Chris Petrikin is stepping down as chief communications officer at 20th Century Fox.
The longtime film studio PR chief, who joined Fox in 2007, will leave his position at the end of the year. At that time, he plans to form a strategic communications and crisis management consultancy, which will count Fox as a client.
Until then, Petrikin will continue working in his current role, while assisting 20th Century Fox Chairman and CEO Stacey Snider to transition his role.
“For the last decade, my Fox colleagues have been a second family to me,” said Petrikin in a statement. “I will miss working alongside all of these incredibly talented people, with whom I have had the pleasure of sharing a front-row seat to witness groundbreaking filmmaking and a transformation of the industry.”
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“Chris’s impact at Fox over so many years is almost impossible to measure,” added Snider. “He has guided our communications strategies across all of the areas of our business. His position requires coalition building, focus and the ability to be calm in a storm. We wish him all the best in his new endeavor and expect to be clients and beneficiaries of his tremendous experience in the future.”
Petrikin joined Fox in February 2007 from the William Morris Agency to oversee corporate communications, media relations, trade advertising, awards campaigns, special events and charitable activities for the studio’s worldwide operations. He joined William Morris in 2002 after working as a reporter and editor for several publications, including Variety, Daily Variety, Inside.com and Inside Magazine, and has also contributed to such outlets as GQ, Esquire, Los Angeles Times, Premiere and Salon.com.
His new venture will focus on corporate brand development, crisis communications and strategic positioning for entertainment, media, technology, and philanthropic clients. Said Petrikin, “With the media and technology industries evolving at such a rapid pace, it’s an exciting time to venture out on my own to help clients protect their brands, define themselves and get their messages out.”
