Some weeks ago an open letter was sent to Apple regarding their support of professionals working on film and TV using Final Cut. It was signed by over 100 professionals. The full letter is shown below. In a rare move, Apple has responded.

“We the undersigned support the points made in the following open letter sent to Tim Cook of Apple:

Dear Tim Cook,

We are professionals working in Hollywood and other high-profile movie and TV markets all over the world. We are excited by Final Cut Pro. We think that it is the biggest leap forward in editing technology since the move to digital. We think it’s incredible.

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.

Final Cut Pro is a wonderful application used by many YouTubers, education and small business content creators worldwide. We know why it is successful. It is liberating, efficient and fun to work with. But, unfortunately in professional film and TV, editors who use Final Cut Pro are a tiny minority.

We ask Apple to promote Final Cut Pro publicly and add the few remaining features that our industry has consistently stated are needed.

We'd love to see Apple publicly support and certify the suppliers of the third-party products and services we use to integrate Final Cut Pro into industry-standard workflows.

We welcome your forthcoming brand-new FCP Certification exams. We need more experienced film and TV production crew members who also know how to use Final Cut Pro.

We also hope to see Apple ensuring that improved Pro Apps support is widely available and that Final Cut Pro can also be bought through current industry suppliers. This is is essential for big productions to accept Final Cut Pro as legitimate.

If Apple renewed its public commitment to the professional filmmaking industry and its visionary product, we believe an increasing number of editors would discover the joys of using Final Cut Pro.

We hope you will start showing that Apple aims to make Final Cut Pro the best application for editing TV and movies. We believe that this could lead to a Pro Apps renaissance as pioneering as your amazing M1 Max MacBook Pros and the M1 Ultra Mac Studio.

It’s wonderful that Apple TV+ has become the first streaming platform to have a Best Picture Oscar winner with CODA, but it’s disappointing to know that Final Cut Pro is so unlikely to have been a possible choice as the film’s editing app.

We hope you will encourage our industry to see Final Cut Pro as a professional choice for editors of future award-winning TV shows and movies, and for millions more editors all over the world.

Thank you,

Signed,

1. Knut Hake BFS, Editor of ‘Blood Red Sky,’ Feature Film, Germany
2. Josh Beal. ACE, Editor of ‘Counterpart,’ TV Drama Series, US
3. Marcos Castiel BFE, Editor of ‘Glória ,’ TV Drama Series, Portugal
4. Jeff Asher, Editor of ‘Big Sky,’ TV Drama Series, US
5. Sam Pluemacher , First Assistant Editor of ‘Blood Red Sky,’ Feature Film, Germany
6. Azusa Yamazaki, Editor of ‘Drive My Car,’ Feature Film, Japan
7. Dirk Grau, Editor of ‘Charite II ,’ TV Drama Series, Germany
8. Liwen Nien, Editor of ‘AquaChallenge ,’ TV Factual Series, Taiwan
9. Shahin Shokoui, Editor of ‘MTV Unplugged - Marius Müller Westernhagen,’ TV Music Concert, Germany
10. Lau Kok Rui, Director of ‘The Sunny Side of the Street,’ Feature Film, Hong Kong
11. Debby Germino, Editor of ‘Genius,’ TV Drama Series, US
12. Chankanet Leksomboon, First Assistant Editor of ‘Bangkok Breaking,’ TV Drama Series, Thailand
13. Michael Yanovich, ACE, Editor of ‘Another Girl,’ Feature Film, US
14. Yann-Shan Tsai, Editor of ‘Nina Wu,’ Feature Film, Taiwan
15. Sebastian Riezler BFS, Editor of ‘TerraX - The assassination of Julius Caesar,’ TV Documentary Series, Germany
16. Beverly Maguire BFE, Editor of ‘It’s Pony,’ Animated TV series, UK
17. Brett Ramsey, Editor of ‘In Pit Lane ,’ TV News, Australia
18. Jon Einarsson Gustafsson, Director of ‘Wrath of Gods,’ Feature Documentary, Iceland
19. William Hohauser, Editor of ‘Uncovering The Naked City,’ Documentary, US
20. Oliver Holtkamp , Editor of ‘Diego Maradona - Was he murdered?,’ Feature Documentary, Germany
21. Jeanine - SAGE, Editor of ‘The Odyssey,’ TV Factual Series, South Africa
22. David Peterson, Editor of ‘Bluey,’ TV Animated Series, Australia
23. Kilian von Keyserlingk BFS, Editor of ‘Blackout,’ TV Limited Series/Mini Series, Germany
24. Daniel Rakete Siegel, Director of ‘Schock (WT),’ Feature Film, Germany
25. Karien van Biljon, Editor of ‘On Safari,’ TV Factual Series, South Africa
26. Martin Reimers, Editor of ‘Defender of the Faith,’ Feature Documentary, Germany
27. Christopher Darlington, Editor of ‘The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt,’ Feature Documentary, Canada
28. David Maria Vogel BFS, First Assistant Editor of ‘The Colony,’ Feature Film, Germany/Switzerland
29. Cris Mertens, Editor of ‘Young Justice: Phantoms,’ Animated Series, US
30. Habiba Laout, Editor of ‘Kleine Germanen,’ Feature Documentary, Germany
31. Tom Hsinming Lin, Editor of ‘Summer Blur (Hannan xia ri (2020)),’ Feature Film, China
32. Gladys Jimenez, Editor of ‘Red table talk,’ Talk show, US
33. Marc Hofmeister, Editor of ‘Sløborn Season 1 & 2,’ TV Drama Series, Germany
34. Matthieu Laclau, Editor of ‘A Touch of Sin,’ Feature Film, China
35. Sebastian Leitner, Editor of ‘Female Voice of Afghanistan,’ TV Documentary Series, Germany
36. Yuval Orr, Editor of ‘Skin- Oscar winner for short film,’ Short, US
37. Jan Ruschke, Editor of ‘Die Ibiza Affäre,’ TV Drama Series, Germany
38. Andreas Menn, Editor of ‘The Colony,’ Feature Film, Germany+Swiss
39. Florian Duffe, BFS, Editor of ‘Tatort: Dreams,’ TV Movie, Germany
40. Galliano Olivier, Editor of ‘Marianne,’ TV Drama Series, France
41. Louis Mathews, Editor of ‘Stephen King : A necessary evil,’ Feature Documentary, France
42. Tanneguy O'Meara, Editor of ‘Gerard Depardieu : Mon Reve Ouzbek,’ Feature Documentary, France
43. Helgi Thor, Editor of ‘Cine Holliúdy 2: A Chibata Sideral ,’ Feature Film, Brazil
44. Riffaud Richard, Editor of ‘Cobweb,’ Feature Film, US
45. Stephen Nahorniak, Editor of ‘Open Hous,’ TV Reality, TV Documentary, TV Non-Fiction, US
46. Steven Sanders, editor in chief, Editor of ‘War of the Worlds S3,’ TV Drama Series, UK
47. Kilian von Keyserlingk (BFS), Editor of ‘Kilian von Keyserlingk,’ TV Limited Series/Mini Series, Germany
48. Maria Gans, Editor of ‘Bibi und Tina - Einfach Anders ,’ Feature Film, Germany
49. Stefan Kobe, Editor of ‘Dogs of Berlin/ TKKG/ Kundschafter des Friedens,’ Feature Film, Germany
50. Chris Black, Editor of ‘Fly the flag for Human Rights',’ TV Documentary Series, UK
51. Andrea Chignoli, Editor of ‘"No" directed by Pablo Larrain,’ Feature Film, Chile
52. Benjamin Mercer F.C.E, Editor of ‘Unknown Soldier / Tuntematon Sotilas,’ Feature Film, Finland
53. Ian Hinter, Editor of ‘BBC News,’ TV News, UK
54. Harin Paesongthai, Editor of ‘Bangkok Breaking,’ TV Drama Series, Thailand
55. Weerapat Tembundit, Editor of ‘Bangkok Breaking,’ TV Drama Series, Thailand
56. Mike Matzdorff, Editor of ‘The Shrinking of Treehorn,’ Animated Feature Film, US
57. Howard Silver , Editor of ‘Looking West: China’s New Generation,’ TV Documentary Series, US
58. Romain Imbert, Assistant Editor of ‘Parallels,’ TV Drama Series, France
59. Jessica Houston, Producer/Editor of ‘Rockhaven: a Sanctuary From Glendale’s Past,’ TV Documentary, US
60. Tabone Dorian, Editor of ‘Parallel,’ TV Drama Series, France
61. Fabien Leroy, Editor of ‘Graines d'étoiles, 5 ans après,’ TV Documentary Series, France
62. Martin Wunschick, BFS, Editor of ‘Sachertorte,’ Feature Film, Austria
63. Mauricio Lleras, Editor of ‘The Red Tree,’ Feature Film, Colombia
64. Chris Hocking, Editor of ‘Neighbours: Erinsborough High,’ TV Limited Series/Mini Series, Australia
65. Thunchanok Suthanintr , Editor of ‘One Night In Bangkok,’ Feature Film, Thailand
66. Kevin Luk, Editor of ‘The Legend of Burnout Barry,’ TV Limited Series/Mini Series, Australia
67. Yu Boyang, Editor of ‘Detective Dee 2,’ Feature Film, China
68. Sascha Gerlach, BFS, Editor of ‘Die Känguru-Verschwörung,’ Feature Film, Germany
69. Carsten Behrendt, Editor of ‘Helden der Hauptstadt,’ Feature Documentary, Germany
70. David Wieching BFS, Editor of ‘Schock,’ Feature Film, Germany
71. Dimitri Amar, Editor of ‘Marianne,’ TV Drama Series, France
72. Steven Moyer, Editor of ‘La Leyenda Negra,’ Feature Film, US
73. Ye Ruchang, Editor of ‘The Wandering Earth,’ Feature Film, China
74. Lee Chatametikool , Editor of ‘Memoria,’ Feature Film, Colombia
75. Benjamin Ikes, Editor of ‘Buba,’ Feature Film, Germany
76. Martin Gosset, Post-Production Supervisor of ‘La beauté cachée des laids,’ TV Documentary Series, France
77. Oliver Gieth, Editor of ‘Sankt Maik,’ TV Comedy Series, Germany
78. Sam Mestman, Workflow Architect of ‘Focus,’ Feature Film, US
79. Patricia Rommel, Editor of ‘The Lives of Others,’ Feature Film, Germany
80. Phuttiphong Aroonpheng, Director of ‘Morrison,’ Feature Film, Thailand
81. Dayyan Eng, Editor of ‘Wished,’ Feature Film, China
82. Brian Zwiener, Assistant Editor of ‘Terminator: Dark Fate,’ Feature Film, US
83. Vanessa E. Brogna, Assistant Editor of ‘Bridgerton,’ TV Drama Series, US
84. Gabriel Rhodes, Editor of ‘Time,’ Feature Documentary, US
85. Zhang Zhao, Editor of ‘The Best Is Yet To Come,’ Feature Documentary, China
86. Kafai Cheung, Editor of ‘IP Man, IP Man 2, IP Man 3, IP Man 4,’ Feature Films, Hong Kong, China
87. Jenson Tay Yi, Assistant Editor of ‘Ripples of Life,’ Feature Film, China
88. Nathalie Sanchez, Editor of ‘La forêt de quinconces ,’ Feature Film, France
89. Leonardo Franke, BFS, Editor of ‘Der Bayernboss, ,’ TV Documentary Series, Germany
90. Andrew McKee BFE, Editor of ‘Eaten by Lions,’ Feature Film, UK
91. Ray Liou, online editor of ‘Qi yu ren sheng,’ TV Factual Series, China
92. Fortis Yen, Editor of ‘Adventure Life,’ TV Factual Series, China
93. Gregory Lynch Jr, Director of ‘Stro: The Michael D'Asaro Story,’ Feature Documentary, US
94. Liwen Nien, Editor of ‘Aqua Challenge ,’ TV Factual Series, Taiwan
95. Chad Tremblay, Editor of ‘Hunter Hunter,’ Feature Film, Canada
96. Matthew Alson Thornbury, Editor of ‘Eye Opener TV,’ TV News, US
97. Robbert-Jan van der Does, Cinematographer/VFX editor of ‘Welkom in de jaren ‘20 en ‘30,’ TV Comedy Series, the Netherlands
98. Brad Stoddard, Finish Editor / Colorist of ‘Sakura & Pearls: Healing From World War II ,’ Feature Documentary, US
99. Fernanda Tornaghi, Editor of ‘Girl in the Picture,’ Feature Documentary, US
100. Todd Vaziri, Visual Effects Artist on ‘Transformers,’ Feature Film, US
101. Abbas Fahdel, Director of ‘Homeland: Iraq Year Zero,’ Feature Documentary, Iraq
102. Bo Li, Editor of ‘Plastic China,’ Feature Documentary, China
103. Nose Chan, Editor of ‘Suk Suk,’ Feature Film, Hong Kong
104. Scott Markowitz, Lead Editor of ‘Restaurant:Impossible,’ TV Drama Series, US
105. Rees Dale, Director of ‘Aazadi (freedom),’ Feature Documentary, Germany
106. Floris Kotze (S.A.G.E), Editor of ‘Carte Blanche,’ TV Documentary Series, South Africa
107. Clark N Henderson, Assistant Editor of ‘Paramedics: Emergency Response,’ TV Factual Series, Canada
108. Jonny Lewis, Director of ‘Graham Boyd: A Life In Colour,’ Feature Documentary, UK
109. Tom Thistlethwaite, Editor of ‘Nature and Us: A History through Art,’ TV Factual Series, UK
110. Martijn Rondel, Editor of ‘Geluk op Wilen,’ TV Limited Series/Mini Series, Netherlands
111. Sandro Aguilar, Director of ‘Mariphasa,’ Feature Film, Portugal
112. Ryan Malone IATSE 891, Editor of ‘Paramedics: Emergency Response,’ TV Documentary Series, Canada

PS: This letter is not intended as a criticism of the huge amount of hard work done by the Final Cut team over the years. We are asking Apple to change the policies that they work under.”

Now Apple has taken the rare step in responding to the letter, according to FCP.co. This is the reply;

“To the authors of the recent open letter regarding Final Cut Pro in the TV and film industry: the creative community has always been so important to us at Apple, and we’re grateful for your feedback.

There have been many compelling projects created to date with Final Cut Pro — from Hollywood movies and high-profile commercials, to major television shows and impressive work by the biggest names in online content creation.

While we believe we have plans in place to help address your important feature requests, we also recognize the need to build on those efforts and work alongside you to help support your film and TV projects and keep you posted on important updates. This includes taking the following steps:

• Launching new training products and Apple-authorized certifications for pro video starting this month with our partner Future Media Concepts.

• Establishing a panel of industry experts for regular consultations, starting this summer

• Expanding the content and frequency of Final Cut Pro workshops for major film and television productions.

We would love to work with you to help support your film and TV projects, and we will continue to explore opportunities that allow us to better connect and foster important dialogue with our devoted community of users going forward.”

Even though this concerns Apple’s professional video application Final Cut. it is good to see Apple making the effort to have dialogue with the pro community.

The question for those working in sound is do sound users have the same leverage with Apple as their video users. Are Logic Pro users largely happy, or do they have similar concerns? Furthermore, as much of the pro audio community use Pro Tools with Apple Mac computers, do they have the same leverage with Apple?

Discuss.