Free streamer Fawesome has dropped a pair of original series, including its first competition show.
Southern Food Truck Wars and Fawesome Family Game Show have been added to the ad-supported service, which offers family-friendly content.
Southern Food Truck Wars is a six-episode series that takes place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where food trucks compete for the title of Southern Food Truck Champion. Celebrity chef Jay Ducote is host as chefs battle over their signature dishes to impress the judges on three key criteria: presentation, taste and execution. The panel of judges includes Ducote, along with Joshua K. Carpenter, Tameeka Stewart and Darrell Freeman. The overall winner takes home $1,000 and a $5,000 advertising package.
Fawesome Family Game Show is billed as ‘a lively quiz show hosted by LaTangela Fay, where two teams compete in fast-paced, reimagined classic games.” These include games inspired by Pictionary, Scrabble and Boggle, word chains and Family Feud-style guessing. The winner takes home $1,000 each episode.
CAaron L. Williams of Digital Media Studios and Joshua K. Carpenter of Global Content are the creators. The show is directed by Aaron L. Williams and produced by Williams and Carpenter, with Vikrant Mathur and Alok Ranjan as executive producers. The series comprises six episodes.
“These shows represent a fresh take on beloved competition formats,” Williams said. “With Southern Food Truck Wars, we’re celebrating the rich culinary traditions of the South through the lens of modern food truck culture, while Fawesome Family Game Show brings a dynamic, new energy to classic games that families already love. Bringing these two shows to life has been a rewarding journey, and there is no better home for them than Fawesome.”
“Our data shows that families are shifting dramatically to streaming, these original series create the perfect environment for advertisers to connect with engaged family audiences,” said Mathur, who is co-founder of Fawesome parent Future Today. “We’re offering advertisers a unique opportunity to reach the primary purchasing decision-makers in brand-safe and premium environments that prove to drive results.”
Fawesome began making original shows last year through Greenwood Rising: The Rise of Black Wall Street and The Peanut Man, a pair of feature films that dropped late in 2024. The service offers a library of free movies such as The Reader, The Pianist and Midnight in Paris in English and Spanish.
Mathur said Fawesome was measuring the success of its originals though “viewership and engagement,” as he espoused the value of free streaming services.
“Whether our audience is engaging with trivia, learning new recipes, or enjoying compelling storytelling, success lies in creating meaningful connections with our viewers and providing them with a steady flow of new and exclusive content,” he added. “If the series resonates with our audience, we aim to explore new partnerships, expand collaborations, and greenlight additional seasons.”
Mathur claimed Future Today was the largest indie streamer operating, with around 10 million monthly active users across 300 channels, including Fawesome and FilmRise.
“With our extensive reach and audience engagement, we are open to a variety of business models — from fully funding productions to partial financing to exclusively distributing the content to sharing rights in some capacity,” he told Deadline. “Our goal is to support our production partners in whatever capacity they need, while delivering premium, entertaining content to viewers at no cost, especially during a time when subscription fees are at an all-time high.
“We believe quality and exclusive content should be accessible to everyone. By using an ad-supported model, we create a platform that benefits all parties involved—viewers enjoy free, engaging experiences, advertisers gain an opportunity to share their messaging in a way that aligns with consumer interests, and we bridge the gap between the two.”