Eddy Cue from Apple states that the company aims to create 'better' and 'more' entertainment.

      Eddy Cue, recognized as Cannes Lions' Entertainment Person of the Year, explained the rationale behind Apple TV: no licensed reruns, a limited number of titles, and the conviction that storytelling is paramount. Accepting this accolade at the Cannes Lions festival this week, the senior vice president of services and health positioned the studio he helped develop as a work in progress.

      "The exciting part is we’re just getting started," he said to producer Jerry Bruckheimer on the main stage at the Palais, indicating that there is still much to accomplish. According to him, the ambition boils down to a simple phrase: better, more.

      The festival, which celebrates advertising and creativity on the Côte d’Azur, acknowledged Cue’s leadership in Apple Music and the Apple TV streaming service. He took the stage on Monday alongside Bruckheimer, whose film "F1: The Movie" marked Apple’s first significant theatrical success last year.

      Cue remarked that the recognition was beyond his dreams as a young engineering student, which may seem rehearsed until one remembers he joined Apple in 1989 to focus on software, not film scripts. Beneath his expressions of gratitude, Cue outlined a strategy that has remained notably consistent. Apple chose, prior to the 2019 launch of what was then referred to as Apple TV+, not to acquire any back catalog.

      Cue recounted how most people told him a streaming service could not launch in that manner, a sentiment he acknowledged had some merit. "If we were putting our name on it," he recalled, "it felt strange to attach our name to something we didn’t help create." The service debuted with about five or six original shows and nothing else. Now, over six years later, the absence of licensed reruns is still a key characteristic.

      Cue stated that the guiding principle is “the best, not the most,” making the goal of “more” a nuanced one to balance alongside it. He traced this philosophy back to Steve Jobs, who, while leading both Apple and Pixar, once told Cue that the success of Pixar's films hinged on one factor: "It begins and ends with the story," as Cue recounted.

      Apple reportedly spent two years searching for executives to manage the operation before hiring Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg from Sony Pictures Television in 2017. According to Cue, the initial pitch was focused more on persuasion than on financial incentives. He recounted convincing Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston to bring "The Morning Show" to Apple by asserting that a service without a wide array of programming would support it more thoroughly than a competitor with a substantial catalog.

      This strategy has led to notable achievements, including an Academy Award for Best Picture with “CODA,” numerous Emmys, and an EGOT for the platform through the Broadway adaptation of “Schmigadoon!” The financial landscape remains less clear, as Apple does not disclose streaming subscriber figures, and Cue provided no specifics.

      The "more" he referred to largely pertains to films. “F1: The Movie,” featuring Brad Pitt as a retired driver, grossed $634 million globally, marking Pitt’s highest-grossing film. A sequel hasn't been officially confirmed, though both Cue and Bruckheimer spoke as if it were forthcoming. "We're going to come back and hopefully make another 'F1'," Bruckheimer remarked, with the "hopefully" subtly conveying optimism.

      He also mentioned a distinct Apple project with director Joseph Kosinski, a thriller centered on government secrecy regarding unidentified aerial phenomena. Neither of these projects has a confirmed release date.

      For a company whose other service ventures have seemed less stable recently, the entertainment division is one Apple is eager to discuss, and Cue spoke about it as if he were an executive celebrating an accomplishment rather than justifying a profit and loss statement. The question of whether "better and more" can coexist with "the best, not the most" remains unresolved, and he was not prompted to address it, as the award was for achievements already accomplished.