Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier held his first town hall event with the employees of the broadcast network on Wednesday.
Speaking to an audience of more than 300 people on the Fox lot in addition to employees in New York and elsewhere on simulcast, Collier said that he hopes employees will “walk the halls with new purpose,” according to sources.
“We are now a smaller and stronger company,” he said. “While other people have gotten bigger, we’re getting better. Each one of us has a disproportionately larger opportunity to shape what we put into the world. And that means so much more than just the shows and digital offerings. It’s the environment here, how we treat each other and our partners, how we welcome in new people and speak about Fox Entertainment, each other, and all that we’re building.
Collier also again referred to Fox as a “start up,” echoing the words of Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch at a town hall on March 21 and Collier’s own words during an executive session at the TCA winter press tour back in February.
“I’m counting on you to make me better, and I’m going to push you right back to make sure we’re all getting the best out of each other,” Collier continued. “Day one attitude is the knowledge that you’re not just a cog in the wheel, but that you’re building a new wheel. That there’s a growing vision you’re helping shape, and that every win is, in every way, a total team win.”
Collier also gave out what he referred to as “challenge coins,” which featured the Fox Entertainment logo and the date on it. “I hope you’ll always remember that you were here from the beginning of Fox Entertainment,” he said. “I want you to know that I’m proud to be on your team. I challenge you to bring a new attitude — a day-one attitude — back to your office space and back to your teams today and evermore.”
Collier’s address comes just over a week after the official closing of the 21st Century Fox-Disney merger. Fox Entertainment is now part of the standalone entity Fox Corp., which also includes Fox Television Stations Group, Fox News Group, and Fox Sports Media Group.
Disney now controls the former Fox assets of: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Family, and Fox Animation; Fox’s television creative units, Twentieth Century Fox Television, FX Productions, and Fox21; FX Networks; National Geographic Partners; Fox Networks Group International; Star India; and Fox’s interests in Hulu, Tata Sky, and Endemol Shine Group.