Apple brings F1 to the Academy Museum

Apple hosted an exclusive screening of F1—an Apple TV+ original film—at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The film follows Sonny Hayes, a retired Formula One driver who returns to racing 30 years later to help a friend’s struggling team. Fans lined up to watch the film and participate in the live Q&A, which included interviews with Brad Pitt (who plays Sonny Hayes), seven-time Formula One world champion and producer Lewis Hamilton, director Joseph Kosinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and actors Damson Idris and Sarah Niles.

Moderated by Rochelle Rose, SAG-AFTRA National Director of Artist Programs, the Q&A session covered character development, innovative film technology, and Hamilton’s key role in shaping the work. The event highlighted the film’s achievements in craftsmanship and technicality, showcasing its advancements in categories such as visual effects, sound, editing and acting. Throughout the discussion, the cast and crew congratulated each other on the film’s success, offering insight into the team’s chemistry that translated to the screen.

“This whole thing really started when I contacted the guy next to me, Lewis Hamilton,” Kosinski recalls reflecting on the beginning of the film, citing that Hamilton was truly the film’s “secret ingredient.” Whether it was checking the script for accuracy or influencing parts of the script through his own personal experience as a driver, it was clear that Hamilton’s involvement in F1 was essential to the success of the film.

“I always dreamed of one day playing a role in a movie,” Hamilton explained. “So it’s been such a privilege to see everyone’s reactions to the film. [over the last couple months].” He also added that the footage of the cars is “better than what we have in Formula 1”, hinting that the league could look at ways to incorporate the cameras used in the film to improve the broadcast of the sport.

Kosinski revealed: “The cameras to shoot this movie didn’t exist when we started. » Sony relied on the technology used in Top Gun: Maverick to develop custom, low-profile prototypes that could attach to the exterior of the car, and Apple’s engineering team developed custom iPhone-based cameras that were placed on two or three real Formula 1 cars during real-world races, capturing the exhilaration of the race on-screen in crisp 4K video. The plethora of cameras and audio recordings (the team captured audio from all the different Formula 1 tracks around the world, to capture the unique sound each track produces) resulted in over 5,000 hours of film to edit, a testament to the team’s dedication to creating an accurate and compelling visual story.

Filming live at actual Formula 1 races also required extremely limited shots, which meant every actor had to bring their A-game every day: “We even rehearsed with a stopwatch to show the FIA ​​(Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the league’s governing body) that we could do it,” Kosinski explained. Pitt and Idris even completed the formation lap alongside the real F1 drivers at the back of the grid during the British Grand Prix, and regularly filmed their own driving scenes – flying around the track at 180 mph – in front of crowds of hundreds of thousands.

“When you watch this movie and you see Brad and Damson in the cars, they’re the ones driving those cars,” Bruckheimer reiterated.

To prepare for such a demanding role, both managers underwent extensive training. Idris spoke to real drivers before a big accident scene in the film – “I was in the fire for real, by the way,” he pointed out – to find out how to best depict the aftermath physically. Idris credited Pitt for the smoothness of filming, sharing that working with the veteran actor gave him the confidence for the role of Joshua Pearse, the protagonist’s rival and teammate throughout the story.

For actress Sarah Niles, who plays the central role of Pearce’s mother Bernadette, Kosinski’s collaborative nature was crucial in turning short scenes into deep exchanges. She shared, “The openness that Joe showed in giving me the space to create Bernadette was extremely important in the creation of her character.”

Ultimately, the story itself seemed so relatable that it felt extremely natural for Pitt to bring Sonny to life as a character: “It’s a story of redemption. We’ve all had times where we’ve had to pick ourselves up. I think that’s something that appeals to everyone,” he said.