Some filmmakers are saying they would be using Final Cut Pro rather than most any other editing software, if only Apple would make it worth the trouble.
In a particularly quaint and complimentary GoPetition open letter to tech giant Apple and its CEO Tim Cook, well over 100 professionals in the film and TV industry asked that the company introduce features that would make the program viable for their use, including facilitating sale of Final Cut through the regular TV industry suppliers and allowing multiple users to access libraries and projects at the same time.
“We also think it’s incredible that some of us still can’t choose it to do our work, work that could easily include productions for your very own Apple TV+ service,” the letter reads.
The letter also asks that Apple start certifying and supporting third-party product integration. Knowing Apple’s gollum-esque sensibility toward its proprietary software and hardware, that last point and others might be a tough sell.
Representatives from Apple did not respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment as of writing this.
Steven Sanders, the editor in chief of Fox TV series War of the Worlds season 3, said the big thing for him is “collaboration” and despite Final Cut being his favourite editing software, “Different users have to be able to access the same library at the same time…Avid Media Composer does it and even DaVinci Resolve does it. Apple still targets the single user. They have to change that. That will change everything.”
Other editors from top streaming shows from around the world like Vanessa Brogna, the assistant editor of Bridgerton, called Final Cut a “powerhouse” that is streamlined enough for work-use, but the problem is access. Galliano Olivier, the editor of French TV drama Marianne, said that “it is extremely difficult to get permission to edit TV with Final Cut Pro. You can’t use it without fighting producers, directors, post-production supervisors, sound editors, etc…”
Some editors also complained that Final Cut does not offer much in the way of training, and that there’s still a stigma against the program, with some regarding it as “iMovie Pro.” Other editors who have worked on major projects using Final Cut complained there is no current beta program for Final Cut. Knut Hake, the editor for Netflix’s Blood Red Sky, said “Apple already does it for iOS, macOS and even Safari. It would make Final Cut more reliable and make it much easier for people to fit Final Cut into their plans for the future.”
Tim Cook may already be too preoccupied with future plans to look behind at the movie industry, but with a field already full of good, cheap movie making alternatives, it may lend an ear to a movie industry that still seems smitten with big daddy Apple.