FOOD & CULINARY

GUITARS, BARS & CARS

OFF THE GRID IN THE HEARTLAND

Created by Ruth McCartney ©McCartney Multimedia, Inc. WGA Reg.

Created by Ruth McCartney ©McCartney Multimedia, Inc. WGA Reg.

GENRE: Music | Americana | Automobiles | Food 

FORMAT: 13 Episode x 60 mins TV | Road Trip across America | Interviews | Stock Beauty Footage

AUDIENCES: Foodies | Music fans | Car Club Enthusiasts | Guitar Players / Collectors

OVERVIEW

The Hosts: A NASCAR Driver and a HipHop Artist take off down the “old town road” for a trip across the heartland. These opposites must share their digs on the road across America, as every single Saturday and Sunday of every single weekend there is a Cars & Coffee event somewhere in the United States. Thousands of automotive diehards are waking up at the crack of dawn to secure the best parking spots for their pride and joy and “talk cars” with other like-minded individuals with gasoline running through their veins. From Alabama to Wyoming, you’ll find folks who love their cars, their food and their music too! Our Hip Hop star will try to persuade them about the virtues EVs over gas guzzlers.

Guitars, Bars & Cars features our superstar musician / car enthusiast / foodie curious hosts take off in a brand new electric vehicle towing an old-fashioned Airstream trailer across the hinterland to meet, eat, drive, tinker and play music with locals in the “flyover States” and the 200+ Cars & Coffee Clubs across the nation.

Each stop on the road will reveal a “Cars & Coffee Club” meetup and all the vintage autos on display; the show will also feature a mom-and-pop gastro pub / bar for lunch, and then our food-curious host will go behind the scenes into the kitchen “Guy Fieri style” and chat with the cook. For the music segments, we’ll uncover the town's local indie bands, music store, guitar players, luthiers and collectors.

The day culminates in a jam session of local artists, plus our superstar host’s hits played together with - and spotlighting the talents of - some local emerging artists and rappers, and the evening is of course catered by the Mom & Pop Bar / Gastro Pub featured in the episode.

TASTES OF THE TRIBES

A cinematic docuseries that follows Indigenous chefs who are reclaiming culinary traditions, stewarding land and water, and redefining contemporary dining. Each episode immerses viewers in one chef’s world, from ancestral foodways to modern technique, revealing how culture, ecology, and identity shape what ends up on the plate.

Series Overview

Tastes of the Tribes is a character driven, visually rich series in the vein of Chef’s Table. Each hour highlights one chef’s personal journey, their homeland, and the ingredients that define it. The show explores Indigenous sovereignty through food, the revival of seasonal and regional knowledge, and the bonds between ceremony, community, and cuisine. Viewers experience intimate kitchen moments, food sourcing in forests, rivers, lakes, prairies, and coastlines, along with the craft of plating that turns memory into art.

Why This Matters Now

Audiences are hungry for stories that connect taste to place, ethics, and origin. Indigenous restaurants and markets are leading a broader movement toward regenerative agriculture, seed saving, and honest sourcing. These chefs model climate resilience with low waste kitchens, nose to tail or root to fruit cooking, and reciprocal relationships with growers, harvesters, and tribal food producers. The series meets this moment by honoring elders, uplifting language and local knowledge, and giving credit where credit is due.

Core Themes

1. Place and memory
   Land, language, and lineage guide the pantry. Ingredients are not commodities. They are relatives and responsibilities.

2. Craft and innovation
   Wood fire, clay pots, pit cooking, smoking, drying, and fermenting sit alongside modern techniques. The result is food that is precise, soulful, and unmistakably of its region.

3. Sovereignty and sustainability
   Ethical sourcing, treaty rights, habitat restoration, and seed rematriation are central. Chefs partner with tribal fisheries, buffalo restorations, foragers, and seed keepers to protect future harvests.

4. Community and celebration
   Food is a living archive. Menus become classrooms. Dining rooms become spaces for healing, joy, and economic empowerment.

Visual Language and Tone

Natural light, patient pacing, macro food photography, and orchestral soundscapes support first person storytelling. Field sequences place viewers in cold rivers during salmon runs, on prairie burns that renew soil, and in kitchens where steam, smoke, and song carry history forward. Interviews are intimate and reflective. Voiceover is purposeful and minimal. Music blends contemporary and traditional motifs to underscore the emotional arc.

Representative Chefs and Settings

Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota. Minneapolis. Riverways, wild rice, bison, and a kitchen powered by Indigenous supply chains.
Crystal Wahpepah, Kickapoo. Oakland. Intertribal pantry, seed respect, and youth mentorship through food.
Ben Jacobs, Osage Nation. Denver. Community dining and a modern marketplace that scales Indigenous sourcing.
Sherry Pocknett, Mashpee Wampanoag. New England. Quahog, corn, and coastal stewardship across generations.
David Skinner, Choctaw. Texas Gulf Coast. Foraging, fermentation, and seasonal tasting menus that map cultural memory.
Zach Keeshig, Ojibwe. Great Lakes. Sugarbush, whitefish, chanterelles, and ceremony centered cuisine.
Inez Cook, Nuxalk Nation. Vancouver. Salmon, bannock, and a homecoming that reconnects cuisine and identity.
Nephi Craig, White Mountain Apache and Navajo. Arizona. Recovery, mentorship, and a culinary pathway for future chefs.
Freddie Bitsoie, Navajo. National voice. History, authorship, and the language of Native fine dining.
Brian Yazzie, Diné. Upper Midwest. Pop ups, mutual aid, and food sovereignty partnerships.

Note. The roster can expand across regions with parity for women, two spirit, and youth voices, ensuring breadth across North America and beyond.

Access and Cultural Care

Advisory council of tribal elders, seed keepers, and historians to review scripts and protocols.
Community benefit on every shoot, such as purchasing from local farmers and fishers, hiring regional crew, and offering culinary workshops for youth.
Clear consent pathways for imagery and stories, including archives and ceremony.

Audience and Reach

Food lovers who crave craft and aesthetics. Viewers who value climate solutions and ethical sourcing. Educators, museum and culinary school partners, and global Indigenous communities. The series pairs prestige storytelling with actionable resources, including a companion site listing markets, farms, and makers featured in each episode.

Deliverables

Six to eight episodes at 48 to 55 minutes.
Dolby Atmos and HDR finish where possible.
Companion short form pieces for social platforms.
Educational discussion guides for classrooms and culinary institutes.

Partners and Opportunities

Integration with tribal tourism offices, Native arts and culture organizations, and Indigenous food networks.
Brand partnerships limited to values aligned companies in tools, outdoor gear, or non extractive food systems.

DRAGRICULTURE

GENRE: Food | LGBTQIA | Drag Queens | Cooking CompetitionsFORMAT: 13 Episode x 60 mins TV | Farming Excursions | Cooking Contest | Drag Queen Judge Panel

AUDIENCES: Foodies | LGBTQIA |

WHERE THE QUEENS PICK (AND SPILL) THE BEANS

©Ruth McCartney WGA-Registered

A classic cooking competition with a “fish out of water” theme. Our Drag Queens will be transported to farms to meet, learn from and work alongside the hard-working farmers and field hands who toil under heat and rain to realize America’s Foodies’ “farm-to-table” and “crate-to-plate” desires.

In a nod to “Dirty Jobs” – but in heels and sequins, these Queens will be put through their paces to create a basket they must cook from to impress a panel of famous Drag Queen Judges back at the studio.

Before leaving the farm however, they get to perform their Glam Squad magic on volunteer farmhands to bring some TRANSformation to the terroir.

Back at the studio, as an added bonus, each Queen gets to team up with a culinary school student (chosen from several schools) who will guide them through the difference between a sauté and a sashay to present their dish a la “Worst Cooks in America”.

Points will be awarded for hair/make-up/costume, most amusing pun/dish name, ingredient creativity/glam/glitz and over-the-top-plating props. Each week a winner will move forward to the eventual series grand finale, and the team’s culinary school student will also win a big cash prize towards a scholarship and tuition expenses.

KITCHEN CONSCIENCE

©and® WGA Registered

By Ruth McCartney for McCartney Multimedia, Inc.

GENRES: Food | Travel | Redemption | Giving Back

FORMAT: 30-minute Episodic

This series highlights restaurants and cafes committed to doing good for the the disabled community and felons by hiring them in positions of importance. Hosted by ex-convict and restauranteur Danny Trejo of Trejo’s Tacos and American Horror Story Actress and Down Syndrome icon, Jamie Brewer, the shows will examine the growing number of restauranteurs whose over-arching desire is to go forward whilst giving back.

The list includes:

• Ruth’s Thompson’s non-profit Hugs Cafe, McKinney, Texas. Which offers classes on Monday to special needs individuals wanting to get into the culinary arts.

• L’Chaim Foods, San Francisco, CA. Alex Shandrovsky made a surprising hiring move at L’Chaim Foods, his San Francisco-based catering company. He hired three ex-felons. Today, those three people are his Director of Operations, Sous Chef, and Executive Chef.

• Howdy Homemade, Dallas TX. Tom Landis’ creamery is run by individuals with Down syndrome and autism.

• REFire Culinary, Tallahassee, Fl. Rebecca Kelly-Manders, a classically trained chef is founder of the REfire Culinary Program named after a kitchen slang that means to correct a mistake, aims to train members of a population that is often shunned and rejected by employers.

• Starbucks, Washington, DC. Starbucks has converted a Washington, D.C., location to be fully friendly for people who are Deaf and hard of hearing. Baristas will be outfitted with special ASL-embroidered aprons, and baristas who can communicate in sign language will sport an “I Sign” pin. 

• Edwin’s Leadership & Restaurant, Cleveland, Ohio. EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization. They give formerly incarcerated adults a foundation in the culinary and hospitality industry while providing a support network necessary their long-term success.

• Sara Mae Pratt’s Puzzles Bakery and Café, Schenectady, New York. Sara Mae’s sister Emily is on the Autism spectrum, and her bakery and cafe has received notably 600+ employment applications for just 25 slots.
  
  Mozzeria, San Francisco, California. Melody and Russ Stein founded Mozzeria in 2011 which was created with the goal in providing customers a welcoming, memorable, and visual environment to experience Deaf culture while working to increase career placement opportunities for Deaf people. 

• Bitty and Beau’s Coffee, Wilmington and Charleston, North Carolina. The owners’ 2 youngest children Bitty and Beau have Down Syndrome and they have dedicated their lives to creating a world of equal opportunities. Co-founder Amy Wright was honored as CNN Hero of The Year.

• Sugar Plum Bakery, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Baking a Difference since 1987. Sugar Plum Bakery will promote the integration of persons with developmental disabilities into society by helping them become independent and evolve into working contributing members of our communities.

• Chef Jeff Henderson uses the employee recruitment model from his own extraordinary employment success, from a former prison dishwasher to the first African American executive chef at the world-renowned Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. Now he runs Felon University.

TEA FOR TWO

FROM TERROIR TO TEABAG

Factoid #1: Tea is the #2 beverage when it comes to world consumption (behind water).

Factoid #2 As of 2026, there is currently no syndicated TV show about TEA which is a $200Bn market worldwide!

FORMAT: 30-minute Episodic

GENRE: Food | Travel

AUDIENCE: Tea drinkers, Foodies, Beatle Fans, Organic Food Movers

CREATED BY: Ruth McCartney ©WGA Registered.

The concept is to examine both sides of the coin of the tea business from its’ origins - growers and packers, to its’ conclusion - teahouses, tea shops and connoisseurs.

Join 96 year-old founder of Mrs McCartney’s Teas and her very British Butler on one part of the journey as they sip their way through traditional British Afternoon Tea to Boba “Bubble” tea in Koreatown, Morrocan Mint tea traditions, a Japanese Tea House Ceremony, the making of Thai Iced Tea, try Yerba Maté and 13 more countries/episodes whilst, meantime, Angie’s Army of intrepid young explorers trek through the tea fields of India, China, S. Africa, Sri Lanka, Japan and more, and discover the revelations among the elevations, and the geopolitics affecting the hard-working farmers and packers who bring us, each day, our daily Cuppa!

WHY THIS SHOW / WHY NOW

• Tea is a $200B+ global industry

• Massive growth in:

  • wellness beverages

  • functional teas

  • matcha culture in the U.S.

• No nationally syndicated tea show currently exists

• Audiences crave:

  • slower, authentic storytelling

  • “comfort content”

  • culturally immersive food experiences

Positioning:
The “Chef’s Table” of tea meets “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”

METICULOUSLY MADE

MEET THE ARMY OF ARTISANS BEHIND EVERY GREAT PLATE:A global culinary journey uncovering the unsung artisans, makers, and creative forces whose obsessive attention to detail transforms food into unforgettable experiences.

GENRES: Food, Travel, Lifestyle, Luxury

AUDIENCE: Foodies and Fans of…

• The Detail of: COOKED with Michael Pollan

• The Chef Insights of:
  CHEF'S TABLE

• The Destination Reach of:
  FLAVOURFUL ORIGINS

• The Hands-On Cooking of:
  SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT

FORMAT: 6 Series x 12 “unexpected/ 2nd tier” cities (culinarily speaking) x 60 minutes per episode.
3 -5 featured segments /vendors in a given city per episode.

Geographically : Continent by Continent

• North America (Houston/Kemah, San Diego, Boulder, St. Petersburg, Raleigh, Waltham, Baltimore, Providence, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, Sevierville/Dollywood, Savannah, Sedona)

• South America (TBD)

• Asia (TBD)

• Africa (TBD)

• Australasia (Melbourne, Broome, Perth, Hobart, Napier, balance TBD)

• Europe (Liverpool UK, San Sebastian Spain, Warsaw Poland, Hamburg Germany, Budapest Hungary, balance TBD)

OVERVIEW:

Join Chef David Skinner aka “The Willy Wonka of Food” and creator of the record-breaking event “Around The World in 10,000 Bites” as he traces the imagineateurs behind the culinary world’s great ingredients, interiors, infusions and innovations.

His journeys and in-depth conversations will examine the countless moving parts behind the scenes, that add up to unforgettable edible experiences in unexpected delicious destinations.

The butchers, the bakers, the candlestick makers…not forgetting the growers, vintners glass-blowers, florists, interior designers, potters, cutlery makers, sommeliers, scent scientists, artists, musicians and chefs who all contribute their notes to the symphony that is fine-dining.

WHY THIS SHOW / WHY NOW

• Audiences are moving beyond chefs → craving process + provenance

• Rise of:

  • craft culture

  • experiential dining

  • design-forward hospitality

• No major series fully explores the entire ecosystem behind a dish

Positioning:
“Chef’s Table” meets “How It’s Made” — with a luxury travel lens

Created by Ruth McCartney and Chef David Skinner.

©WGA Registered.

THE DEEP SPACE FOOD CHALLENGE

30 TEAMS COMPETE FOR THE CHANCE TO INVENT THE FOOD PREP SYSTEM FOR THE MISSION TO MARS.

GENRES: Food, Technology, Futurism, Space

AUDIENCE: Geeks, Foodies, Futurists

CREATED BY: Chef David Skinner, Chef Nancy Manlove & Ruth McCartney ©and WGA Registered.

FORMAT: 13 Series x 30 mins, TV, Behind The Scenes with a focus on the Space-City HTown team prepares to compete on behalf of NASA’s home town.

OVERVIEW:

Eating in space and procuring healthy food for astronauts can be a real challenge! Attempting to solve this long-standing problem, NASA is offering a $5,00,000 cash prize to people who can come up with some healthy and sustainable food that can be consumed by astronauts in space.

NASA, in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency, has launched the 'Deep Space Food Challenge', which calls on people to develop new technologies to produce food for future space missions.

The Deep Space Food Challenge is an international competition where NASA offers prize purse awards to U.S. teams and recognition to international teams. Teams are invited to create novel and game-changing food technologies or systems that require minimal inputs and maximize safe, nutritious, and palatable food outputs for long-duration space missions, and which have potential to benefit people on Earth.

Though there are many food systems on Earth that may offer benefits to space travelers, the ability of these systems to meet spaceflight demands has not yet been established.

Types and durations of future lunar missions constantly evolve and mature based on new technological advances and scientific input. Space agencies need to address long-duration lunar missions and how to provide future lunar crews with safe, nutritious food while in lunar orbit or on the lunar surface.

Up to $750,000 in NASA awards

NASA Prize Purse
for U.S. Teams

• 1st Place: Up to $300,000 awarded to one Team selected as the overall Challenge winner

• 2nd Place: Up to $200,000 awarded to one Team

• 3rd Place: Up to $100,000 awarded to one Team

• Category Awards: Up to three $50,000 awards recognizing exemplary achievements in specific focus areas. See Rules for more info.

NASA Recognition
for International Teams

• International Teams are eligible to participate and receive recognition but are not eligible for NASA prize money.

• Up to three International Teams may be named the International Winner and International Runners-Up of the Challenge.

  
  WHY THIS SHOW / WHY NOW

  • Space is back in mainstream culture:

    • NASA Artemis missions

    • Private space race momentum

  • Climate + food security = urgent global issues

  • Audiences love:

    • competition formats

    • science + food mashups

    • real-world stakes

  Positioning:
  👉 “Top Chef” meets “The Martian” meets real NASA innovation

Cooking with the CEOs

OUT OF THE BOARDROOM, INTO THE DINING ROOM.
A revealing, access-driven series where the world’s top CEOs step away from the markets and into their kitchens—sharing meals, memories, and the personal philosophies that shape how they lead.

FORMAT: 30-minute Episodic

GENRE: Food | Business

AUDIENCE: CNBC Viewers ; Business Leaders; Investors

CREATED BY: Ruth McCartney © WGA Registered.

The “softer side of a CEO” is the concept behind “Cooking with the CEO’s”.

We know what fills their days, but what fulfills their appetites? We take the world’s top CEOs out of the boardroom and into the dining room to find what makes them tick after the ticker closes.

Digital Diva and CEO of a Multimedia Digital Agency in Los Angeles, Ruth McCartney will visit their homes, and go to the market with them – just not the Bulls and Bears market, then return with ingredients to their kitchens and cook with global business leaders alongside a local guest chef each week, as the viewer discovers the personal, off-duty side of the men and women we hear about on Wall Street. Each segment closes with a QR code to take the viewer FROM TV TO the featured company’s website.

This soft-sell “this is not an official infomercial” format will give the corporation/ sponsor/broadcaster a broader view of the workings of a listed company and chance to brand the equity/assets in a different light, after the markets close.

WHY THIS SHOW / WHY NOW

• Audiences are fatigued by:

  • corporate jargon

  • earnings calls

  • surface-level interviews

• Rising demand for:

  • authentic leadership storytelling

  • founder/CEO transparency

  • humanized business content

• Explosive interest in:

  • entrepreneurship

  • personal routines of high performers

  • “day in the life” content

Positioning:
“Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” meets CNBC
“Chef’s Table” meets “Inside the C-Suite”

AROUND THE WORLD IN 10,000 BITES

GLOBAL CHEFS. BREAKING RECORDS. IN UNUSUAL PLACES.

FORMAT: 60-minute Episodic 8-PART SERIES

GENRE: Food | Travel

AUDIENCE: Foodies, Connosseurs.

CREATED BY: Chef David Skinner & McCartney Studios ©WGA Registered.

First Location: A 100-course dinner for 120 guests. In the shadow of the dinosaurs. This record-breaking culinary feat/feast is set to become a global pop up.

This is the trailer for the pilot episode (1 hour documentary) for a planned 8 episode limited series, from the mind of Chef David Skinner of eculent in Kemah, TX. The diners are served a 100 course, 10 countries dinner by 40+ international chefs in a spectacular setting - call it “DINNER IMPOSSIBLE”. The series will visit some of the world’s most iconic cities and eclectic locations in 2022, and pull off the improbable in implausible locations.

“The idea for this event started about five years ago after speaking to some of my restaurant guests about the best meals they enjoyed in different countries. I was amazed at the number of people who had not traveled much outside the United States or who did not have a good appreciation for different cultures and cuisines. While I have been very fortunate to have travelled to 6 of the 7 continents (still need to visit Antartica) over the last 30 years, I recognized the opportunity to create something that was both gastronomically unique and educational.

The idea of serving enough different bites from enough countries for the guest to actually recognize and appreciate the similarities and differences quickly flourished into an action plan and then a test dinner with 20 bites from four countries served to 80 guests at the World Food Championship in 2016. We prepped for a week and served 1600 courses with 7 chefs in about 2 hours without the use of a restaurant kitchen. To say we learned a lot from that event is a dramatic under statement! The success of that dinner lead to this once-in-a-lifetime culinary event where each guest will journey across 10 countries highlighting both the cultural and gastronomic uniqueness related to the common meal.

This event would not be possible without the help of Chef David Duarte who also saw the vision and quickly jumped on board to make it a reality, and the help and passion of all our invited chefs this year. One of the first chefs to say yes was my friend Dominique Crenn. As you may know she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and unfortunately will not be able to make the event this year. We will be donating a portion of the proceeds in her name for breast cancer research. The remaining proceeds will be donated to the James Beard Foundation.

My hope is that you emerge from this journey with a much richer understanding of different cultures and cuisines and a greater appreciation for what makes us all unique and wonderful.” Chef David Skinner