{"id":8301,"date":"2021-07-12T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2021-07-13T09:19:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T13:19:03","slug":"fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/","title":{"rendered":"FOX Alternative Entertainment’s Allison Wallach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allison Wallach, who started her role as executive VP and head of FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE) just six weeks before Hollywood went into its Covid-19 shutdown, tells <\/em>TV Formats\u00a0about the appeal of <\/em>Crime Scene Kitchen and what makes it formattable (with the finished tape and format being rolled out by FAE\u2019s distribution partner, Propagate Content), innovative international alliances, the studio\u2019s new and returning slate and trends she\u2019s watching in the format business today.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hybrid formats and new spins on competition shows are the types of concepts Allison Wallach has her eye on at FOX Alternative Entertainment. FOX\u2019s non-scripted studio produces the megahit The Masked Singer<\/em>\u2014indeed a new take on celebrity singing contests\u2014brought Korea\u2019s I Can See Your Voice<\/em> to America and is now seeing success with Crime Scene Kitchen<\/em>, a guessing game\/food competition hosted by Joel McHale in which bakers need to decipher what dessert was prepared by spending just a few minutes with some helpful (and sometimes unhelpful) clues.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> Tell us about Crime Scene Kitchen<\/em>.
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan from Fly on the Wall Entertainment brought it into the network. They pitched the genesis of this idea, which was basically let\u2019s do a detective baking show. Rob Wade [FOX\u2019s president of alternative entertainment and specials] sent it over to the studio and said, Let\u2019s develop it out. Initially, it wasn\u2019t just baked goods. Do we do savory and sweet? What does that look like? But then it became pretty clear as we got into it that there\u2019s a huge difference between baking and cooking. Baking is a real science. When you\u2019re going to find contestants, you need an either\/or. You\u2019re not going to find people who are good at both. It developed out from there. Bringing on Joel McHale was the secret sauce. There are a lot of baking shows out there, probably the best being The Great British Baking Show<\/em>. What they managed to do with that show so well was add humor to lighten it up. The dirty secret is there is real drama in these shows. You wouldn\u2019t expect it, but there\u2019s a lot of drama because there\u2019s a lot at stake when these contestants mess up. What seems to be working well on FOX is more levity. We wanted to make sure the humor was there. Joel has been so terrific. It\u2019s a really fun show. I don\u2019t know if you bake. I don\u2019t, but I do love watching baking shows because I love to eat! [Laughs<\/em>] During Covid, a lot of people started picking up baking and cooking. That fan base, which is already huge, grew more. It\u2019s a hybrid where it\u2019s a little bit of a guessing game, combined with food.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> Tell us about the casting process.
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> It was trying to find variety\u2014in relationships, in experience. They all had to be amateur bakers, but we wanted to make sure there would be a diverse group. Some are married couples, some are just friends, mother-daughter, former partners. It\u2019s about pulling out all that chemistry, plus the drama that goes on when there\u2019s tension. We made a point of casting a wide net to find that variety.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> What do Curtis Stone and Yolanda Gampp bring to the show as judges?
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> Again, it was about finding the right balance. It\u2019s the right chemistry between the talent. And making sure we had people with the right experience\u2014Yolanda, clearly, with her baking knowledge, and Curtis\u2019s culinary skills in general. And they didn\u2019t have the same experience; that was important. We didn\u2019t want to have two bakers. They complement each other very well.<\/p>\n

\"\"TV FORMATS:<\/strong> The challenges are absolutely remarkable.
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> I have to give the producers real credit. It was tricky. Conrad Green, the executive producer, has a real knowledge of baking. Initially, we would go through what some of the challenges would be, and I\u2019d say, I\u2019ve never heard of that cake! I don\u2019t think 90 percent of Americans have ever heard of that cake! No one is going to guess what a floating island is! [Laughs<\/em>] It was fun going through it. I and a few others dumbed it down for those of us at home who would never have guessed because we\u2019d never seen or heard of that cake before. That, too, was finding the right balance. As the challenges get more difficult, it\u2019s making sure it still feels accessible to a broader audience.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> What are some of the key format pillars that make this easily adaptable in any country in the world?
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> The challenges themselves, the pastries themselves, can be tailored to any territory. And outside of that, it\u2019s pretty turnkey. We\u2019ve seen a proliferation of guessing games out there. I think this plays into what\u2019s been working in Korea, Japan, around the world.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> What was it like setting up FAE just before lockdowns hit and then having to pivot your business to producing in a brand-new way?
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> It was actually pretty awesome! It was scary for everybody. We were all going into new territory. There was no question it had to be done\u2014we needed stuff in the pipeline. We have an amazing team that was talking to L.A. County about the protocols. We just had to find ways to keep moving. We quickly pivoted. The day everything shut down, we had just finished the first episode of I Can See Your Voice<\/em>. We didn\u2019t end up picking up filming on that until July. But we did quickly think, What can we do [during lockdown]? We did The Masked Singer: After the Mask<\/em> in the studio. It was the talent being very brave and trusting us. They came into the studio when people weren\u2019t leaving their houses. They were willing to Zoom from their homes. Everyone played ball. It brought everyone together. I Can See Your Voice<\/em> was the first show to go back into production. Ken Jeong gave the rest of the crew and the cast confidence\u2014partially because he\u2019s a doctor\u2014that as long as we followed protocol, we\u2019d be OK. I commend him for that.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> The FOX version of The Masked Singer<\/em> seems to have set the gold standard for the format, with many broadcasters picking it up after the network\u2019s successful adaptation. What do you think it is about FOX\u2019s take that has worked so well?
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> We have these conversations regularly: You\u2019re in the sixth season, you should be able to do it by rote; it should be turnkey. The truth is, with Masked Singer<\/em>, every season is treated like a snowflake. We change the format up. We add in other elements to keep it fresh. I truly believe that has helped the success of it. It\u2019s challenging to do. We can\u2019t put it on autopilot and let it go. No two seasons are alike. How can you surprise the audience? What can be unexpected?<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> What else is on your slate at the studio?
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> We\u2019ve got a lot going on right now! We finished Name That Tune<\/em> and are hoping to go back into production on that. We\u2019re filming Domino Masters<\/em>. We have Alter Ego<\/em>, our big new avatar competition. We have Next Level Chef<\/em>, our Studio Ramsay show that we\u2019re producing in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

We developed a relationship with producers in Ireland [BiggerStage]. We had an idea for a show that we thought we would pilot at FOX. And then once we did the math, we realized, actually, if we produce this in Ireland and put it on a big network there, we could probably produce six episodes for the same cost as a pilot here. It\u2019s called The Big Deal<\/em>. Boy George is heading the cast. It launches this fall in Ireland [on Virgin Media Television]. If it works there, then we\u2019ll bring it back to the network here. We\u2019re looking at doing more things like that.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> What trends are you seeing in the global format landscape?
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> It seems like there\u2019s a big trend of betting on yourself. There are certainly the guessing games\u2014that\u2019s endless at this point. Performance shows have traditionally worked on FOX, so we\u2019re always keeping an eye open for a fresh take on that. And hybrid shows: cooking and betting, or dating and dancing. We keep an eye out for those.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS:<\/strong> Tell us about the FASTRACK program you announced earlier this year to boost diversity in unscripted programming.
\nWALLACH:<\/strong> Here we are talking about how we have to make sure we have diverse voices in our shows. We realized there\u2019s not enough diversity behind the camera. We started this program and we had two candidates start in January. It\u2019s given them the opportunity to learn about whatever areas they\u2019re interested in, whether it\u2019s postproduction or production, and we\u2019re able to grow from within and put them on our shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Allison Wallach, executive VP and head of FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE), talks hybrid formats like Crime Scene Kitchen, maintaining the success of The Masked Singer and trends she’s watching in the international market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":8302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[2281,1969],"class_list":["post-8301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-allison-wallach","tag-fox-alternative-entertainment","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nFOX Alternative Entertainment's Allison Wallach - TVFORMATS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FOX Alternative Entertainment's Allison Wallach - TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Allison Wallach, executive VP and head of FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE), talks hybrid formats like Crime Scene Kitchen, maintaining the success of The Masked Singer and trends she's watching in the international market.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-12T12:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-13T13:19:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/07\/Allison-Wallach-FAE-721.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/\",\"name\":\"FOX Alternative Entertainment's Allison Wallach - TVFORMATS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-12T12:00:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-13T13:19:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-allison-wallach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FOX Alternative Entertainment’s Allison Wallach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\",\"name\":\"TVFORMATS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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