EXCLUSIVE: Australian chef and restauranteur Matt Moran is to front a food format in which he explores explores the personal lives of celebrities such as Richard Roxburgh through the lens of food.
Memory Bites With Matt Moran will air on state broadcaster SBS‘s SBS Food and SBS On-Demand services, with Moran, Big Owl Pictures and Globe Wealth co-producing and BBC Studios (BBCS) distributing the format and finished series internationally. Stars such as Elvis and Rake actor Roxburgh, Wentworth‘s Pia Miranda and comedian Ross Noble will feature.
Each episode of Memory Bites will see renowned chef Moran dive into the personal and emotional histories of well-known Australians, exploring their life stories through the lens of food. Each episode centres around a significant meal from the guest’s past — a dish that evokes powerful memories of childhood, family and love. The dish could be a simple one cooked by loved one, or an extravagant meal from a life-changing event.
The show will include a ‘Memory Box’ segment, in which Moran unwraps surprise items from the celebrity’s past to take them back to their formative years.
“Memory Bites is a beautiful format,” said Moran. “There’s nothing quite like seeing someone’s face light up when they take a bite of a dish, once cooked by someone they love, that transports them back to a moment in time. It’s a unique and warm way to share the connection between food and memory.”
The chef has spent 30 years in the food industry, becoming a bestselling cookbook author and TV personality in the process. He co-presented Nine Network series The Chopping Block in 2008 and was a judge on MasterChef Australia. He owns Chiswick Woollahra, a New South Wales restaurant known for his ‘garden to plate’ philosophy.
Financing
Shaun Murphy‘s indie Big Owl teamed with Moran and Alexandra Jakob of global investment firm Globe Wealth to create the show. Financing saw Big Owl, Moran and Jakob working on an innovative co-production model to secure a pre-sale from SBS. Further cash was raised through a mix of sponsors and private equity, and each of the three production partners retains a stake in the format.
Alexandra Jakob and Shaun Murphy
Courtesy/Big Owl Pictures
Such models are becoming increasingly necessary in a tight market for networks and producers around the world. Although Australia’s unscripted sector has arguably fared better than other English-language markets such as the UK and U.S., the pinch is being felt everywhere.
Memory Bites will air and stream on SBS in Australia in early 2025, with BBCS selling the rights internationally following its first-look rep deal struck with Big Owl last year.
“It’s exciting to bring a fresh food format to the global market,” said Murphy, executive producer on the series. “Memory Bites takes us on an emotional journey through food, connects us with some of Australia’s most beloved personalities in a new way and gives us a chance to pause, look back at our loved ones, and tap into our own individual Memory Bites.”
Murphy led TV production for Warner Bros Australia for several years before launching Big Owl in partnership with private equity group, Balance Vector, as we revealed in July 2022. He is known for execing the likes of Who Do You Think You?, the history-themed primetime show that Moran appeared on in 2022 in Australia on SBS.
Murphy has also helmed production on local versions of with The Masked Singer, The Bachelor, First Dates, Celebrity Apprentice, The Bachelorette and Dancing With The Stars and produced Stacy Peralta’s Emmy-nominated doc Crips & Bloods: Made in America.
“We looked at our slate and landscape in TV at the moment and said rather than relying on a broadcaster or streaming putting up all of the cash, let’s find new ways of financing,” Murphy told Deadline today. “You want to find ways of partnering, so we got the pre-sale and then private investment and commercial partners to offset costs.”
He added that the format, whose price point is in the mid-range, was “tailor-made for innovation and a great one to commercialize” thanks to its family themes and culinary elements. At MIPCOM Cannes last week, many in the unscripted biz noted how major firms such as BBCS and ITV Studios were marketing evergreen formats such as The Weakest Link, a sign of the risk-averse climate of the market right now.
Murphy, who has also held senior roles at Shine Australia, noted it is “a pretty odd time in television,” saying: “Fewer and fewer show are getting out there, but when you do there is less competition. The trick is to find a way to make it happen. Producers have to be entrepreneurial, as there are people out there not connected to our industry who want to be involved and will invest if you can demonstrate you can create a broader model than just TV.”
Murphy had met Jakob, a Sydney-based entrepreneur who established the haircare brand BondiBoost and early learning group Little Learning School before private investment firm Globe Wealth this year, through a mutual friend in the restaurant industry.
Jakob, another exec producer on Memory Bites, said: “Food is such a powerful connector and through the series, we’re able to uncover food stories that resonate with everyone. It’s been an honor to partner with Shaun and Matt to allow audiences to share in the laughter, tears and memories that unfold with every bite.”
Memory Bites was unveiled at the SBS Upfront today, where also announced were returner The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and new series Marion Grasby’s Endless Summer (working title), a food series starring Australian food creator Gadsby looking at her Thai and Australian heritage through the lens of food
