Studio Ramsay Global (SRG), the joint venture of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and Fox Entertainment, took the spotlight at the Content London conference in the British capital on Tuesday, with executives discussing what they are cooking up for the global marketplace and their recipes for success.
Ramsay and Fox have enjoyed a two-decade collaboration with such hit culinary shows as Next Level Chef and Next Level Baker for Fox, Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars for Apple TV+, and Being Gordon Ramsay for Netflix.
Michael Thorn, president of the Fox Television Network, and Lisa Edwards, the chief creative officer of Studio Ramsay Global, tried to take the audience behind the kitchen curtain during a Tuesday session.
SRG has focused on expanding its reach across platforms and worldwide markets, plus building momentum in digital. It has also been looking for next-generation partnerships to push the brand into new creative territory. Tuesday’s session explored those strategies and how Ramsay’s brand powers a content model with global appeal that “balances originality, innovation, and growth,” as the session summary noted.
“What my job is at the moment is to try and clearly identify what Studio Ramsay is,” Ramsay explained. “We have a USP in the industry, and we’ve got a pretty big one in the shape of Gordon Ramsay. But you can’t grow a global content company just with him. He is one man. So what I’m excited about is putting our creative identity into stuff, both with and without Gordon. And that’s about having a very clear idea of who we are. … So I’m excited about making content, both with Gordon and without him, that embodies” such values as fearlessness, boldness, pushing boundaries and being unexpected, “but always with heart and humor.”
Edwards continued by highlighting the importance of balancing growth and brand focus. “Growing our IP catalog, that’s my number one job, and hopefully doing that outside of Gordon, which is a challenge,”she shared, sharing: “People want Gordon in everything. Whenever you pitch an idea, they say, ‘Is Gordon hosting it, or is he doing the voiceover? Is he in the first episode?’ So it is tough, but we are making inroads in that, you know, with our Apple series, with our Disney series.”
Indeed, No Taste Like Home on Disney+ with host Antoni Porowski “is absolutely a Studio Ramsey show,” she argued. “It’s about celebrity, it’s about family, it’s about travel, adventure and food. But he’s not in it. It’s from executive producer Gordon Ramsay.”
The same is true for Apple’s Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars, hosted by Jesse Burgess. “That feels absolutely textbook SRG, because it’s about passion, it’s about excellence, it’s about blood, sweat and tears and and it feels like it should be Studio Ramsay [show],” Edwards said. “But Gordon is not on screen. He’s an executive producer.”
How involved does Ramsay tend to be in SRG shows? “Is he a total control freak? Yes. And he is incredibly passionate,” Edwards quipped. “I speak to Gordon four or five times a day, and every idea that comes out of the studio, Gordon has had a hand in. It’s his absolute passion.”
But again, “part of what we need to do as a company is also to anoint new people,” she highlighted. “We’re not looking for the next Gordon Ramsay. That doesn’t exist. But we are looking for the next content creator voices. We are looking for the next pool of talent who have a point of view and embody the Studio Ramsey DNA.” And that includes scouring various platforms, including social media.
Creating content outside the core food focus is also on tap. “What would an SRG reality show look like, or what would a dating show from executive producer Gordon Ramsay look like?” Edwards asked. “So, broadcasters can sort of take a risk on us now and go, ‘They proved they can do stuff in food and business and travel. What’s next?’ That’s really exciting, and it’s the same for our partnership with Fox. What else can we do outside of food, outside of Gordon?”
Thorn chined in by saying; “That’s the Holy Grail. You think about Gordon Ramsay’sSecret Service. It’s really a renovation show and a transformation show. It begins with restaurants, but it’s really so much more.”
How much of an MVP is Ramsay for Fox? “He is one of the faces of Fox,” Thorn emphasized for the London conference audience. “It’s amazing. This year, we had the Super Bowl, and he came to the Super Bowl with us. And as we were walking from the car to our box people, from ages eight to 80, it didn’t matter; were just screaming ‘Gordon!’ ‘Chef!’ People were going crazy for him.”
Concluded Thorn: “He’s certainly one of the biggest TV stars in the United States.”
Attendees of Tuesday’s SRG session didn’t get treated to an appearance by Ramsay himself, but they got to leave with a sweet treat. After all, during the session, a special holiday dessert takeaway celebrating Next Level Baker was offered up.
