On a special Cannes Lions edition of Variety’s Strictly Business podcast, Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade explained why the company is committed to the creator economy and is launching a division to develop content and businesses with up-and-coming creators who want to grow.
Billy Parks, head of Fox Creator Studios, also outlined a vision to leverage the highly targeted fan engagement and influence that creators enjoy, while combining it with the scale and reach that Fox is known for in television. The initiative will foster talent and concepts for Fox-owned platforms, but the core mission is for Fox to use its gravity and expertise to help creators earn more money on YouTube, TikTok, consumer products, and all kinds of ancillary opportunities.
Wade explains that he was inspired to enter this field by being inspired by Gordon Ramsay’s ability to reach his millions of social followers. The key for Wade is to understand each creator as their own little media empire.
“I realized that I could potentially earn money from my[production]business instead of just spending money, and from there I started thinking about other ways to make money: brands, products, services, IRL events, all of these things,” Wade tells Strictly Business. “I’ve been very fortunate to work with Gordon Ramsay for the past 10 years. Gordon is not only a very prolific TV producer and host, but he has an incredible social following. And he creates original content for YouTube. His shows are captured and cut by YouTube, and then we distribute them on YouTube. So there’s a whole ecosystem of Gordon businesses out there. In addition to that, we have HexClad. I invested in a pots and pans company called — If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s a phenomenal product.
Josh Richards attends Variety’s “Power of Young Hollywood” event in 2025 (Photo by Stephanie Keenan/Variety)
Variety (via Getty Images)
“We saw a way to leverage our content to drive and grow that business, and all of a sudden all these pieces came together. It was content, but there was a business around that content, and it felt like there was still a big chasm to bridge between the two worlds, but for me it felt like the right time,” Wade says.
Before taking the job, Parks tested his business plan with several talented creatives.
“I said, ‘Would you be interested in this?’ And I was very pleasantly surprised by the responses from amazing creators who had really great businesses and were really interested. “I didn’t expect them to do that, but they actually wanted to support idea development,” Parks says. They came in with evidence like, “Hey, I tried this on my channel, I tried that on my channel.” It was blown up. It was amazing. ‘And they have an idea for a game show. Rob and four or five others at Fox have been making these game shows for 100 years. And I said, “Hey, do you want to walk down the hall and talk to people who have all this experience?” They’re not here to tell you how to make a show, but they understand how a show works. ”
Wade and Parks gave an interview to Variety on the opening day of Cannes Lions, a festival of creativity. At Cannes Lions, the rise of creator marketing is one of the most talked about topics at the event. While Wade and Parks were being interviewed at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, they were visited by creators who recently partnered with Fox Creator Studios. Appearing on Variety’s 2019 Power of Young Hollywood Impact List, Josh Richards explains why he sees value in teaming up with Fox, even though he’s been building his own platform since he was 13 years old and was a pioneer of TikTok.
Despite the power and immediacy of social media, Richards said he feels he gets a “huge validation” from his involvement with Fox. He has grand ambitions to build on the sketch comedy series he created for his YouTube channel, Read the Room. And Richards is humble about what he doesn’t know.
“Moving into the traditional territory of Fox[represents]adds a big stamp of approval that people are looking for,” Richards said. “People know Josh Richards, and they know Josh Richards from doing videos on TikTok and doing podcasts. But when you get involved in something like this sketch show or higher production value content, scripted content, there’s a little bit of Josh Richards having to prove himself to the world.”
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes are published every Wednesday and available for download on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud, and more.
(Top photo: Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade and Fox Creator Studios Head Billy Parks)
