Billionaire TWITCH founder Justin Kan presents a TASTE AWARD

JustinKan-2010The TASTE AWARDS have always had personalities, stars and leaders as part of the event. This includes not just winners and nominees, but also the Presenters.

When Justin Kan presented this award he was famous for Justin.TV, which chronicled in a streaming feed every moment of his life.

Now he is known for selling his firm, Twitch, to Amazon for over $1 Billion, an example of a real life unicorn.

Below, The Billionaire founder of Twitch and Justin.TV, Justin Kan presents the Best Film or Documentary award at the very  TASTE AWARDS. Justin is joined in this video by food and TV host Leslie Sbrocco.

The TASTE AWARDS celebrate the year’s best in food, fashion, and lifestyle programs on television, in film, online and on radio.

Marisa Churchill stars in new international Baking series

Marisa_Churchill_MARISAPORTRAITMarisa Churchill, a long-time celebrity awards presenter for the TASTE AWARDS, as well as food television star from shows like “Top Chef”, is starring in a new baking series with Fage Greek yogurt.

The series is called “MY SWEEΤ & SKINNY LIFE.”

Says Marisa, “We filmed 20 episodes geared towards the Greek-American market in the US and also the Greek market,. The show as the show played in Greece too.”

Marisa has also been quite busy in the US, where she appears on The Talk on CBS and also Home & Family on the Hallmark channel

Episode one of here Greek baking series can be seen here:

Taste Hall of Famer Josh Elkin of Epic Meal Time to Host Cooking Channel Series

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Multi-TASTE AWARD Winner, and Taste Hall of Famer, Josh Elkin of Epic Meal Time is set to host a new Cooking Channel competition series called Sugar Showdown.

fyi__140226155028This is quite a transition from the web and YouTube, where the series and Epic team found its fame, but not too much of a surprise. Recently the team had also starred in a hit series on FYI, called “Epic Meal Empire.”

Per our colleagues at TubeFilter:

“Produced by Architect Films, Sugar Showdown pits three bakers against each other for the chance to win $10,000 and the title of best dessert chef around.”

CC_logo-headerThe one caveat is that Josh may no longer be part of the Epic team, as he pursues these other opportunities.

 

Margaret Cho stars in animated food truck series – Chow-Fuhn

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Margaret Cho is taking her comedic chops to the world of animated food trucks in what she calls the first ‘Sci-Foodieomedy’, entitled CHOW-FUHN.

Chow-fuhn13In this new web series, also including the voices of Bobby Lee (IMDB) and Jon Lovitz (IMDB), Margaret and cohorts expose the chef vs. chef, cut-throat business of food trucks!

The series is created by Gabriel DeFrancesco (IMDB, Trading Up, Roman Holiday, RISD ’99 IL), and is aiming to raise $120,000 on Kickstarter.

Take a look at the pitch

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TASTE Hall of Fame 2015 Inductees Announced

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Former Award Nominee and Presenter Jeannie Mai new series “Steampunk’D”

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Former TASTE AWARD Nominee and Celebrity Presenter, Jeannie Mai, has a new series with GSN, aka the Game Show Network.

Jeannie was formerly host of the hit series, “How Do I Look“, and has gone on to host several other style and pop-oriented programs. Her new show puts a new spin on an emerging style trend, Steampunk.

Per GSN:

GSN, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, announced today that it has started production on a new original skill-based competition series, STEAMPUNK’D. Hosted by Jeannie Mai (“The Real”), the show seeks to find the most talented and versatile Steampunk designers in the country. Inspired by the Victorian era, Steampunk is a retro-futuristic design movement seen in everything from fashion to technology to design.

In STEAMPUNK’D, 10 contestants (also known as “Makers”) will be challenged to marry objects from the past and present in order to create impressive futuristic designs. Dramatic reveals each week will build to a grand finale of a fully realized Steampunk’d manor and the winner will take home a $100,000 grand prize.

Jeannie Mai, who will serve as host, has been a Steampunk fan since her teenage years and knows the style very well.  Best known as one of the five dynamic hosts of the popular daytime talk show “The Real,” Mai continues to appear as a frequent fashion expert for “Today Show,” “Wendy Williams” and “E! News.” Before becoming a television personality, she began her career as a celebrity makeup artist and stylist from San Jose, California.

“Exemplified by the designs of films like ‘Mad Max’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ the incredibly rich and creative subculture of Steampunk is increasingly filtering into pop culture,” says Amy Introcaso-Davis, Executive Vice President of Programming and Development for GSN.  “Like the amazing painters in ‘Skin Wars,’ these makers will astonish audiences with their talent and creativity and this show reinforces GSN’s commitment to bringing cutting-edge skill-based competition to our air.”

STEAMPUNK’D is executive produced by Kimberly and John Ehrhard (“Hogan Knows Best,” “Miami Social”) of Pink Sneakers Productions and Jennifer J. Duncan.