Roku Originals Serves Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry as Co-Hosts of ‘The Great American Baking Show’
The American adaptation of the iconic British baking competition series will premiere exclusively on The Roku Channel
Filming underway in UK; Love Productions USA to produce
San Jose, California – AUGUST 17, 2022 Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) announced today that Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Office) and Zach Cherry (Severance, Duncanville) have signed on to co-host the Roku Original series “The Great American Baking Show.” Kemper and Cherry will bring audiences into the iconic tent to watch contestants battle it out to become America’s Best Baker. The long-awaited American adaptation of the iconic British competition series, “The Great British Baking Show,” will feature six 60-minute episodes and premiere in 2023. Production is underway in the United Kingdom.
Roku Original “The Great American Baking Show” is the American version of the most beloved baking show on the planet, bringing together passionate and talented bakers from around the country to see who will be named the best amateur baker in America. Love Productions USA produces the new series. Love Productions USA brought the original hit series “The Great British Baking Show” to audiences, along with other competition series adaptations including “The Great Celebrity Bake Off,” “The Great Junior Bake Off” and much more. In addition to Kemper and Cherry, the judges who appear in the original British version, celebrity chef Paul Hollywood and celebrity restaurateur Prue Leith, will serve as judges on “The Great American Baking Show.”
Brian Tannenbaum, Head of Alternative Originals, Roku: “We couldn’t ask for a more perfect duo than Ellie and Zach to co-host ‘The Great American Baking Show.’ Our adaptation of the iconic series will continue to deliver the enduring warmth and humor that fans of the ‘Baking Show’ universe love, with a twist that we know Ellie and Zach will deliver. The passion fans have for this franchise is unmatched. and we’re so honored to begin production with Love Productions USA for bring “The Great American Baking Show” exclusively to The Roku Channel.
Ellie Kemper recently appeared in the latest installment of Home Alone, HOME SWEET HOME Alone, available on Disney+. Before that, she appeared in the UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT INTERACTIVE SPECIAL as the finale to Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s half-hour comedy for Netflix, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT. She received 2 Emmy nominations and 2 SAG Award nominations for her performance on the show. He also starred in both performances of LIVE FRONT OF A STUDIO AUDIENCE: NORMAN LEAR’S ALL IN THE FAMILY for ABC. He will next be seen in Vicky Wight’s HAPPINESS FOR BEGINNERS which debuts on NETFLIX later this year opposite Luke Grimes.
In 2018, Ellie published her first book of essays, MY SQUIRREL DAYS. She can be seen in Lynn Shelton’s LAGGIES opposite Keira Knightley, as well as the Sony Pictures comedy SEX TAPE, directed by Jake Kasdan and starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel. Ellie Kemper played “Erin Hannon” in the last 5 seasons of the NBC series THE OFFICE. Kemper first gained attention with her one-woman show, “Feeling Sad/Mad,” at the UCB Theatre. She co-starred in BRIDESMAIDS (Universal) and has also appeared in 21 JUMP STREET (Sony), IDENTITY THIEF (Universal), THEY CAME TOGETHER (Lionsgate) and SOMEWHERE (Focus Features).
Zach Cherry is a series regular on the Emmy-nominated suspense drama SEVERANCE on Apple+. He is also a series regular on the FOX animated comedy DUNCANVILLE, and can be seen in the Roku Original Series MOST DANGEROUS GAME alongside Liam Hemsworth and Christof Waltz. He recently recurred on HBO SUCCESSION, LIVING WITH YOURSELF on Netflix, YOU on Netflix. and was a series regular on NBC’s I FEEL BAD.
Other television credits include the lead voice role in the Comedy Central animated film WASHINGTONIA, recurring roles as the voice of “Ben Carson” on Showtime’s OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT, TBS’s THE LAST OG, HBO’s CRASHING, SyFy’s THE MAGICIANS, FOX’s THE RESIDENT and TBS. SEARCH PARTY On the film side, he can currently be seen in SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. He has appeared in SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING, Stephen Soderbergh’s thriller UNSANE opposite Claire Foy, AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN with Aubrey Plaza and Craig Robinson, SIN’T IT ROMANTIC with Rebel Wilson and Liam Hemsworth, and IRREPLACEABLE YOU with Gugu Mbatha.
“The Great American Baking Show” is executive produced by Richard McKerrow, Al Edgington, Joe LaBracio, Jeremy Finn and John Hesling.
Love Productions USA develops and produces addictively watchable unscripted competition formats and award-winning documentary series for network, cable and premium streaming services. It is a division of UK-based Love Productions, operating under the SKY umbrella, with an impressive portfolio of thought-provoking programs across all genres and platforms, including the hugely popular formats, ‘The Great British Bake -Off” “. The Great British Sewing Bee” and “The Great Pottery Throw Down”.
Known for bringing hit UK formats to the US with distinctive adaptations, Love Productions USA also develops original long-form television programming, documentaries and shorts. The company is led by Emmy(R) Award-winning producers Joe LaBracio and Al Edgington, who have a proven track record in documentaries, scripted and unscripted entertainment, features and daytime television.
The Roku Channel is the exclusive home of Roku Originals. From award-winning scripted entertainment and compelling documentaries to new unscripted series, Roku Originals gives viewers free access to bold, fresh entertainment from the biggest names in Hollywood. Half of the top 10 on-demand titles by reach on The Roku Channel in 2021 were Roku Originals.
Launched in 2017, The Roku Channel is the home of free and premium entertainment on the Roku platform. In the fourth quarter of 2021, The Roku Channel reached an estimated 80 million homes in the United States. The Roku Channel was one of the top 5 channels on the Roku platform in the United States by active account reach and share of streaming hours in the second quarter of 2022. Today, The Roku Channel features diverse programming of more than 80,000 free movies and shows and 300+ free live streaming. US TV Channels Licenses and distributes content from over 250 partners. In addition to Roku devices, The Roku Channel is available on web, iOS and Android devices, Amazon Fire TV and select Samsung TVs and can be accessed internationally in the US, Canada and UK.
###
About Roku, Inc.
Roku pioneered streaming to TV. We connect users with the real-time content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Roku streaming players and TV-related audio devices are available in the US and select countries through direct retail sales and licensing agreements with service carriers. Roku TV(TM) models are available in the US and select countries through licensing agreements with TV brands. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA
This press release contains “forward-looking” statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and information currently available as of the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, the content, benefits, features, timing and availability of Roku Originals on The Roku Channel, including “The Great American Baking Show”; trends related to streaming television; and the features, benefits, growth and reach of The Roku Channel and the Roku Platform. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if there is a new information available in the future. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are detailed from time to time in the reports that Roku, Inc. filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on Roku’s website and are available from Roku without charge.
Roku is a registered trademark of Roku, Inc. in the US and other countries. The trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies appearing in this press release are the property of their respective owners.
