In a lively TV studio situated on the scenic banks of the Thames in London, a crew of enthusiastic comedians is attempting—though almost entirely failing—to entertain a gameshow audience. The atmosphere is charged with anticipation, and the challenge of eliciting laughter from the audience intensifies the stakes of the show.

Initially, the whole experience feels quite unsettling. Typically, studio audiences are not known for their discerning sense of humor. However, in this unique setting, that’s the crux of the show’s premise. Each time an audience member so much as chuckles or sneezes, money is deducted from a hefty prize pool of £250,000 (approximately $330,000), with minor noises potentially costing them up to £10,000 (around $13,000) each time. Unfortunately for the audience, all 75 participants are equipped with cameras and microphones, while a team of serious-looking officials monitors the sound levels, ready to hit a buzzer at the slightest disturbance.

The show, aptly titled “Silence is Golden”, is set to premiere on UKTV on May 5. In a remarkable twist, the format has already been sold to four other countries across Europe and Latin America even before the first episode has aired, highlighting its attractive premise and potential for international appeal.

This innovative program is the first creation from Sure Sure Media, an independent production company launched in 2023. Remarkably, the company attracted a diverse and impressive group of investors without having any televised content to its name. Notable investors include Elisabeth Murdoch‘s creative powerhouse Sister, known for producing acclaimed shows like “Chernobyl” and “Black Doves”, alongside prominent figures such as former “Friends” star Courteney Cox, Snow Patrol musician Johnny McDaid, and pop sensation and frequent collaborator with Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, who received an Oscar nomination for his work on the song “Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”.

The visionary behind “Silence is Golden” is Richard Bacon, the founder of Sure Sure Media, who has recently returned to London after spending nine years in Los Angeles to lead his company. His return marks a significant chapter in his career, as he aims to leverage his experience and creativity in this new venture.

Bacon, widely recognized in the UK as a talented TV and radio host for nearly two decades since the late 1990s, passionately shares that the idea for the show struck him one morning.

“I woke up with this vivid image in my mind of [Brit comedian and TV host] Jimmy Carr standing in front of a studio audience that wasn’t allowed to make any noise—any sound would cause them to start losing money,” he recalls, eyeing a bowl of croissants. “I thought: that’s a compelling format. So I spent three hours fleshing it out.”

Bacon, who describes himself as someone who lives and breathes ideas, expresses his enthusiasm, saying, “They bring me joy,” with a radiant smile. He attributes his creative drive to a recently diagnosed strong case of ADHD, which he claims allows him to enjoy “hyper-focusing” on every idea. “I’ll be thinking about concepts and refining them at 9 PM on a Saturday night or even on Christmas Day, and I often wake up at 4 AM to jot down notes on my phone.”

Bacon’s unique approach to idea generation—not limited to silent studio formats—has captivated his investors, many of whom were friends before transitioning into business partners.

He is regarded as a “uniquely gifted creative” with an “extraordinary ability to generate original, scalable ideas that resonate on a global scale,” according to Murdoch, who founded the successful “Masterchef” producer Shine before launching Sister with Jane Featherstone. Arthur Essebag, founder of Pride, who also started his career in local radio like Bacon, notes, “Richard truly thinks differently.”

Bacon’s innovative concepts are the driving force behind Sure Sure, which has rapidly evolved from an idea into a vibrant creative hub where he proudly states, “there’s a lot happening all at once.”

Indeed, as he speaks, he stands before a wall adorned with a well-organized grid of A4 sheets featuring brief descriptions of nearly 30 ideas encompassing talent, quiz, reality, dating, and cooking shows, as well as live events. Most sheets are embellished with colorful Post-It notes where updates have been hastily scribbled.

Some of the ideas are merely a few words accompanied by a screen-captured image from a movie—loose concepts that likely require further development—while others are fully-fledged projects advancing at a rapid pace. Three projects are set to enter pilot stage this summer, including a quiz show, a major talent competition being developed for a U.S. network, and an adventure reality series “on a Survivor-type scale, but infused with absurdity,” intended for a streaming platform. Bacon also reveals that another talent show and a reality series have just entered funded development with streaming services.

A substantial number of the A4 sheets reference well-known personalities from the realms of TV and music (many of whom, like his investors, have become Bacon’s friends). One show in late-stage development is poised to feature a major Hollywood star, marking their first foray into a high-concept game show that bridges the worlds of TV and video gaming.

Many of these concepts sound absolutely hilarious. “We can’t produce anything that isn’t funny,” Bacon chuckles. “It has to have a narrative, and a compelling story. But fundamentally, it must be humorous.”

Despite Bacon’s passionate elaborations on each project, whether it be a “hybrid of Big Brother and the X-Factor,” a format simply dubbed “The Best Quiz Show in the World,” or another project with the intriguing tagline “One Woman, One Problem: Too Many Men,” specific details remain under wraps for now.

However, one notable aspect that can be discussed is Sure Sure’s proprietary technology, the WOMI, which is still undergoing testing and several months away from its official launch.

A core element of Bacon’s vision for Sure Sure is establishing it as a “formats company that bridges TV and tech.” The WOMI resembles an iPhone encased in a somewhat bulky, military-grade casing. Yet, it has the potential to revolutionize and streamline unscripted programming by effectively placing, as Bacon puts it, “a reality TV crew in your pocket.”

Essentially, when the WOMI device is activated, a high-quality TV camera on the front starts recording a close-up of the user while they look at the screen, while the rear camera simultaneously captures what the device is aimed at. Any on-screen activity, such as text messaging or video calls, is documented as well. Once the device is set down, each of these recordings is converted into data and uploaded to the cloud, enabling immediate remote editing.

“It’s not a consumer product, as that would require a crazy investment,” Bacon clarifies. “What we’ve developed is a business-to-business solution—it’s designed by producers for producers, aimed at television, and brands, and it generates content for platforms like YouTube, and will be integrated into many of our shows.”

The concept for WOMI came to Bacon during another moment of inspiration while spending time with three-time Oscar nominee Stephen Daldry. “We were watching a Christopher Nolan film together, and he told me that the secret to all screen drama lies in the close-up,” he states. “It made me realize that all significant life lessons are learned through your phone, so you’re effectively placing yourself in a close-up for all the vital information you’ll ever receive.” Following this, Bacon reached out to software engineering friends in LA, who are now part of Sure Sure Media, and challenged them to create something that could harness this idea.

To demonstrate the capabilities of WOMI in reality filmmaking, Sure Sure produced an initial test of a “self-shot” series where a group of college students were provided with WOMI devices and asked to document their daily lives. The resulting footage showcases what Bacon describes as “genuine, raw content,” featuring a scene from the promo where one of the students is seen writing to a boy she’s been flirting with on her phone, while her excited friends watch, the animated ellipses indicating that he is responding, and the gasps from the group as they read his replies.

“I observed their reactions and realized that, with WOMI, anything can be considered drama,” Bacon explains. “My perspective is akin to how ‘Planet Earth’ captured bats flying at night; this is about capturing young people in their natural habitat.”

Sure Sure is now set to self-finance “The College Girls of Liverpool” as a series of 10-15 minute episodes that will be directly uploaded to YouTube with sponsorship, followed by a U.S. counterpart titled “The College Girls of Miami.”

But this is merely the beginning. There are numerous additional plans for WOMI that include not only incorporating it into Sure Sure formats but also utilizing it in pre-existing shows produced elsewhere and offering it to brands. WOMI was employed in the company’s debut venture into live events, the Red Bull Culture Clash, a head-to-head music battle held in London’s expansive Drumsheds, which was broadcast live. Using WOMI—soon to have live-streaming capabilities—audience members or those backstage can effectively become part of the crew.

“The exciting part,” Bacon points out, is that he recently secured the patent for this technology, something he admits he didn’t anticipate. “We now hold an absolute monopoly, under U.S. patent law, to create a device that simultaneously records the screen and your reactions to that screen.”

However, the WOMI—which Bacon suggests is “in some ways our biggest project, and also slightly the slowest”—is not just a sophisticated gadget that adds a new close-up personal touch to unscripted television. It also has the potential to drive Sure Sure’s success during a time of uncertainty in the entertainment industry.

“I don’t want to rely solely on receiving 10% of a production fee, especially as this market is on the decline—and those fees get capped anyway,” Bacon asserts. With this technology—if leased out to television producers or offered to brands with a revenue-sharing model—the company can create entirely new revenue streams, similar to how it generates sponsorship for its self-produced YouTube shows.

“It serves as a cautionary reminder that the industry is in a rather peculiar state,” Bacon states. “So we are genuinely trying to think differently.”

Even though there is little to showcase in terms of tangible content available at this moment, the prospects sound incredibly impressive (assuming you can keep pace with Bacon as he energetically jumps from one thought to the next). However, for those familiar with the British entertainment scene, becoming a hyper-creative, tech-focused innovator in the realm of unscripted TV was likely not the trajectory they anticipated for him.

Bacon’s journey began at the age of 17 on BBC radio in the early 1990s, leading to a life-changing opportunity as a host on the iconic children’s show “Blue Peter” in 1997. Unfortunately, his tenure ended in infamy 18 months later when he was dismissed following a tabloid report about his cocaine use. “12-hour drug-fueled scandal of children’s TV idol,” blared the now-defunct News of the World (ironically run by Murdoch senior). The seriousness of the incident compelled the BBC’s then-children’s head to awkwardly address the firing on air to the young audience.

Bacon’s cancellation was short-lived, and just a few months later, he was among the vibrant young personalities hosting the groundbreaking and anarchic 90s morning show “The Big Breakfast,” a role he credits with first putting him “in the mindset of ideas.” Numerous other TV and radio gigs followed, culminating in an extended run as the host of his own talk radio show with the BBC. However, in 2014, he decided to leave it all behind, relocating to LA with his wife and two children.

When a U.S. travelogue TV concept fell through (indeed, it occurred before Bacon had even departed from the UK), he experienced nearly a year-long phase of unemployment, which was ultimately broken when he secured a role hosting the National Geographic Channel’s “Explorer.” The debut episode featured him hiking through Yosemite with Barack Obama during the final days of his presidency. “And that was my first day’s work in America!” he reminisces. There were additional opportunities, primarily on U.S. daytime television, and then, in the summer of 2018, Bacon experienced a life-altering moment.

“I went into a coma—and I was expected to die,” he recounts rather nonchalantly. A lung infection, first felt while on a flight back to London from LA, led doctors to induce a coma, from which he awakened nine days later.

“And that changed everything. When I emerged from that experience, I decided: I’m going to pursue what I was meant to do, which is create formats,” he declares. Thus, motivated by this “near-death experience,” he quit his job and spent the following year developing three formats that went into pilot and then into series. NBC signed him to an overall deal, after which he set out to chart his own course in the unscripted realm with Sure Sure Media.

Of course, it helped that by this point, the naturally sociable and very likable Bacon had built a substantial network of influential industry friends over nearly three decades in both the UK and the U.S. Among them is Elisabeth Murdoch, who “bought into the vision” for Sure Sure through Sister when it was merely a concept. “They excel at supporting creatives,” he notes.

Through his friendship with Johnny McDaid from Snow Patrol, he became acquainted with his partner Courteney Cox—“just such a genuinely nice person”—while also developing a close relationship with Savan Kotecha (“we talk every day”). All three joined as investors, along with Arthur Essebag’s Pride.

“Sure, I know all these individuals, but they are all talented and fascinating—it’s, selfishly, about having investors that I enjoy being around, with whom I feel comfortable socially, but who are also strategically beneficial to the company,” he explains, adding that he has collaborated with both McDaid and Kotecha on format development.

Additionally, there are the Sure Sure creatives that Bacon has assembled around him. He explains, without a hint of bravado, “all ideas start with me, all of them.” It’s not rooted in arrogance or any sense of megalomania, but rather Bacon’s ADHD. “It’s quite challenging to articulate, but I’m just not that good with other people’s ideas, even if they’re brilliant,” he admits. “For me to truly care about an idea, it has to originate from me; otherwise, I struggle to work with it.”

While this may seem like an unorthodox creative process for any production company, Bacon has an “elite team” that brings these ideas to life. Among them are his two significant hires, who were brought on board in late 2023. Mark Sidaway, head of entertainment, known as “Sid,” is a five-time BAFTA-winning executive producer and served as showrunner on “The X Factor” for ten seasons. Sidaway is spearheading Sure Sure’s “big push” into live events. Then there’s Lydia Arding, director of production, who was recruited from Hilary and Chelsea Clinton’s label Hidden Light. Arding previously held the role of head of factual production at the major producer-agency Avalon.

This team’s task, alongside receiving random emails late on a Saturday night filled with lightbulb moments, is to refine whatever ideas Bacon generates into a manageable selection of actionable formats. Because, with ADHD, he warns, it’s “very easy to have a multitude of ideas and not finish them.”

Bacon points to a room at the other end of the office where the team gathers to improve concepts and “build the deck, write and refine, write and refine,” repeatedly until they reach satisfaction. “At one point, there were 49 ideas in there, but now we’ve narrowed it down to 12,” he says. “Twelve is still a lot when you say it out loud, but it’s certainly better than 49!”

With its patented proprietary technology, A-list investors, a format that is set to debut on screens and has already been sold internationally, along with many more projects in the pipeline, Sure Sure Media presents itself as a high-concept startup that has hit the ground running and continues to accelerate.

However, there also exists a wonderfully frenzied and unpredictable energy within the company, suggesting it could suddenly, out of the blue—and completely casually—discover the next major global format in entertainment. It might already be there—perhaps lingering on the wall, encapsulated in just three words printed on an A4 sheet, patiently awaiting refinement.

Regardless of what this next significant global entertainment format may be, it is highly likely that the initial idea came to Sure Sure‘s creatively charged founder in the early morning hours, quickly jotted down on his phone.

As Bacon enthusiastically articulates, “I like to inject chaos into everything, genuinely.”