LA Times Studios and Amaze to Launch Food Channel LA, a Next-Generation Creator-led Commerce Platform

LA Times Studios, a Los Angeles Times Media Group (LATMG) company, and Amaze Holdings, Inc., a global leader in creator-powered commerce, have announced a strategic collaboration to launch Food Channel LA — a creator-led commerce platform designed to bring live shopping, creator programming and direct-to-consumer product experiences into one scalable ecosystem.

Food Channel LA marks LA Times Studios’ expansion into social commerce, establishing a fully integrated, transaction-enabled platform powered by Amaze’s commerce infrastructure and launched through Amaze’s operating studio model with Contend serving as Amaze’s first operating studio partner.

The platform brings together: LA Times Studios’ brand authority, facilities and national audience reach; Amaze’s end-to-end commerce engine, logistics and creator monetization tools; and Contend’s operating team focused on scalable creator formats and monetization.

Food Channel LA will operate as a live, commerce-enabled creator platform, with programming that includes: creator-led cooking shows; live shopping events and product drops; commerce-enabled brand integrations; on-site activations and ticketed experiences; and recurring formats designed for national syndication and scale.

Content will be distributed across the LA Times Studios website and social channels, Food Channel properties and participating creator channels — leveraging the collective reach of creators alongside trusted media brands.

Food Channel LA is built on Amaze’s infrastructure, enabling direct product sales, inventory management, fulfillment and real-time revenue participation for creators and partners. In line with the company’s shift toward scalable media-commerce monetization, the platform is expected to drive higher margin transaction revenues.

“Media has experimented with commerce for years,” said Aaron Day, CEO of Amaze. “This is different. With LA Times Studios and Contend as our first operating studio partner, we’re launching a true creator-commerce platform where live programming, product drops and cultural storytelling translate directly into transactions. LA Times Studios is truly the first major publisher to launch a full-scale social commerce initiative.”

“This is our step into fully integrated social commerce,” said Anna Magzanyan, president of LA Times Studios. “We’re combining our trusted brand and production capabilities with Amaze’s commerce engine and a creator-led operating model built for today’s market.”

While launching in Los Angeles, the Food Channel LA framework is built for national scale and designed to expand into additional markets and syndication partnerships.

Food Channel LA is expected to begin onboarding creators and brand partners immediately, with initial live activations and programming to roll out by May 2026.