Gordon Ramsay Studio Scouring Social Media For Next Big Presenting Talent As ‘Secret Service’ Series Sells To Channel 4, Bell Media & Others
EXCLUSIVE: Bosses at Studio Ramsay Global are turning to social media to find the next generation of foodie presenters.
Lisa Edwards, who runs the Fox-backed studio, told us the indie is looking to the content creator landscape to find “people who stand out as being authentic and with something to say.”
Speaking exclusively to Deadline before a Content London panel, during which she revealed that Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service has sold to big players around the world, Edwards provided a readymade example in the form of Jesse Burgess, host of Studio Ramsay’s Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars for Apple TV.
Burgess is the founder of the hit Topjaw platform and Edwards said that even though Gordon Ramsay does not feature in Knife Edge, “if there is any show that absolutely embodies what Studio Ramsay is about, it’s that.” “It’s excellence, blood, sweat and tears, competition and business, all wrapped around food, mission and travel,” she added. “But Gordon isn’t in it.”
Edwards described Ramsay, who has hosted thousands of hours of premium content for Fox, as “the biggest food influencer in the world.” “He sets trends but he also enhances trends, and we’re looking for people in that world too,” she added.
Fox TV network president Michael Thorn told us the new wave of content creators like Burgess are “impossible to ignore.”
“When you see fewer greenlights in the marketplace then it’s hard not to look at areas where new voices can shine,” added Thorn. “They’re able to go and tell their stories outside the system, but even talent like that can benefit – no matter where they stand in the digital world – from partnering with us to expand their footprint and their storytelling.”
Locating the next generation of talent is all part of Studio Ramsay’s grand plan to make more shows that aren’t presented by Ramsay, one of the busiest men in TV, although Ramsay is still involved behind the camera.
Edwards said the team is thinking about scripted ideas, along with looking at other genres. “We’d love to speak to buyers about what a reality show would look like from Studio Ramsay, or a dating or singing show,” she added.
‘Secret Service’ sales
Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service features the British chef but in a guise audiences have not seen him in before, as he uses an “insider” undercover in a restaurant to see what’s what before revealing himself and trying to transform the business.
Having become Fox’s most streamed summer show in its history, Deadline can reveal the series has sold to 81 territories including the UK’s Channel 4, Canada’s Bell Media, Scripps (Lat Am), Warner Bros. Discovery (Germany), M6 (France) and RTL (Netherlands & Luxembourg). Format deals are coming soon, Studio Ramsay said.
“We just absolutely leaned into the fact that Gordon is the most famous chef in the world,” added Edwards. “Having him in that surveillance position just allowed our storytelling to be so much greater. And it really excited him.”
