Big Sean, Machine Gun Kelly and Leslie Grace are just some of the celebrity guests that will be part of Thrillist’s new digital series “InstaChef.” The six-episode show, which takes a closer look at chefs who drive most of their business through Instagram, joins three other projects as part of Thrillist’s first-ever content slate.
“InstaChef” will be hosted by Cliff Skighwalker, a foodie and local DJ, who will visit people who make a living by cooking food in their house, post what they’re making on Instagram and then sell it to customers who stop by. The first episode is already available for viewing on IGTV, YouTube and Facebook Watch and features the American rapper Timothy Delaghetto. Delaghetto and Skighwalker take on Philly’s underground food scene where they munch on cheesesteaks, Philly-style egg rolls and seafood french fries.
Joining “InstaChef” as part of Thrillist’s winter slate is “Gate Keepers,” a series that seeks out city locals who know everything one should do, eat and drink when visiting their city; “Somm to go,” which follows sommelier and champagne expert Ariel Arce as she attempts to find the right wine to pair with a variety of fast food; and “The List Show” (working title), where comedian Mekki Leeper reinterprets an existing Thrillist editorial list with his own comedic style in a new animated format.
“Gate Keepers” is already available for viewing, while “Somm to Go” and “The List Show” are expected to premiere sometime in Q1 2019.
“Thrillist continues to prioritize developing quality video programming so that we can offer our audience more touchpoints of what they’ve known to trust and expect from us in food, drink, travel and entertainment content,” Thrillist president Ocean MacAdams said in a statement. “Our new slate marks the next step in our brand’s evolution to becoming a truly multi-platform distributed media company. We couldn’t be more excited to bring fresh new talent and series — as well as re-up one of our top performing series of 2018 — to fans across platforms.”
This winter, Thrillist is also bringing back “Eat Seeker,” “Late Checkout” and “Really Dough?” for another season. To date, “Late Checkout” has amassed nearly 100 million views and averages nearly 7 million video views per episode, according to the company.
Overall, Thrillist — which originally started as a newsletter subscription 14 years ago — reaches an average of 75 million Americans every month, according to Nielsen Digital Content Ratings. In December 2016, the company joined forces with NowThis, The Dodo and Seeker to form Group Nine Media — which has become a global top 10 publisher.