On a special Cannes Lions edition of Variety‘s “Strictly Business” podcast, Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade explains why the company is going all-in on the creator economy, launching a division to develop content and businesses with promising creators who are eager to grow.

Billy Parks, head of Fox Creator Studios, also lays out the vision for tapping into the very targeted, high fan engagement and influence that creators enjoy but marrying it with the scale and reach that Fox is known for in TV. The effort will incubate talent and concepts for Fox-owned platforms, but the central mission is for Fox to use its heft and expertise to help creators make more money on YouTube, TikTok, in consumer products and all manner of ancillary opportunities.

Wade explains that he was inspired to move in this area in part by the prowess that Gordon Ramsay has demonstrated with his many millions of social followers. For Wade, the key is to understand each creator as a mini media empire unto themselves.

“I saw the possibility of having revenue in a [production] business rather than just spend, and from there we started to think about other ways we could get revenue: Brands, products, services, IRL events, all of these things,” Wade tells “Strictly Business.” “I’ve been very fortunate to have worked for the last 10 years with Gordon Ramsay. Gordon, as well as being a very prolific television producer and host, has a phenomenal amount of social followers. And he creates original content for YouTube. His shows are taken to YouTube and clipped up, and then we distribute them on YouTube. So there is a whole ecosystem of Gordon business on that. On top of that, we we made an investment in a pots and pans company called Hexclad — which is a phenomenal product if you haven’t tried it.

“We saw the way that we could use our content to promote and help grow that business. So all of a sudden we had all these pieces falling together. It was content, but there were businesses around that content, and although it felt like there was still a lot of gap to bridge between the two worlds, it felt like the right time to me,” Wade says.

Before Parks took the job, he test-drove the business plan by a few sharp creators.

“I said, “Would you be interested in this?’ And I was so pleasantly surprised by the responses I got from great creators who had really great businesses and were really interested. I didn’t expect them to be but they actually would like support with development of ideas,” Parks says. “We had a great creator who came in and had a game show idea. They came in with this evidence like ‘Hey, I’ve tried this on my channel, I’ve tried that on my channel. It’s blown up. It’s been great.’ And they come with a game show idea. Rob and about four or five other people at Fox have a hundred years between them of making these game shows. And I said, ‘Hey man, do you want to walk down the hall and talk to these people who have all this experience? They’re not here to tell you how to make your show, but they understand the mechanics of them.”

Wade and Parks sat with Variety on the opening day of the Cannes Lions festival of creativity, where the rise of creator marketing is the single-buzziest topic of the event. While Wade and Parks were being interviewed at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, they were paid a visit by a creator who has recently aligned with Fox Creator Studios. Josh Richards, who was featured on Variety‘s 2019 Power of Young Hollywood Impact List, explains why he sees value in teaming with Fox even after he’s been building his own platform since he was 13 — he was even on the forerunner of TikTok.

Despite the power and immediacy of social media, Richards says he sees “a massive stamp of approval” coming from his association with Fox. He has grand ambition to further develop the sketch comedy series, “Read the Room,” that he has produced for his YouTube channel. And Richards humble about what he doesn’t know.

“Moving into the traditional space that Fox [represents] adds that massive stamp of approval that people are looking for,” Richards says. “People know Josh Richards and they know Josh Richards for going and filming videos on TikTok or doing a podcast. But when it comes to something like this sketch show and getting into higher production value content, getting into scripted content, there’s a little bit of Josh Richards needing to prove himself to the world.”

“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.

(Pictured top: Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade and Fox Creator Studios head Billy Parks)