Apple’s Event in September ‘23 was viewed live by 27M people around the world. The event is designed to launch Apple’s newest products. Over the years, tens of thousands of people have sent Apple (and personally sent Tim Cook) intimate and inspiring messages, letters, and emails detailing how Apple's products have saved their lives.

The brief was to open up the event with a captivating film that showcases Apple's innovation and gets people excited for the product updates. The film needed to inspire, emphasizing not just what the products are, but why they matter.

To kick off the global event, we needed to do something radically different. We launched with a film that had no script, no actors, and no product announcement. Just real people, telling their real stories and celebrating a birthday they should have never had if not for the life-saving features of their Apple Watch and iPhone.

This film wasn’t about recreating near death experiences, it was about celebrating all the moments after. So we landed on the idea of “Another Birthday” - showing real people who had been saved from a near-death experience celebrating a birthday they never would’ve had if not for their Apple Watch or iPhone.

The idea took a moment of near-death and turned it into a beautiful reflection of life from people with a whole new perspective on gratitude. Ultimately, reminding us that nothing is more powerful than a true story.

The insight this film was built on is that Apple's products are not just about enhancing convenience or entertainment but about offering true service and utility. We knew that countless individuals have sent Tim Cook intimate and inspiring messages detailing how Apple's health products have come to their rescue, so we used real-life stories to illustrate the profound effects Apple's innovation can have on people's lives.

To find our core cast, we searched through hundreds of stories from around the world on news sites, social media, and even emails to Tim Cook himself. We setup an extensive interview process with over a hundred interviews getting to know people deeper, finding who had a true sense of gratitude for life and searching for a range of stories that hit on the different life saving features Apple has developed. It was through these interviews as people recounted their experiences through laughs, tears, and sincere perspective that we found our cast of seven who all felt unique and earnestly authentic.

The result was a film that was restrained in message, but rich with emotion and watched by over 27 million people live around the world. Those expecting an immediate announcement of product praised the humanity that came instead. “As someone who has battles heart complications since age 8, today’s film with fellow survivors both caught me off-guard and made me feel seen in a way I’d not experienced before. 40 and grateful 🎂." - Sigmund Judge, Twitter.

The film's raw and simplistic approach allowed the audience to connect with Apple on a human level, reminding them of the true motive behind the work they make.

"Apple, maybe more than any other company, has mastered the art of telling stories about how its products affect people's lives." - Inc.com