Award Winner Profile: Food Wishes shares Secrets to Online Success
HE HOSTS AND PRODUCES “FOOD WISHES,”
HAS WON MULTIPLE TASTE AWARDS,
HAS MILLIONS OF VIEWERS AND BLOG READERS,
AND HAS EXPANDED HIS ONLINE VIDEO COMPANY TO COMPLETE PROFITABILITY
An Interview with “Food Wishes” CHEF JOHN MITZEWICH
QUESTION: John, what exactly is Food Wishes?
CHEF JOHN: Food Wishes is the name of my show on YouTube, which features more than 800 video recipes.
The concept is a show based on the “food wishes” of the viewers, as in, “I wish I could make a great pizza at home.”
Q: How did you come up with the name?
CJ: When I first started I worked with a few friends on a site called “Wish Upon a Stove.” When I went off on my own, I changed it to “Food Wishes.”
Q: How many recipes a week do you prepare?
CJ: I film 2 or 3 new video recipes every week.
Q: So, where do you get the ideas for the recipes?
CJ: The viewers’ own “food wishes!”
Q: Do you create them all, or do you use other recipe sources?
CJ: Some I create, some are inspired by things I see online, or viewers send in recipes.
Q: You were primarily on YouTube. Did you initially decide for this to be your main platform?
CJ: When I started, YouTube was the only video hosting site I actually knew about. But then I discovered the large food community there, and they discovered me, and that’s been the main platform since.
Q: How many viewers do you usually have on YouTube?
CJ: We get over 3 million views a month.
Q: Wow, any tips for aspiring YouTube stars?
CJ: Your content has to be entertaining, but it’s really all about quantity. You have to produce lots of content, like 2-3 videos a weeks for a couple years if you want to build a large audience.
Q: But now you are also on AllRecipes.com. How did that come about?
CJ: They approached me regarding a partnership, and it ended up being a perfect fit. We have the same missions: get people to discover the joys of cooking at home, provide them with all of the necessary (and fun) tools and inspiration to create great meals.
EXCERPTED FROM THE SEPIA REPORT
Industry News – March 2015
CURATED FROM TASTE AWARDS TWITTER INDUSTRY UPDATES
- Q&A: Award Winner “Mind Over Munch” talks about series plans http://on.flatoday.com/1EKZUz3
@Florida_Today@MindOverMunch - How Scripted Television Is Artfully Focusing Its Lens on Food http://pulse.me/s/3LG3Yh
@eater@eaterla - Award Winner LuckyRice stylish event http://tastetv.com/?p=2288
@LUCKYRICEFEST#sf#tattoo
- Alicia Good
@aliciagood@TasteAwards#Casting#kidchefs for NBC’s Food Fighters. Can you help me spread the word?
Returning summer series Young and Hungry
Fictional summer series “Young and Hungry” returns for 2nd season to ABC Family channel with Emily Osment
Theme: Cooking up trouble
Summary: Feisty young food blogger Gabi is desperate for a job. When she finds out wealthy tech entrepreneur Josh needs a personal chef, she wants the position. But Gabi must prove herself to Josh’s aide, Elliot, who would rather have his boss hire a famous chef. Gabi gets help from best friend Sofia and Josh’s housekeeper, Yolanda, in order to turn the opportunity into employment … and maybe love. Actress Ashley Tisdale (“High School Musical”) is an executive producer of the comedy series.
Industry Updates – October 2014
- Gordon Ramsay announces ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ to end after 10 years (NewsDay)
- Congrats to Jolene Sugarbaker: Celebrating 8 Years on YouTube with her Trailer Park Cooking Show!
- New summer series Young & Hungry premiers on ABC Family with Emily Osment (trailer)
- Vice Media “Munchies”
Farang, their Andy Ricker documentary, is dropping on 7/7 - Time Warner in Talks to Buy Stake in Vice Media for over $1 Billion (Variety)
- ‘Top Chef Duels’ Premieres in August
- Esquire Network’s Knife Fight, Brew Dogs, and Best Bars in America return this summer
- TLC is planning more than 500 hours of original programming in 2014 alone, including 44 n
ew and returning series (Starcasm) - Helen Mirren stars in foodie film “The 100 Foot Journey”, Produced by StevenSpielberg and Oprah Winfrey, and Dreamworks with Participant Media
Industry Updates – August 2014
- Rumble to Distribute FMN’s ‘Celebrity Webchefs’ (VideoInk)
- Cooking Channel to Premiere New Chocolatier Series SWEET JULIA (Broadway World)
- Canada Known for Good Taste, Award-winning Content about Food (Mediacaster Magazine)
- Helen Mirren stars in foodie film “The 100 Foot Journey”, Produced by StevenSpielberg and Oprah Winfrey, and Dreamworks with Participant Media
- Lessons of Big TV Sink In at Digital Content Newfronts; “A 1/2 hour show is the coin of the realm right now” (AdAge)
- ‘Epic Meal Time‘ Pimps Its New Cookbook With A Rap Video (Tubefilter)
- “Cooking with Granny” web series has met its crowdsource funding goals on Kickstarter
- Award Nominee ChatChowTV: Fine dining: what if Apple and Prada made luxury food? (Exhibition)
- Epicurious Kicks Off Web Series With Big Gay Ice Cream’s History (Braiser)
- 11 Powerful Netflix Food Documentaries That Will Change How You Think About Food (PolicyMic)
- Ovation TV to premiere The Art Of: Make Up episode
- Vice, FremantleMedia get Munchies in Cannes (Stream Daily)
- Reserve Channel makes its mark (channel)
- BET Networks to re-brand Centric cable channel as a destination for black women (Target Market)
- Short film No More Tiaras stars Dylan Penn, Langley Fox Hemingway, Stephanie LaCava and Adwoa Aboah
-
Ora.TV Inks Digital Development Deal with William Shatner for Brown Bag Wine Tasting series (VideoInk)