Studio TF1 Makes Major Animation Play With ‘Yes Chef,’ $25 Million Family Feature About an Animal Pastry Competition (EXCLUSIVE)
Studio TF1 is making one of its most significant investments in animated features in recent memory, boarding “Yes Chef,” an original $25 million family comedy set inside the high-pressure, fur-flying world of a televised pastry competition.
The ambitious project, unveiled during the Annecy Animation Film Festival, is being produced by Studio TF1 and Matthieu Zeller’s Octopolis and nWave Pictures (“Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness”). The film is expected to be released in 2028.
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Based on an original idea by Clara Oeyen and Matthieu Zeller, “Yes Chef” is written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin, whose credits include Disney’s live-action “Mulan” and Skydance Animation’s “Spellbound.” Annie Carrel and Benjamin Mousquet, who previously worked on “Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness” and its sequel, “Chickenhare and the Secret of the Groundhog,” are directing.
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The project marks a notable step for Studio TF1 as it builds up its film distribution operation in France while also leaning on the expertise of its animation studio Blue Spirit and its international sales team, led by Rodolphe Buet and Alice Damiani. As such, Studio TF1 will roll out the film theatrically in local cinemas, on top pf handling international sales, making “Yes Chef” a full-scale play across development, production, French distribution and global sales.
“It’s a project on which Studio TF1 has fully partnered with Matthieu Zeller from the very beginning and we’ve been working hand in hand,” Nathalie Toulza Madar, the managing director of Studio TF1’s film division, told Variety in an interview alongside Zeller during the Annecy festival.
Toulza Madar also confirmed “there isn’t another recent animated project like ‘Yes Chef,’ where the studio is investing so fully alongside an outside partner.” “That’s what makes this association quite strong,” she added, noting that Studio TF1 and Zeller also just collaborated on “Les Gendarmes,” a comicbook-based film.
The animation on “Yes Chef” is being handled by nWave Studios, Octopolis and Blue Spirit, while UMedia is on board as tax shelter partner.
The move comes at a time when French animation continues to punch above its weight internationally, driven by a deep talent pool of artists, directors, writers and technicians, even as the sector faces new pressures from AI and shifting production models. One of the most visible recent examples is “Minions & Monsters,” the latest installment in Illumination’s billion-dollar “Despicable Me” franchise, which was co-written and directed by French animator, Pierre Coffin. Zeller, a former high-ranking executive at Studiocanal, also has a track record in delivering reasonably budgeted indie European animation movies that work well in theaters. The “Chickenhare” sequel which he produced drew 858,000 admissions in France last year.
“Yes Chef” — “Oui Chef” in French — unfolds in an anthropomorphic animal world around a long-running TV pastry contest hosted by charismatic chef André Lamour. The competition, which has been on the air for 20 years, brings together duos of contestants, including a grandmother sheep and her teenage lamb grandson, deer cousins, twin cat sisters and other animal bakers.
Behind the scenes is Jeanne Gazelle, a frazzled producer panicking over declining ratings. With the help of an army of small rabbits operating cameras, lights and the entire studio machinery, she pushes the show toward increasingly spectacular challenges — until the stunts become so outrageous that they barely have anything to do with baking anymore. As the competition spins out of control, the contestants rebel with a cry of “No Chef,” taking back the show and returning it to what Zeller describes as the heart of baking: working together, sharing something, and taking pleasure in making and eating a good cake.
“It’s a real comedy in that world,” Zeller said. “The trials pile up with all the comedy and spectacle you can imagine — flour, eggs, falling meringues, fur exploding everywhere.”
Zeller said the idea grew out of several converging trends, from the enduring popularity of baking shows to the explosion of baking videos on TikTok and the broader family appeal of food as entertainment.
“We built our conviction around the fact that this is a universe where we are legitimate as French and European creators,” Zeller said. “It’s also something that is quite new, and it carries meaning — around family bonds, sharing and being together.”
He added that baking and cooking are “very much a family thing,” which made the project fit naturally with the kind of broad-audience animated features nWave has been making, “to bring children, parents and grandparents together in a movie theater,” Zeller said.
The film is also designed as a new original IP, rather than an extension of an existing franchise — a point that both Zeller and Toulza Madar emphasized.
“It’s clearly a new brand, but one that very clearly has IP potential,” Toulza Madar said. “For now, we are starting with the feature film, which is already a big endeavor, knowing that it has the potential to be developed in different formats.”
Zeller said the theatrical release is central to that strategy. “We have the conviction that building IP begins with the feature film. There are other ways to build IP, but our belief is that it is through the theatrical release, through the theatrical event, that you build its life,” he argued.
At $25 million, “Yes Chef” sits in the same budget range as nWave’s recent features: modest compared with major U.S. studio animation, but ambitious by European standards. Zeller said the film will use the 3D animation techniques nWave has long practiced, while continuing to evolve the studio’s visual language. The project will also mark a technical shift: it will be the first nWave film made entirely with a Maya-Houdini pipeline.
Studio TF1 was at Cannes this year with several titles, including László Nemes’ World War II drama “Moulin,” which played in competition and stars Gilles Lellouche as French Resistance hero Jean Moulin.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price subsidising their life by livestreaming
Venezuela Fury and her husband Noah Price look to be making their own way in the world by raking it in from their lucrative social media accounts.
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury, 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year.
Since getting married and moving in together the couple have been earning thousands of pounds a month, livestreaming their life as newlyweds in their static caravan in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
And fans can't get enough of their regular life updates on TikTok and Kick, which have proved to be very profitable for the pair.
They look to be supporting themselves after Noah denied that he was given £5million by Venezuela's family as a wedding gift.
Despite his wife's huge family wealth, an estimated combined £160 million, Noah recently told his Kick followers that he 'pays for everything' for the couple.
Making light of the claims about Venezuela's millionaire financial status, Noah said: 'I actually pay for everything unfortunately. You'd expect the millionaire to pay for it wouldn't you.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price are earning thousands livestreaming their caravan life - after her new groom insisted he pays all the bills and denied he had £5m handout from her dad
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury , 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year
Venezuela then asked their fans: 'Do you think I am a millionaire?'
Noah joked: 'She isn't a secret millionaire guys', before she broke into song and sang: 'But I live like a millionaire!'
But it seems according to estimated calculations from their social media work, Noah and Venezuela can more than afford to support themselves.
Noah has been livestreaming on platforms such as Kick and TikTok, where viewers can send paid gifts or donations.
He was previously encouraging viewers to send gifts on his honeymoon during livestreams, suggesting this is one revenue stream.
Both Noah and Venezuela have built substantial followings on Instagram and TikTok. They can potentially earn money through sponsored posts, brand collaborations, affiliate links and creator payouts.
Kick allows its creators to take home 95 per cent of the £4.99 subscription cost that fans pay.
Streamers keep 100 per cent of direct tips and donations, minus minor standard payment processing fees.
It is unclear how many subscribers Noah currently has because this information is hidden, but he does have 7,200 followers which is publicly viewable.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million
In one video on their honeymoon, Noah asked his followers if they'd give them some more gifts now that they were married.
In a TikTok live viewed by 20,000 he said: 'Keep liking our videos people, keep sending gifts.'
After saying thank you to several of his followers he joked they should stick around on the livestream and 'watch Venezuela punch me in the mouth'.
The other half of the honeymooning couple said: 'I am, honestly!'
Noah previously confirmed that the pair don't share their finances after they were asked whether they have a shared bank account.
'She earns her money, I earn mine,' said Noah, as Venezuela joked: 'Yeah, what you gonna do about it.'
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'.
Meanwhile Venezuela is being eyed up by executives for a fly on the wall TV series.
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'
Boasting 1.3 million TikTok followers, Venezuela is already entertaining fans with her honest musings and candid moments, from cooking to kitting out her and Noah's static caravan home.
And following the success of the Netflix series At Home With The Furys, it is no wonder bosses are wanting to draw on the Fury popularity.
A TV insider said: 'The couple are not A-list celebrities but everyone has become obsessed with their love story.
'People are genuinely intrigued by them. Whether it’s the fact they have married so young, Venezuela’s famous family or their gypsy lifestyle, they have the ‘X factor'.
'Several TV executives think a proper fly-on-the-wall series following their lives as newlyweds in the gypsy community would be fascinating,' they told The Sun.
It is thought Netflix would be likely to produce the series due to their already established relationship with the Furys.
Venezuela's representatives told The Daily Mail: 'We have many offers on the table regarding Venezuela which we are discussing.'
