Apple content team on ‘F1’, Emmys success, and launching a platform

After F1: The Film grew to become the highest-grossing unique launch of 2025, and contemporary off 22 Emmy wins for The Studio, Severance and Gradual Horses, Apple SVP, providers, Eddy Cue and co-heads of worldwide video Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht sat down with Display Worldwide’s Jeremy Kay to debate the corporate’s streaming journey, movie technique and future ambitions

Six years after the debut of Apple’s streaming platform, the executives behind the newly renamed Apple TV and its rising pipeline of unique movie and tv – SVP, providers, Eddy Cue and joint chief content material officers and heads of worldwide video Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht – are having fun with their greatest 12 months.

Joseph Kosinski’s F1, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Brad Pitt, is poised to cross $630m on the international field workplace and ranks as 2025’s greatest unique launch, Pitt’s greatest hit and the highest-grossing sports activities movie of all time. On the TV aspect, The Studio, Severance and Gradual Horses mixed for a company-­document 22 Primetime Emmy wins.

Rather a lot has occurred since 2017, when Cue employed former Sony Footage Tv presidents Van Amburg and Erlicht to construct a movie and TV slate. Apple TV+ (because it was then known as) went stay on November 1, 2019, with an providing that included inaugural collection The Morning Present – the primary of many assertion buys that noticed Apple outbid a number of suitors for the Jennifer Aniston-Reese Wither­spoon information community drama. The fourth season is now airing and the present sits alongside different Primetime Emmy success tales just like the aforementioned 2025 winners and the vastly standard Ted Lasso and For All Mankind – each of which have new seasons within the works.

In 2022, the streamer grew to become the primary to win a coveted finest image Oscar after Apple Authentic Movies acquired 2021 Sundance hit Coda. It adopted that up by collaborating with titans of cinema equivalent to Martin Scorsese on a number of Oscar-­nominated Killers Of The Flower Moon and Ridley Scott on Napoleon. Nonetheless, Apple doesn’t have its personal distribution and advertising equipment, selecting as a substitute to associate on theatrical releases with the Hollywood majors.

Hypothesis has been rife within the trade over Apple’s characteristic technique, and the corporate has saved Holly­wooden guessing. There was the late pivot in 2024 from a large launch on the George Clooney-Brad Pitt crime thriller Wolfs, after tender field workplace for Argylle and Fly Me To The Moon. Then got here this 12 months’s spectacular field workplace for F1 with its 60-day unique North American theatrical window (Apple partnered with Warner Bros on the discharge).

Paul Greengrass’s Toronto choice The Misplaced Bus, starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera, and Spike Lee’s Cannes entry Highest 2 Lowest, led by Denzel Washington, each had restricted releases previous to debuting on the platform.

Cue, Van Amburg and Erlicht are taking part in their playing cards near their chests – Cue declined to be drawn on this interview on whether or not Apple was pursuing US broadcast rights for Method 1 simply days earlier than the corporate introduced a $750m five-year deal beginning in 2026. Nonetheless, they’re very joyful to speak about making movie and tv with high expertise and company companions world wide.

Amongst a burgeoning roster of titles, Apple is reteaming with Kosinski and Bruckheimer on a UFO conspiracy thriller, and is in talks to reunite with Scorsese on the supernatural horror What Occurs At Evening, set to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, in a partnership with Studio­canal. Display Worldwide may reveal new tasks with Mark Wahlberg and Bruckheimer. 

The chief management crew that has been in place for greater than seven years consists of Matt Cherniss, head of programming; Matt Dentler, head of options; Jay Hunt, artistic director, Europe; and Morgan Wandell, head of worldwide; together with Philip Matthys, head of enterprise affairs; and Rita Cooper Lee, head of communications and awards.

Display: This has been an enormous 12 months. How did you get up to now?

Eddy Cue: Onerous work.

Zack Van Amburg: It began with an incredible quantity of belief from Eddy Cue, who believed {that a} group of individuals would have the ability to come collectively, and that high quality leisure was nonetheless the factor that was going to be valued on this planet – form of a loopy thesis. It’s been a thrill journey. We joke that we labored nearly six years to change into an in a single day success story.

Apple TV is definitely having a second. We’ve had loads of them, whether or not it’s highlights like successful finest image for Coda, or the run that Ted Lasso went on a number of years in the past when it gained Emmy awards and was recognised because the number-one streaming present on this planet. [Nielsen reported Ted Lasso was the most-watched streaming original in 2023 based on minutes viewed, before Severance became Apple TV’s most-watched original series worldwide in February 2025.] We have now gone from energy to energy and our technique was [to] work with one of the best individuals – individuals who knew what they wished to say and the way they wished to say it.

Jamie Erlicht: We’re constructing an all-original service; we’re not constructing on the again of pre-existing IP or library. Eddie promised us time and persistence and that’s precisely what he’s delivered. You’re now seeing the fruits of that point and persistence and unbelievable partnerships with one of the best storytellers within the enterprise.

Cue: It took longer than I assumed and it was more durable than I assumed. I didn’t count on to be out of fee due to Covid for some time with no catalogue. I didn’t count on the strikes to take us down for 9 months. I’ve discovered over time nothing nice is simple – it’s by means of loads of arduous work. Now we’re at a degree the place we haven’t had any points and stoppages and we’ve acquired new content material on a regular basis: exhibits which can be coming again, new exhibits, new motion pictures. It’s an thrilling time for us.

How busy is the pipeline?

Van Amburg: We have now a brand new unique practically each single week [in 2026]. I can now see The Household Plan 2 developing, the subsequent season of Ted Lasso, For All Mankind, The Morning Present and Hijack is coming again. That’s combined with all these new originals – [Breaking Bad creator] Vince Gilligan is popping out with Pluribus, and Emma Thompson is in Down Cemetery Highway. Gradual Horses is on proper now and persevering with. Our viewers has spoken loudly about what they love, and having the ability to ship that together with some new issues is a enjoyable place to be.

What was the unique proposition to Apple management for the movie and TV enterprise?

Cue: It began some time again by watching Steve [Jobs] because the CEO of Pixar and the CEO of Apple. I acquired to be taught a bit concerning the movie enterprise by means of the interactions with Pixar, after which we [had] iTunes and began assembly all of the studios and began promoting their motion pictures and TV exhibits.

On the time, I didn’t have any aspiration or thought that we’d be on this enterprise in any means, form or type. However as time went on, I felt there was a gap. It appeared like everybody was attempting to maneuver in direction of a ton of content material. My experiences all the time mentioned that for those who do rather a lot, it’s practically inconceivable to be nice or to do nice issues. At Apple, we do a number of issues that hopefully we expect are nice, and it takes all the things we’ve acquired. In an effort to try this, it’s important to discover nice individuals, and I used to be fortunate to search out Zack and Jamie. I knew they have been those as a result of that they had the expertise and information and background, and so they had style.

All people mentioned, “You may’t do that as a result of you possibly can’t begin a service with no library,” and so they’re in all probability proper. It takes a very long time. It’s a must to decide to it for a very long time to do this. I simply felt like we wanted to construct this ourselves.

Once you began out, individuals questioned whether or not it was a conceit play by one of many world’s richest firms, or a value-add for Apple gadget house owners. Was it?

Cue: It was by no means that – we by no means began from that viewpoint. I assumed if we did an excellent job at constructing an actual enterprise, wouldn’t it be nice for the Apple model? After all. However it was by no means about that. We make our service obtainable on Android, on video games consoles, on TVs, on cable containers – in all places.

Apart from Zack and Jamie, the opposite two those that believed in us have been Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. They’re on the high of their sport, they’re precisely what we’re speaking about. And on the time once we have been attempting to get the present [The Morning Show], different individuals wished them and so they took an enormous threat on the three of us and Apple once we didn’t have something. We didn’t even know what the service was going to be, what it was going to price. We simply had a imaginative and prescient of what we have been attempting to create.

How do you outline an Apple movie or present?

Van Amburg: It’s like saying, Is it attainable to outline creativity? Apart from perhaps a few of our preferences, which we strive to not convey into how we develop and the way we programme, we attempt to perceive what the tastes of the viewers are going to be. Making a model and an id on this planet of leisure is pretty elusive. I believe locations like Disney have finished it terribly nicely.

The fascinating factor for us at Apple is we would like motion pictures and exhibits to come back out otherwise – however I need them to resonate with an viewers slightly extra deeply and thoughtfully. A core tenet of all the things Apple does is the notion that humanity must be on the centre of it, and that’s all the things from app design to {hardware} engineering to all the things in between. We attempt to suppose slightly extra deeply about that.

Our exhibits and our motion pictures are typically concerning the emotional expertise, the stakes concerned, even once we’re doing a comedy. Check out Shrinking, The Studio, Ted Lasso – these iconic characters have emerged out of a style that’s simply designed to make you snort. I believe we’ve discovered the fitting alchemy. After we check out how motion pictures and collection get rated, we’re persistently now, 5 years within the working, the number-one service throughout the board throughout our total slate.

What’s your technique for local-language content material?

Erlicht: We’re searching for nice tales from world wide. There are unbelievable storytellers in all the main territories. We’re not centered essentially on local-­language. Generally it’s, typically it isn’t. We’re searching for nice tales. Generally these come from extra localised tales, worldwide tales and storytellers, however we all the time need to consider that it may well succeed globally.

We’ve had large success with tales like Gradual Horses, and Down Cemetery Highway from the identical creator [Mick Herron] goes to be our subsequent huge one coming from the UK. Carême is French language and had an enormous viewers. Drops Of God is in Japanese, French and English and looks like a world present.

What’s the movie technique? After the success of F1, are you going to double down and change into a daily provider of huge theatrical options to the market?

Van Amburg: Make nice motion pictures. That sounds trite however it’s the reality. We’re approaching 40 movies that we’ve made. Apple Authentic Movies is the provider for Apple TV – it’s our personal studio. We’ve been dedicated to movie for the reason that outset and I don’t suppose there’s one measurement that matches all.

With F1, we wager on the fitting crew. Joe Kosinski is among the most modern administrators on the market. And you then pair that with Jerry Bruckheimer, who is among the best possible, if not one of the best, movie producers. After which out of the blue, Lewis Hamilton [a producer on F1] is part of it to convey authenticity. After which Brad Pitt comes on, after which Damson [Idris]. On the core of it there’s a human, emotional story – there are such a lot of deep themes throughout that movie that make it greater than only a race-car film. It led to it turning into a number-one movie.

Is {that a} validating second of a technique that started with, “Hey, let’s do some restricted launch issues, let’s be sure that we qualify, and let’s be sure that some audiences see it,” after which we win finest image for Coda? Sure. It’s all a part of a continuum, and we’re very intentional. Are we going to double down? If we’ve got wonderful motion pictures in entrance of us, it would give us the arrogance to know the place this film goes. For each film that we haven’t launched theatrically and have [sent] straight to the platform, we’ve had some main hits.

Erlicht: You’re speaking to a few individuals who grew up going to the theatre, who love the theatrical expertise. We love our contribution to the present theatrical expertise. We’re not going to have anyone technique that we’re going to do all for theatrical, or none for theatrical, we’re going to guage it on a case-by-case foundation. We simply love the film enterprise in all its incarnations. F1 is [still] in 47 markets and did a few hundred thousand final week [from approximately 150 international cinemas]. And we don’t consider the theatrical expertise cannibalises off what we’re going to do. You’re going to see an enormous response on December 12 when F1 involves our platform.

How standard have been movies that went straight to the service: The Gorge, Pleased Valley, Echo Valley, Spirited? Are you able to present any numbers?

Van Amburg: Tens of millions of individuals watched them.

Do you’ve gotten a mandate to launch a set variety of movies theatrically annually?

Van Amburg: We don’t have the strain of that.

It sounds from what you’ve mentioned that you just gained’t set up a minimal unique theatrical window on your movies and can resolve each on a case-by-case foundation.

Cue: Why set guidelines? We must be extra versatile. The world is an enormous place. Followers and clients have loads of issues they will do. There’s loads of competitors on this planet, and saying all the things needs to be a sure means is tough. I don’t suppose that works anymore. If all the things needs to be a sure quantity, usually issues go to the bottom frequent denominator. So then it turns into, “Okay, nicely, each film can solely be 30 days in theatres after which it’s off.”

We had loads of conversations once we began about how you can launch our TV exhibits. Ought to we launch them unexpectedly, so audiences can binge? Ought to we launch as soon as per week? Twice? We thought, “Why do we’ve got to resolve that? Why does each present must be the identical?”

There are exhibits like Severance the place you need individuals to have that ready and the entire dialog that occurs once we’re all on the identical web page. If we put all of them out, you then don’t have any of these conversations as a result of I’m finished, you’re on episode 5, and Jamie’s on episode two. You may’t have that. After which you’ve gotten a present, The Reluctant Traveler [Apple’s travel series with Eugene Levy], which you’ll watch in just about any order. You need to be the place clients need you to be.

Van Amburg:  We’ve introduced again appointment tv. We now have a artistic crew eager about what the weekly journey goes to be for an viewers versus simply the totality of it. That brings a special stage of self-discipline again to storytelling.

To this point you’ve partnered with the Hollywood majors on theatrical distribution. Are you planning to arrange your personal infrastructure?

Cue: I don’t know the reply to that. We’re not within the technique of doing that right now. We’ve had some nice partnerships which have labored nicely for us. Possibly sometime that’s the fitting factor to do, simply not right now.

Does the document annual haul of Emmy wins body the way you have a look at the TV enterprise going ahead?

Erlicht: The Emmy wins and the Academy Award – all the accolades that we’ve gotten are phenomenal. However they don’t outline why we do it, and we don’t purpose for that award as our final aim. They occur to coincide very nicely with the nice, high-quality product that we’re placing on the market. We didn’t set out [to accomplish that] on Ted Lasso, on Coda, on Severance, on The Studio. It’s refreshing when the artistic neighborhood give us that recognition. It’s simply not the elemental motive we do it.

Are Apple movie acquisitions executives on the bottom on the main festivals and markets?

Van Amburg: Sure. We have now an excellent crew.

Will you attend the American Movie Market in Los Angeles?

Van Amburg:  We’ll have anyone have a look at it. We have now a crew that’s devoted to discovery. The festivals are a good way to do this. A few of our movie crew come out of both working festivals or being a part of promoting or shopping for on the festivals. In order that’s all the time going to be in our DNA.

Pay-1 offers are robust to come back by for unbiased theatrical patrons. Is Apple a pay-1 associate to anybody, and if not, do you intend to be?

Cue: One of many issues I’ve discovered in life isn’t say no to one thing that will occur sooner or later, so I don’t know. I can inform you a minimum of within the timeframe that we’re eager about proper now, we’re not licensing any content material or including something to our service. We’re now on the level the place we’ve acquired loads of content material, and we’ve got much more developing.

Why did you take away the ‘+’ from Apple TV+?

Cue: We have now providers like iCloud and Apple Information which have a plus. However the motive they do is as a result of they’ve a free service that’s everlasting, so you may get Apple Information without spending a dime, after which there’s a plus model that gives extra content material, like The Wall Avenue Journal and different issues. Simply to be constant, we determined to place the plus on [the platform]. However numerous us known as it Apple TV, and we thought with all of the content material and all the things that we’ve acquired, let’s simply name it what we’ve all the time known as it.

Are you able to present steerage on the variety of international Apple TV subscribers? In March it was reported by third events that there are 40-45 million.

Cue: We haven’t introduced our subscribers. I can inform you we’re rising sooner, we’ve got extra viewers and so they have extra viewing hours on this previous 12 months than we’ve had at any time. It’s no shock. It goes again to the quantity of content material that we’re placing out versus the place we began. We knew it will take a while to get to the place we’re. We’re additionally very aggressive with our pricing. For $12.99 [in the US], have a look at the quantity of content material you get from us, and no adverts.

Are there plans for a tier with adverts?

Cue: Nothing right now. Once more, I don’t need to say no eternally, however there are not any plans. If we are able to keep aggressive with our pricing, it’s higher for shoppers to not get interrupted with adverts.

Do you’ve gotten finances constraints or is the aim extra skewed in direction of attracting the largest expertise at any price?

Cue: All people has finances constraints. I bear in mind studying issues about whether or not we had made main finances cuts – we’ve got by no means reduce our Apple TV spending and from that standpoint, we’ve truly grown it. However we’re all the time how a lot we’re spending, the place we’re spending, how we’re spending, and we’ve made changes. Everybody must be doing that, so I don’t suppose it’s distinctive to us.

Will you purchase A24, or Warner Bros, and even Disney?

Cue: Identical reply as earlier than, however you’ve acquired to take a look at Apple from a historic perspective. We don’t do loads of main acquisitions. We do very small acquisitions on the whole, not associated to Apple TV, so I don’t see that taking place as a result of we like what we’re doing. We’re constructing and we’ll proceed constructing from that.

Is there an replace on the Joseph Kosinski/Jerry Bruckheimer UFO film?

Erlicht: We have been simply with Jerry and Joe, and we talked about that. It’s nonetheless very early days, however it’s an enormous precedence for them, and an enormous precedence for us.

Van Amburg: Sure, the script will come subsequent. They’ve been doing loads of analysis. They’ve loads of fascinating tales that they’re validating with that very same stage of precision and authenticity that Joe and Jerry convey to all the things. They’re validating a number of the most fascinating tales which have by no means been informed, with footage to again it up. That’s going to be a thrill journey.