendary producer from Top Gun Maverick to Pirates of the Caribbean and his amazing movie last year, the high-octane feature starring Brad Pitt, F1. But the reason why he's joining us again is this man, Eddy Cue. He's the senior vice president of services at Apple and the mastermind behind Apple original films. And Eddy Cue was just named entertainment person of the year. So because they both produced F1, they sat down with me to talk about Apple, to talk about original films and Eddy's success as well. Obviously we kick things off by congratulating the lovely Eddy on winning entertainment person of the year because he thoroughly deserves it. This achievement. It's someone who's built a studio that does champion filmmakers and original storytelling. We've got to praise that. As independent filmmakers that most of you are that listen to this, it is an achievement. It is huge. And I know that a lot of my films have been on Apple TV and I'm very grateful and proud that they have been on there. Some of them making their debut like The Stranger in Our Bed on there. So in the episode coming up right now, we dive into the absolute madness of shooting an event movie practically. Jerry breaks down that logistical nightmare of filming at live Grand Prix weekends and what it's like putting Brad Pitt in an actual race car, how they managed to rig up 15 bespoke 6K cameras on these multi-million pound machines without ruining the aerodynamics. We also explore Apple's refreshing commitment to the global theatrical window, should we call it, in a landscape where many streamers are actively pulling back. Eddy explains why he's preserving that massive cinema experience because it's so vital to Apple's vision. And we also talk about the invaluable contribution of Lewis Hamilton who was brought on as producer to guarantee the film's absolute authenticity. So, let's get to today's wonderful 15-minute chat with these two absolute powerhouses, Jerry Bruckheimer and Apple's Eddy Cue.
Very good, Eddie. Lovely to meet you.
Great to meet you. Wish you were here.
I wish I was there as well. It's boiling hot here.
Yes, I know. Look at that view. You know, it's hot.
It's all fake. It's a green screen.
I totally agree with you. I imagine it's not.
Yeah, exactly. I'm in Burbank. That's Hollywood for you. I love it. Jerry, thank you again. You've been on this is your second time you've been on this Filmmaker's Podcast. Thank you for joining me again. Lucky you.
Congratulations first of all, Eddie. Entertainment Person of the Year, that's something special.
It's quite an honor. It's hard to imagine and I'm incredibly proud because it's an award that's really about Apple TV and the team and what we built over the last 7 years together. And it's a great accomplishment because we started with zero, no library, no content, everything from scratch and I'm really proud of them.
Oh, you should be proud. It's an incredible achievement. You know, you're making these what I love as well as you're committed to making these global theatrical releases for events like F1 while other streams are kind of actively pulling back. So why do you feel preserving that massive theatrical window and that event status is so crucial for Apple and the ecosystem you've created?
It's about making the greatest stories and letting people experience them in all of the ways that you can. Theatrical experience is an awesome experience being able to share it with people. Being able to see it on a huge screen. There's nothing like that and so it's great to do that and then it's great to bring it on to Apple TV where people can watch it at home or on a plane. And so why not give people all of the different ways to watch?
Yeah, I love that. F1's an incredible movie as well. It was such a tentpole and such a fantastic achievement. Everyone loved it. I don't know anyone who didn't like that film and it's one of my favorites for last year. I thought it was fantastic. So congratulations all around on that. Must have been so difficult to make that, Jerry. That's the question we wanted to ask you. First of all, you know, obviously with Top Gun was massive. You worked alongside the US Navy for that and now you're dropping this massive Hollywood film right in the middle of a live, highly competitive Grand Prix weekend. As a producer, how do you navigate that? How do you deal with the sheer chaos of shooting practically on an active track? I've seen all the behind the scenes, without the movie getting in the way of the real world sporting championships and the real drivers that are involved as well.
Well, we had a great relationship with F1 thanks to Apple and the breadth that Apple has around the world really helps us. But what else? We rehearsed everything. I mean we had like 9 minutes to do the National Anthem and the grid and we rehearsed it for 3 weeks. So when we got on the track and by the way they were going to pull us off no matter what. So we had three takes and we were done and finished. And Joe is such a precise director, spends so much time rehearsing the actors knowing exactly what he wanted. He had the cameras dialed in. They created a new rig, a turkey rig that they used to film it. And then they did the National Anthem and it was absolutely brilliant. Then he actually shot some other drivers on the paddock and getting ready for the race.
Ah, it must be so even now, sorry with your incredible career. Does it still feel exciting? Does it still feel oh my gosh, we've only got this amount of time to shoot it. Does that still get you excited? Does it still get the nerves going and think what happens if we don't get this?
No, every movie's a new experience and when you have a great team we had a phenomenal idea, a great director Joe Kosinski. So when you have something like that they make it easier for you because they're in tune with everything. They rehearse everything and know exactly what they want. They worked, you know, we worked years on the script along with Apple and their team. So it all comes together on that day and we were ready for it.
Yeah, you totally were. It's a stunning, stunning achievement all across the board. How about the drivers as well, just talking about F1 for a second. How involved did they get or were they just sort of happy to be there with that rehearsal process and the planning you did?
He looks like a great driver. He looks like he can drive. I'm sure he could by the end, right?
I'll tell you something. The saddest day for Brad Pitt is when he had his last lap in Abu Dhabi. No. And that was it and he had to climb out of the car. It was my happiest day because nobody got hurt. Exactly. Only for 2 years and everybody was fine. I think somebody broke a pinky finger. That's it. That was the whole thing.
That was the only bit that went wrong, which is quite incredible because there were so many cameras as well. It was like cameras coming out of every gas pipe and everyone's helmet. How many cameras do you think you used as a result?
We had 15 cameras around the car. We had two Apple taken from the iPhone except enhanced. Two cars in every race that we put in there. So the footage you see is actually from an F1 race thanks to Apple. Plus we had all the cameras that the BBC had and we had stationed our own cameras around it. But those 15 we had a special camera made for that car.
