Fox outlines duties of sports producer at Sports Media Alumni Day
Independent producer Bart Fox was the keynote speaker for the school’s first Sports Media Alumni Day, and he was joined by several other alumni who shared their career advice and networked with students aspiring to similar careers.
Organized by associate professor and National Sports Journalism Center director Galen Clavio, the day-long event April 8 drew about 40 students to workshops, talks, lunches and casual conversations.
Fox, BA’90, opened the afternoon discussion by describing his duties are as a producer of live sporting events. He said a broadcast includes many moving parts, and his job is to get all of those parts moving in one smooth direction.
“A broadcast to me is two to three hours of following, leading, announcing, deciding and communicating,” said Fox, who has been in the industry for more than 25 years, working closely with ESPN to produce college football and basketball games.
With live sports, he said, one never knows what will happen – and that’s his favorite element of his job.
“I love the heat of the moment,” he said. “I love when stuff hits the fan, and it’s all reaction.”
Fox advised that producing and working live sporting events isn’t for everyone. Unlimited opportunities at IU allow students to get involved early to learn what they like and don’t like, he said.
In addition, students need this experience in college to make it in the real world. As someone who has worked with every major announcer from Dan Dakich to Erin Andrews, Fox stressed that giving and taking feedback is the most important ability to have in the sports media industry.
After graduating, Fox took a job at ESPN as a cable puller for golf tournaments, where he laid down cable on the golf course, then picked it up once the tournament was finished. Though it was the lowest position one could get, Fox learned the technical side of television, such as recording audio and using cameras.
For ABC Sports, Fox was a runner for a season of Monday Night Football. He said nothing was more important during that season than getting the opportunity to drive announcers and producers to and from the airport. Once people began to know Fox, they were more inclined to giving him a job. From being a cable puller and runner, Fox worked his way up in the ranks to production assistant, graphics and eventually an Emmy Award-winning producer.
WSJV-TV Fox28 reporter Molly Jirasek, BAJ’15; Fox Bangor reporter Matt Randall, BAJ’15; CBS broadcast associate Adam Cohen, BA’15; and DraftKings social media associate Josh Handszer, BS’15, joined Fox after his talk to chat with students.