Fox 21 Taps Chris Carlisle as President

By Josef Adalian

Former FX and New Line marketing chief Chris Carlisle has been named president of Fox 21, the 20th Century Fox TV production unit behind “Sons of Anarchy” and “Beauty and the Geek.”

Mr. Carlisle will be the first executive to hold a president’s title at Fox 21. The unit, which was founded in 2004 as a home for lower-cost production, had previously been overseen by senior VP of Creative Affairs Jane Francis.

Ms. Francis is staying at the company and will continue to have day-to-day oversight of Fox 21’s current programming and its development slate. She will report to Mr. Carlisle, while Mr. Carlisle will report to 20th chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman.

Mr. Carlisle is being brought in to expand Fox 21’s domestic and international productions and to build the Fox 21 brand, creating what the company called “a distinct programming identity through which all series development will be filtered.” That approach is one used frequently at cable networks such as FX and USA, but it hasn’t been as prevalent at production studios.

Mr. Carlisle told TelevisionWeek that he will base the Fox 21 brand on News Corp.’s overall reputation for being a bit edgy.

“Part of what it is in the Fox DNA, and across the entire corporation, is doing things that are creatively courageous or adventurous,” he said.

While Fox 21 has been focusing its development efforts of late on cable networks, Mr. Carlisle said he sees the studio working more closely with broadcasters. “I think the networks are going to be a marketplace for Fox 21 because of the changing economics,” he said.

Mr. Newman and Ms. Walden issued a joint statement praising Mr. Carlisle as an executive who will “make a huge impact” on the studio.

“Growing Fox 21 is one of our top priorities, and we think Chris is exactly the right person to take it to the next level,” Ms. Walden and Mr. Newman said in a joint statement. “He’s done so much in his career, but we were particularly impressed with what he accomplished at FX. No one is better at building a brand and making noise with bold programming in a cluttered, competitive television environment than Chris.”

Mr. Carlisle most recently was president of domestic theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where he oversaw campaigns for “Sex and the City” and “Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay.”

Before that, he was head of marketing at Fox, creating campaigns for “House,” “24” and “American Idol.” He had previously been at FX, where he oversaw the marketing launches for signature series “The Shield” and “Nip/Tuck.”

Mr. Carlisle was awarded TVWeek’s Campaign of Distinction award for his work on “House.”