FOXIS

FOXIS, not to be confused with FOX, is a multimedia production company and former fiber TV provider, with their headquarters located in New Maxville, Ohio. They are well known for their several controversies and their “mediocre” programming in the 2010s. They were previously referred to as Foxy Media and Foxis Media. The current CEO is Brendan Siegel (2015-). Despite FOXIS’ several legal issues and controversies, they were able to redeem themselves and gain positive attention during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to Siegel's efforts.

## History

Foxy Media was created June 17, 1990 by William Watkins, alongside former AT&T CEO Robert E. Allen. They worked together to recruit many TV personnel across the world to create several unique and diverse television programs for local television stations, including PBS. Allen resigned in 2013 and died three years later. Watkins resigned in 2015 after controversial comments he made about the Pulse nightclub shooting. Brendan Siegel became CEO in 2015 and has maintained that position since.

As of now, FOXIS creates original programming and funds the tvpublic branch of their corporation.

## Fiber TV

From 2020-2023 FOXIS offered a Fiber TV subscription for only $20 a month, with additional channels costing $2-5 dollars. The subscription came with over 500 free channels, a receiver box with two remotes, and free installation. Prices were originally $15 and $1-3 dollars (or more) a month before the U.S. began facing inflation in 2022. In 2023, Siegel made the decision to shut down the TV service, to pay more attention to tvpublic and offer free programming.

> "Earlier this year, I found the Fiber TV subscription service to be a horrible idea. I had a realization that this may have gone against our mission statement, which is to make TV more accessible to the public. We've since shut it down and offered alternatives to our customers."
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FOXIS does however, offer digital receiver boxes to those in need of one.

## Controversy

### Rip-offs

FOXIS is well-known for their rip-offs of memorable franchises and TV shows that were made throughout the 2010s. The most popular rip-off was Star Wars: The Force Awakens Jr., which only ran for 10 episodes in 2016. Roboteens, Nurse Kaylee, and former paid station NTO, are also known rip-offs.

In April of 2020, **FOXIS** closed NTO, moving all NTO content online for free, in order to align with FOXIS' new mission statement.

### “Peegate”

”Accidents May Happen”, the 7th episode of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Jr., is the most controversial episode from the series, and the most controversial FOXIS-produced episode in the company’s history. In “Accidents May Happen”, main character Rey sleeps in the same bed with Finn. She accidentally wets the bed, which causes her to run downstairs crying. This wakes up Finn, running down the stairs to comfort her, In the morning, more of Rey’s friends come to comfort her. Han Solo jumps out of the window of the Millennium Falcon once everyone breaks into song.

Many parents who watched the show with their children were extremely uncomfortable with the episode, believing it did nothing to teach children. Some believed the episode was only made to entertain those with a “pee fetish”. The episode only aired once and never aired again. The final 3 episodes were never aired on television, and they were put online.

In late 2016, Disney had learned about FOXIS’ Star Wars rip-off. Disney did not help create the show nor did they give FOXIS consent to work on it. This led to a dispute in court, which Disney won in January of 2017. The Force Awakens Jr. can only be watched through a third-party site.

## Activism

Since Brendan Siegel became CEO of FOXIS in 2015, he made sure that FOXIS also put money towards good causes and things that would improve the company. Every year since 2015, FOXIS publishes a yearly report, which lists who they donate to and the amount of money they have given away. Siegel has also made an effort to hire a team of diverse employees, which was successful.

> *"We're a multi-million dollar corp. We never wanted to be a billion-dollar corporation, wasting their money on horrible organizations. To prevent going into the billions, we always donate excess money to charities like Make-A-Wish, GLAAD, and NAMI. More corporations should learn from us, and distribute their wealth to those who need it the most."* - Siegel in 2019
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### Clean slate

Siegel condemned the rip-offs FOXIS had produced during the Watkins era. He has made many efforts to get rid of these rip-offs and prevent any more from being made.

### Support of writers' strike

Siegel and FOXIS are avid supporters of the SAG-AFTRA/WGA strike. To further their support, they have postponed production on a majority of their programs and movies, most of them scripted. They have also pushed back some release dates and donated to union organizations.