As Hell’s Kitchen marks its landmark 25th season on FOX, reality TV icon Arthur Smith, CEO of A. Smith & Co. Productions, joins ScreenMDM Talks to weigh in on building brands that last and spotting compelling ideas in the global market.
Smith founded A. Smith & Co. Productions more than 25 years ago and has since made over 200 series for 50-plus networks. His impressive stable includes the U.S. versions of Hell’s Kitchen, Ninja Warrior, and the upcoming Physical 100 for Netflix.
“Food was in a much different place in America when we started the show way back in 2004,” says Smith of Hell’s Kitchen, which he brought to the U.S. following its U.K. success with Gordon Ramsay. “Europe was a little more foodie-ish than America, but America has changed over the years. And some of that has to do with Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay, shows like Top Chef, and what’s going on on social media.”
This new season has contenders that are all under the age of 25. “We would have never been able to do a season like this if it was season two or season three, because the quality of chefs weren’t there. Because of celebrity chefs, because of food shows, because of big, big shows like ours and others, there are more young people that want to be chefs than ever before. We were doing the casting, and so many of the people who came out for the audition said they grew up watching Hell’s Kitchen and wanted to become chefs because of Gordon Ramsay. They don’t know a world without Hell’s Kitchen.”
Smith is on set every day of Hell’s Kitchen’s production schedule, working directly with Ramsay on the show’s ongoing vision. Despite the required television theatrics for a cooking show on a broadcast network, it remains focused on finding the necessary qualities for a great chef: “palate, leadership, creativity, innovation. Every challenge we do is purposeful. We may have a little bit of fun. There may be a band, there may be pyro, there may be something going on. But once we get down to it, we’re testing something real.”
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That authenticity has helped drive the show’s enduring appeal, Smith says. “There are no cameras in the kitchen, and so they don’t feel the presence. They’re in Gordon’s world. And that’s what we want them to feel. We want them to feel like they’re working in a restaurant. It stays authentic; it stays real and natural. Working at Hell’s Kitchen has become something you put on your resume. And if you get a black jacket, that’s meaningful. A lot of our non-winners who went far in the competition are doing extremely well on the back of their Hell’s Kitchen experience.”
Smith’s company, part of Tinopolis since 2011, also recently marked a major milestone, turning 25 in 2025. He puts the company’s enduring success down to being responsive and multi-genre within the non-scripted space. “We do Hell’s Kitchen, we do Ninja Warrior, and then we do Welcome to Plathville, which is a docu-soap on TLC. And then we just did Physical 100. We’re about ideas. It’s always about the storytelling. I always say it’s about making viewers feel something. Our strength has been the variety of genres that we work in. Part of our strength has been adapting to whatever the market wants and working with a lot of buyers.”
Another one of the company’s long-running brands is Ninja Warrior on NBC, adapted from the Japanese format Sasuke. The American version was running on the cable channel G4 when Comcast acquired NBC in 2011. “We went to NBC just as an act of synergy,” Smith says. Its success led NBC to pick up the show, a milestone in the story of Asian formats in the U.S.
“I don’t think we could have pitched that show to a network that would have bought it—there’s no logical reason why an obstacle course show would work on primetime.”
It did indeed work, notching up several Emmy nominations and making its way into the 2028 Olympics.
“We all have to have a little bit of luck in our lives, right? And good fortune. If Comcast doesn’t buy NBC, I don’t know where we are.”
Smith is now working on another Asian format adaptation: the U.S. version of Korea’s Physical: 100 for Netflix. He continues to watch what’s happening in the global reality TV landscape.
“It’s more important than ever that there’s a freshness to any idea that you’re bringing to a network or platform. Our genre relies on things that are different and fresh, and it’s gotten harder over the years. When we first started, there was no food competition show on network television. For Ninja, there was no obstacle-course show, or any show quite like it, anywhere on broadcast television. I’m always looking at the freshness of the concept, and that’s led us to look all around the world, of course, because sometimes their POV is different. And by the way, when I say freshness, the freshness can be the format. It could be how you shoot it. It could be the way you tell it. But it needs that something. And a lot of big shows have come from somewhere else. So you have to be wide open. I’ve been in LA long enough, and I’m also old enough to remember the days when if it wasn’t made here, or created by Americans, it couldn’t possibly work. That’s been blown wide open.”
