MIPCOM Hot Pick: Born To Be a Chef

Born To Be a Chef launched on Canadian French-language channel TVA on October 6. Distributor Armoza Formats calls it a “primetime cooking competition that will capture the whole family”.

In the show, two well-known chefs each lead a team of ten young apprentices, with both the kids and mentors competing to prove themselves. “This is one of the things that distinguishes this format from other cooking shows,” says Armoza COO Amos Neumann. “You have two levels of competition, between the kids and between their mentors.”

The show has an obligatory elimination component. Each week, says Neumann, the two chefs challenge their trainees with a range of culinary assignments. The lowest-scoring apprentices then go into a play-off challenge, with two eliminated from the competition. The climax is a final where the best kid chefs make a five-course meal judged by five chefs.

Given the popularity of cooking shows, Neumann says there’s no question it has the potential to travel, but what about the idea of having 10-to-14-year-old kids as the stars of a primetime show? “People expect to see talented adults – but they get very drawn in emotionally when they see kids with amazing talents. TV is looking for new heroes all the time, and this is part of a positive trend towards celebrating kids’ achievements.”

In terms of the core target audience, Neumann says: “We think it will prove very compelling for families, and that’s attractive to broadcasters. With the trend towards people viewing in separate rooms or on different devices, this is a way to get everyone in the home gathered around ‘the fire’ again.”

The show: Born To Be a Chef
The producer: Productions Déferlantes
The distributor: Armoza Formats
The broadcaster: TVA (Canada)
The concept: A cooking show in which two teams of kids battle it out against each other under guidance from chefs