mstillman

first of all i was not a producer at Food Network...my final title was Manager, Program Development...but that ended on October, 11, 2000 when I was fired. My observations and recollections are my own and only refer to the time I was gainfully employed by Food Network. I have no knowledge of any business practice or programming strategy of Food Network from any point past my departure from the company. I speak for myself and in so speaking in no way mean to demean, disparage, or defame Food Network or any individual working there. The method that I employed in development was my own, but I in no way suggest that my method is better than any other method or that the same method i used is not shared by creative professionals in all long form visual media. ideas came for shows came about by (in no order) 1.just thinking about it alot 2. lots of research and reading books and magazines and articles and then thinking about it 3. talking out rough ideas with the programming group and others 4. taking pitches and watching tapes 5. grace 6. luck 7. kismet 8. loving the subject matter and letting inspiration direct my attention As for Iron Chef...I knew that it would be a huge hit. There was no question in my mind. I knew it in my head and in my gut. It was a no brainer as far as I was concerned. I tried to follow my gut when it came to programming but there were times when the process of development was a bit more intellectual than gut.

yes he was.

I am contemplating working on the Howard Dean for President campaign...www.deanforamerica.com i am working on perfecting my short form tai chi at the chu tai chi center. www.chutaichi.com and of course there is my life long quest for truth...that is work, but joyous work at the school of practical philosophy www.practicalphilosophy.org i am going to start performing long form improvisational comedy again to keep my eight year streak going at www.ucbtheater.com otherwise I keep busy with my work in cable. I was fired October 11, 2000.

I was fired October 11, 2000. My recollections are my own and in no way are meant to disparage the network or any individual. I have no knowledge of current Food Network programming strategy or internal business practice. I have no desire to expose the private workings of the corporations, just my own experiences. My comments reflect only the time I was gainfully employed by Food Network and cannot in anyway be considered to be relevant to current practice/s. In the beginning different voices/voiceovers were sent to us. Myself and another person in the programming department listened to the selections. I usually came with preferences, we usually agreed. The young engenue is giggly...what can i say? It is must be a cultural thing about women speaking in public, embarrassment et al...But they giggle in the completely subtitled versions that I used to watch on public access. Basically I think the folks at Fuji nailed it. If you have to have dubbing, you do it the way they did it by and large. I personally wanted less dubbing than there was even in the first season, but I understood why we went the way we did re:dub/sub ratio.

All together now...My name is Matthew Stillman. I was fired from Food Network on October 11, 2000. My experiences and recollections refer only to the time I was at Food Network and cannot be construed as accurate or as factual or referring to anytime beyond the time of my gainful employment. In no way do I intend to defame or disparage Food Network or any individual connected to the organization. In this post I do not mean to suggest that Food Network either has or does not have any of the qualities I will describe in their programming. some things I think make good television shows -breaking standard formats/inventing or starting to invent new ones -thinking that the viewer is smart and exploiting that intelligence and inquisitiveness. make tv to the top of your intelligence. -giving shows that have promise enough money to become themselves. sometimes a little less money can inspire more creative solutions...sometimes. -creating hip patterns -assume the viewer is interested -believe what you are making is cool

This is a really interesting question. Food Network, like all cable networks have a really smart bunch of research people constantly looking at all the variables of this very question. There is a lot to talk about here but even though a lot of this information can be found in other sources in various ways and is fairly widely known within the cable industry and has been the subject matter of interviews with FN execs over the years...this is essentially private information and business practice to Food Network and Scripps. Even beyond that, because of the time of my firing...anyone remember the date? Yes, that is right October 11, 2000 (very good girls and boys!) my information, while still propriatary, is probably out of date in some capacity. So I am shutting up about this one. Sorry.

I was fired October 11, 2000. Any idea that I conceived of while I worked at Food Network is the property of Food Network...While I have no knowledge of the inner workings of FN programming or business strategy since I was dismissed, I would speculate that they probably disposed of all my ideas long ago. I don't mean that in a disparaging way, just that the stuff I was into was largely counter to, in my opinion, to the direction the network was moving...But you never know, something could be sitting around on a list somewhere. And despite the fact that I have written lots of food ideas since my dismissal that are my own I will just keep it general. Among other things I would say that I was interested in exploring snarky comedy, food as an engine for history/politics, micro-science, religion, and large scale competition. If you are intrigued we can chat offline.

Wow... my recollections are my own and have nothing to do with Food Network practices so there is no disclaimer here. I mean I spent almost five years at place that I loved to work at... so many anecdotes and memories. picking over food from the shows in the break room after taping was over with everyone in the office. having a sip of 1871 Macallen scotch that was found in an attic somewhere. it was like drinking a mythological substance. unreal, profound, spiritual, requires metaphor to describe because the flavors were not of this earth. having to pass on the message that the necks of roasted poussin looked like penises on-air and had to be trimmed down to stumps. watching that terrible bilingual show referred to elsewhere...we were crying and screaming. it was so wonderful. reading cookbook galleys. loving that the recipes said "see page xx" for more information and trying to find where xx was because none of the pages were numbered. every moment writing with alton was remarkable. we really are both the same kind of weird and it was funny all the time. seeing my brother on the roof of the Good Eats house talking about how science isn't like chicken bones, everyone marvelling at how great he is on camera and then Alton being wowed at how much thought my brother put into conceiving a mini physics document on "sandwich mechanics." that moment when "the" idea came. everything is bright and clear and you just smile, admiring it because you know it isn't yours...it just came through you. that is nice. how is that? there are jillions of them.

this nifty question has nothing to do with my time at Food Network, just my thoughts, so no disclaimer is needed.... hmmm. Food is one of these macro topics in humanity, music and art are others that come to mind...taking that as axiomatically true people will always be interested in it in some way. because of the breadth of the subject finding the way it intersects with numerous other disciplines/subjects is pretty easy. making cool tv about it may be a bit tougher...maybe. where am i going with this? this has gotten loftier than i might have intended. maybe i am saying that i think that there is a lot of potentially amazing programming about food that could be made that would just be electric if done right. most of this potential programming will probably be unmade unless some show happens to come along that really opens up other producers thinking about the subject. you know, like dante opened up the whole idea of what a novel could be...forever changing the landscape. if that show or shows don't come along then i think the the wave will kind of stay where it is for a longish time. have i said anything that made any sense? just wondering. maybe someone wants to take me out for a glass of wine and we can talk about the philosophy of unmade television shows about food...or art...or music

Once again with feeling... I was fired October 11, 2000. My personal recollections in this Q&A reflect my time at the network only up until that point. I have no knowledge of any strategy, business practice or programming information from the point of my dismissal forward. My reflections are my own and can in no way be considered fact. If anything that I write has any correlation to any current practice at Food Network it is coincidental and cannot be considered a sign that I have any knowledge of current goings on at Food Network...because I dont. There was no "pressure" to make things called "best" and "ultimate" but actually i think it is an extended trend in television...lists, rankings etc... probably started by the seminal "Best 100 Videos" on VH1. Since then...about 4 years ago you find list shows all over the cable dial. MTV, VH1, E! ESPN (SportsCentury), CMT, Comedy Central(Most Influential Black Comedians, and others), Discovery, A&E, History Channel... People like lists because they can disagree with them. While "best" and "ultimate" are subjective the idea of "ultimate" , I think, fits in with food pretty well. Is it overused on Food Network? Maybe... but like I said, I think there is a larger trend. I was present for the shift from just cooking or "dump and stir" as they were affectionately called, towards entertainment programming about food. I don't think that is a bad thing at all, that is what I was involved with. Good information is one thing, getting it across in compelling ways is something else. There are other ways to find out about an artichoke than Curtis Aikens holding one up and telling you about it. Curtis is a nice man, but there are more compelling ways. In my opinion, this was not just my opinion. Going to entertaining information was not only a smart move but a neccessary one. That aside, it is tough to make every show excellent.

i would also say that you need a show like Best Of...a survey show looking at restaurants around the country. it is a breezy profile of places with interesting stories for the most part. Inmy opinion, a true restaurant review show would be hard to do...so if you can't review you have to profile and high-light. no harm there at all. every show can be better, but i have no empirical problem with "Best Of" oh...i was fired October 11, 2000. My observations and comments are my own. They in no way can be construed to be informed by current programming or business strategies employed by Food Network. I dont have that information. I speak only with the experience I had while I was gainfully employed at Food Network.

yup. food network has a lot of viewers and they try to make programming that covers the needs/interests of said audience. the ultra food enthusiast/cook is a smaller percentage of viewer than the person who just thinks food might be interesting or wants to make more interesting food than they normally make...IMO oh, i was fired October 11, 2000. My views and insights about Food Network only cover the time I was gainfully employed by them. I cannot be construed to know anything about current Food Network programming or business strategy that has been developed after my time there. My views and opinions are my own and cannot be considered fact.

He is really intelligent and funny. A very talented chef. Nice guy. Lovely wife...the works. He was scripted to be a sidekick, someone mario could teach...a foil...and it came out a bit over the top than was originally intended on paper/ but steve is awesome and not a buffoon. he originally worked in the test kitchen of "Good Eats"

I was fired from Food Network October 11, 2000. The opinions I express reflect only the time that I was employed there. I have no knowledge of any programming or business strategy beyond that point. I do not mean to imply that I do, I don't. I found a reference to a pilot called "Good Eats" on the Kodak website. it was in reference to a type of film that the pilot was shot on. reading the description i felt that it was going to be a hit... i just felt it in my gut. When the programming group saw the pilot I don't think there was much of a question that it was a really good show. It was viewed by some as quirky and a stylistic departure from other shows, but that was a compliment. some wondered how long he could keep up that level of intelligence and wit, but even that was not a serious objection just more of a "how long can he be so good?" type of a thing... It did take some work to help create the "Good Eats" world and mythology and refine its style and appraoch for a larger arc but largely it was a work of parthenogenesis - springing fully formed from altons head dripping genius. alton and i really enjoyed working together and made some really good stuff together. i am pround of his success and my part in that show. i did find the show when the network made it first huge foray into making entertainment programming about food. it launched the same summer as Iron Chef. so i guess it showed up at a time when departures from "traditional" food shows was smiled upon. but i like to think that altons genius would be happily accepted by anyone no matter the climate.

Disclaimer...I was fired from Food Network on October 11 2000. I have no knowledge of Food Network programming or business strategy beyond that date. The opinions I express are my own and no way should be regarded as mean spirited or defamatory. First of all you can't knock Food Network totally. They are, to my understanding, a profitable company. They have remarkable penetration in the cable market...that is not for nothing. People do watch...and rightfully so. There are plenty of people who know zero about food and want to know something. In a cable network, like a broadcast network you have to throw a lot of stuff out there to see what works. Ineveitably some shows will be better than others, that is natural. On Fox, for every "24" and "Bernie Mac" and "The Simpsons" there are 10 "Man vs. Beasts" and that is from a network with a truly massive program budget. Food Network wants every show to be great but that is hard to do. As for competitors...sure. I mean it just takes an astonishing amount of money to start a new cable network but it is possible. But it is no way a small procedure. I don't see a competitor rising. I don't think that there is a large enough perceived need in the cable world that Food Network is missing a huge segment of viewers...maybe a case can be made, but I am not sure. Country music fans represent a huge demographic that is different than Jazz fans...hence two networks. I think that there could be two food centered networks from a content perspective...but I am not starting one.

Just as an opener...I was fired from the Food Network on October 11, 2000. My recollections and impressions are only from the time that I was gainfully employed at Food Network. I have no current knowledge of Food Network programming strategy or current business practices. These statements reflect my personal opinion only. The general ideas that I will refer to were rejected by the entire programming staff of Food Network at the time I was there and were rejected in written form near to the time of their submission. I have no knowledge of any current programming in development. If these ideas in any way resemble current ideas in development at Food Network it is strictly coincidental... ok. i feel i should vague here... hirsuite gladiator. aphrodisiac cuisine. cardboard set. pilot was dead serious. another was a simultaneously bilingual cooking show with a bilingial chef spanish guitar playing actress who guest starred on many episodes of "the love boat" and a famous former latenight television sidekick . that was one that was so special. we kept that one around to watch. we used to howl at that one. those two stand out. i'll think if there are more...

classical, of course

If it is wonderful Mario tale you want then that is what you shall have... When I decided to go to Italy for the first time in 1997 (I think) it was with very little notice, perhaps four days. very little planning went in, I spoke negative amounts of Italian (and was horrid at French and Spanish, my acumen in Sanskrit was not going to help). I was planning to go to Bologna and called Mario if he could give me any advice of where to go or what to do. Mario had me come to Babbo. I bought lunch and he changed my life. Among the loads that he offered in consumate Mario style was this key phrase - "Fate voy con vini locali" this, he accurately claimed, was a very hip and trusting thing to say to a chef or waiter. In essence it means, to paraphase Mario "I trust you enough to make me something, something that you think is awesome, something you think I should have. Whatever you make, serve it with local wine." You know what? Whenever I used that phrase I got a huge smile and food that was not on the menu and often visits from the chef who sweetly explained in broken english what they had given me. I have a bit more Italian in my pocket now, but not much...but that is my special bullet to be used at special times. I have thanked him before and I will again...Thank you Mario Batali.

Just to insert this before I answer this question...I was fired from Food Network on October 11 2000. My comments reflect only my experience up until that time. I have no current knowledge of current Food Network plans or business strategy... Now that that is out of the way... I am not sure why you would want to do another Iron Chef to be honest. I think that the original is lightning in a bottle. One of the many reasons that the UPN version didn't work, in my opinion, is just for that reason. The original is just unduplicatable. Some of the special features are the sense of pride that the chefs have in their work or cause. The hyperstylized format is tough to pull off because when Americans try the same thing it comes off as silly not as dead serious...which is why we love it. There are more obstacles too, good reporting even from experts is hard to do on the fly or even taped. Anthony Dias Blue and Van Earl Right on the UPN Version struggled to report accurately what was happening. Also I don't think that food is in the consciousness of America in the same way that it is in Japan. There is a Japanese cuisine that the whole society recognizes and is familiar with. While American love food and cooking there is not the same culinary unity that everyone has. Combine that with plays on cultural norms like seniority and respect and cultural cues that are at least 50 years old emerging from manga novels...Iron Chef is really unique. If what you are interested is to see great chefs compete against each other and see and understand their food...that is possible but I am not sure how exciting it could be unless a huge new format was created that is compelling itself. Iron Chef is not just about the food...there is a larger story arc that ties into personalities and a soap opera element. These sorts of things make it unique and make it work so elegantly.

i had heard the same.

Anthony, thanks for you kind words and welcome. I agree that "Boiling Point" was pretty cool in its authenticity but Gordon just kept on being unjustifiably mean-spirited and that made it/him not always fun to watch. Be mean, but have a reason for it. American love a bad guy but he must have a purpose for being bad. I thought similarly to you about Rooney and Mario. I never thought Mario needed a partner. I love his whirlwind approach to food/music/life and felt that the viewers did as well. Ultimately, as you say, he needs to be off script and viewers profit from that, they did for years when he was on Molto by himself. While I did think that Mario needed someone "to teach/explain to" while in the field because then the show looks like every other "I am talking to the camera about food" show... I didn't think it had to be a buffoon as was ultimately decided. Also taking a comic route was supposed to play to Mean Streets strengths. Best, ms ps- that Buford article was genius. Mario has been so kind to me over the years and while I can't call him a close friend I have experienced being around him enough in personal and professional situations to appreciate his character. Buford did catch some of the lightning in a bottle that is Mario.

Thanks for the praise on "My Country My Kitchen." I agree that it is the best show produced by Food Network staff. You get shows of that quality when you have a really good producer, Irene Wong, who knows her tv production stuff and who is also knows her food and is really passionate about it. I think Irene is still making them. As for the Gordon Ramsay episode...I am not sure that his "where" would be interesting and while he is a shockingly remarkable chef and smart and articulate I don't think he comes across well on television, from what I have seen of him. You, Anthony, are a lovable epicurean misanthrope who comes across well on television. Gordon may just be a epicurean misanthrope without the lovable streak...IMHO. Eric Ripert was on the list for the first season of production. I got the idea for the show from a Food and Wine article where Eric was in Andorra grilling rabbit on a piece of slate with his childhood cooking pal. The powers that be edited him off the list because Andorra wasn't "exotic enough or destination enough for a first season." Fair enough, I pushed a bit but it didn't happen. I thought he would make it on eventually. Also I love Eric on television. MCMK is a half hour show. There may have been an hour special in their once or twice, but I don't think so. It is hard to give an hour to talent who only have one shot at supporting an hour of television. Planet Food is independently produced by Pilot Productions in London- the same people who make the fantastic Travel Channel series "Lonely Planet." They piggy back their shoots and bang out two shows. Some of the shows are good...all are beautiful. Pilot has great style. "Lonely Planet" is still one of the best made shows on cable. Steve Rooney. Firstly, Steve and his wife are friends of mine, so you will only hear kind words from me because that is all I can say about them. Steve, an accomplished chef in his own right, worked with Alton Brown on the first three seasons of Good Eats developing recipes, testing stuff, and making great comic additions to the Good Eats cast/mythology. Steve is very funny has a solid philosophy/personal take on food and wanted to do his own thing somehow. The opportunity came along in a way when Mean Streets Productions, the company that produced Good Eats at first, got the nod to remake Mario in "Mario Eats Italy." The powers that be at FN love to give chefs sidekicks when they are not sure they can be by themselves and be interesting (i.e. Bobby and Jacqui, no they were never an item, or Mario with his visitors at his cooking bar to name two). The show was supposed to be fun and bring out Mario's naturally funny and informed side, give him someone to teach and have adventures with. Steve was supposed to play a wide-eyed rube/dope and he did- quite well I thought. The show didn't do badly but Steve didn't come off as well as he could have...hard to say why, but it didn't land perfectly. I wish I had as much to do with the scripts as I did with the development of the idea. I think I could have helped it. The show had all the right ingredients, sharp writers, producers, talent etc... Anyway Steve got his very own gig in the end...so alls well that ends well. stillman signing off. best, ms

did the changes at Food Network occur only after Scripps bought it? Or was the Food Network leaning toward the banal direction on its own? I've always been curious about that. -----------------hmm good question. scripps was always a partial owner. if my memory holds up they took majority control in the summer of 98. or certainly they had increased their status. that was right as iron chef was launching. their work towards "synergy" with other scripps brands (hgtv, diy, fine living, shop at home) was a gradual process. they didn't come in and slam the door. but at this point the synergy is synergized pretty much. again, not a bad thing intrinsically, and certainly a legitimate business method but not good longterm philosophy in my opinion. m

i wouldn't say i am disgruntled. i would definitely write about this stuff and/or be interviewed. there are lots of really smart people who care a lot about food at the network who could make great stuff if they were allowed, but there is a corporate mentality that has permeated that prefers profit over innovation. scripps is ok not being a top twenty network, they want profitability and flexibility with their cable properties for increased profit on the local level which floats stock prices. innovation is not part of their equation. that is ok. my problem was that i thought i could change it. i was a fast riser there. i went from emptying buckets underneath the sink of ready set cook to writing scripts with alton brown and negotiating with fuji with three and a half years. and while i had a lot of influence there and made a lot of things possible, a corporate entity has a tremendous amount of inertia on its side. ididn't realize that. so there are dopes there too. it happens. but what will change the programming at food network is new ownership not petitions...sadly. or start a new competing network if you want to find me offline i am at matthew_stillman@yahoo.com best, m

thanks for the welcome everyone. there seems to be a few questions floating out there on the board that i can answer... 1.what happened to me at food network? 2.what is program development? 3. why do people like paula deen and kathleen daelmann get cooking shows? 4. why are there poor shows like date plate and food fight on a national network? 5. why are the budgets so thin at food network? 1. two years ago, or so, i basically started pushing way too hard for smart innovative programming. that did not go over with corporate ownership who actually told me to make "less innovative programming" and to be more like HGTV. I was really unhappy there after a long time of being passionate about my job everyday. lots of people left/got fired/were laid off at about the same time because the network really started to change purposes and lots of people did not fit with the new vision. i was fired for "corporate insubordination." 2. program development is thinking of shows and formats and producers to make show X. So a show like "my country my kitchen" was a concept i conceived and developed into a template that any chef who was suitable could be inserted into. then i oversaw the selection of the chefs and the day to day production. same thing with "mario eats italy" program development is also finding existing things like Iron chef and figuring out how to reformat it so that it fits into its ne home. so for example, at food network nobody wanted iron chef. they thought it would fail and that it was too weird, but they needed programming. so i figured out how to make a 70 minute show 43 minutes. i found the voice over people figured out what should be dubbed and subtitled etc... development is also taking a kernel of an idea nd extending it like "good eats" which i discovered on the kodak website as a half an hour pilot. alton and i figred out how to extend the show and refine his storytelling arc. of course it is also figuring out how events like bocuse d'or etc can become full fledged shows. 3. lame talent gets put on air for lots of reasons. a. you need to throw talent out there to see what /who sticks. b. the process at food network is very closed and often unfair. paula deen came to the network because gordon elliott had her appear on a frat house episode of doorknock dinners. gordon loved her personally and she is nice enough but really bad on air. basically gordon pushed her onto lots of appearances on the network until the only step left is to have her own show. beleive me paula and kathleen and many others got dozens of "no's" before they got their begrudging yes. c. the network has imaginary slots they "need" to fill -- basic, southern, latin, etc and feel that if a decent person comes along who tests well then give them a show and see a) above. 4. the corporate ethos at scripps is to own your programs in all media in perpetuity. when you own your programs you have a lot more freedom with what you do with them ie cut them up, run them elsewhere, sell them etc. this is not a bad thing per se, but most good producers do not want to lose all their rights to a show if it is good. the way you make money in television is ownership or producing in bulk. so really good producers largely don't want to produce for food network unless they can keep a share somehow. so the producers who produce for food network tend to be the producers who want to establish a relationship with the network and make hundreds of hours of the same style program again and again. also scripps has inhouse production companies that make lots of show simultaneously for food and hgtv. 5. the budgets vary at food network. my theory is that a show gets the least amount of money it takes to be the best it can be (as the idea is articulated by the producers) so a show like good eats (high concept and purpose as stated and executed) gets more money than date plate because the producers are lame and the concept is undeveloped. hope this is an interesting start. best, matthew, not related to the stillking matthew stiilman in prague or to alan stillman the restauranteur.