The Fox Corporation is hungry for creator content, so it’s recruiting some culinary influencers who can cook up something nice. Food is the first category to be targeted by Fox Creator Studios, a newly-launched entity that will cultivate new formats, IP, and talent.
Fox announced its new division at CES in Las Vegas. That’s where Fox execs are meeting with potential partners to discuss the “digital-first division” they are building.
“Creators are today’s production companies, storytellers, and superstars,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade. “They command massive audiences, build genuine fan communities in real time, and redefine what global hits look like. At Fox Creator Studios, we’re backing the next generation of talent by investing in creators, growing their brands, and helping them develop new IP, while expanding their reach on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and every platform worldwide, across every genre, and together building long-term cultural operating systems.”
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Fox Creator Studios will eventually span multiple categories, but at first, Fox is focusing on creators who work in the kitchen — and the name at the top of the roster should come as no surprise. Gordon Ramsay has a long-standing relationship with Fox and has hosted shows like Kitchen Nightmares and MasterChef on the network. He’s also friends with next-gen stars thanks to his internet-based ventures, including the YouTube competition series Idiot Sandwich.
Ramsay’s Fox Creator Studios co-stars are hardly idiot sandwiches themselves. Rosanna Pansino is parlaying her Nerdy Nummies success into a partnership with the new venture, and she’ll be joined by other standout YouTube gourmands like Sorted Food, Jolly, Food Theorists, and Little Remy Food.
The broad approach taken by the new studio is a familiar strategy for Fox. The company’s push into the creator economy has included a far-reaching slate of initiatives and partnerships. An investment in Whalar’s The Lighthouse space served as Fox’s nod to the power of creator communities. Meanwhile, on its owned-and-operated streaming service Tubi, creators are working with TikTok vet Kudzi Chikumbu to bring new and syndicated programs to viewers.
The expansion of that effort through the new Fox Creator Studios is not an unexpected twist. After all, you’d have to be an idiot sandwich to ignore the cultural power creators command, and Fox is putting its finger on the pulse.
