Tonight media buyers, partners, and journalists will saunter into the White Bay Power Station events space in Rozelle for Foxtel’s 2026 upfronts presentation. It is an event that has been in the planning for around six months, with Head Of Marketing Communications
Events like this are a triumph in logistics. There’s not only the challenges of planning the event, which is expected to cater to around 600 guests, but also working through the stakeholder aspects of the task.
Among the biggest concerns for Zillman: Finding a venue that is unique.
“You want to get your venue and your invites out before your competitors, because you don’t want anyone to snag them. The venue choice is so important and why we really try to think differently and choose really cool and interesting venues each year. We really try to avoid the Hordern Pavilion and the Carriageworks and the usual places because… I think there’s three upfront events at the Hordern this year. Not saying that’s a bad thing, but it’s not the Foxtel Media way,” Zillman told Mediaweek.
Erin Zillman working on the finishing touches (she’s on the left)
This will be the second consecutive year that the White Bay Power Station has been used by Foxtel for its upfronts presentation. It was chosen again largely because last years event was deemed to be a big success by the business. Plus, as Zillman explained, “It’s such a large scale venue and a bit of a blank canvas too that you can really do whatever you want inside and make it feel like a new and interesting experience for your guests.”
With a six-month lead-time, Zillman would have safely assumed that by the time the event was staged this year, new owners DAZN would have taken control of the business. The chosen Enter The Game theme certainly has a nod to the new ownership by the European sporting media giant.
“Sporting offering is obviously very important to us. It probably was led a little bit by our acquisition of DAZN. We always like to tread the line carefully between sport and entertainment. Entertainment is also still another massive pillar of growth for us. So, we like to treat each equally. But this year, yeah, leaning a little bit more towards the sport purely because of the DAZN takeover,” Zillman said.
The need to service the entertainment side of the business ruled out going all in on using a sports-focused venue.
Attendees are going to find a lot more talent from Foxtel on stage this year. It won’t just be a parade of executives. This is one of the bigger challenges for Zillman, with talent wrangling always a hurdle.
“In previous years, it’s probably been more exec or staff heavy than talent heavy on stage. But this year, I think we are flipping it on its head. Historically, talent are really hard to try and get involved in these kinds of events. But, we’ve got a really strong presence this year, which will be great,” Zillman revealed.
Many attendees tonight will not know about some of the additional work that has gone into the event, such as the MVP Experience. This rewards 16 young agency MVP’s (Most Valuable Planners) with a VIP experience that includes pre drinks in Barangaroo, a hummer to the venue, early access, talent interviews + they their very own MVP area within the seating. Zillman believes it will be an “unforgettable experience for a handful of high performers that are the future of our industry.”
Mediaweek is also reliably informed that Adam Gilchrist will be in attendance tonight, with his tequila brand El Aquero being served.
Which brings us to the all-important topic of food and drink. This is something Zillman says she has zero concerns about.
“Alfred, our production partner, looks after that part and they take me and the team on the journey. They are so cool and progressive in that space that I just have so much trust in them that they’re going to choose the right catering vendor to go with. The food this year is looking phenomenal. We’ve got things like prawn rolls and little delicacies like that. The least amount of stress I have is the catering because Alfred do a great job every year,” she said.