Join Manhattan Beach resident Jim Fredrick, in discussing his new book: Opening Weekend: An Insider's Look at Marketing Hollywood's Hits and Flops. The book shares Fredrick’s journey through the realm of movie marketing, with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and firsthand accounts of working with studio executives and navigating relationships with famous movie stars and directors.

After starting his career in 1983 as a trailer editor and producer at famed advertising boutique Intralink, Fredrick went on to serve as president of marketing at Castle Rock Entertainment; senior vice president of creative advertising at Warner Bros.; and executive vice president of marketing at Sony Screen Gems. In 2011, he founded his own company, Jim Fredrick Motion Picture Marketing.

Across a span of thirty-five years, Fredrick’s roles as a trailer maker and studio executive allowed him to craft advertising campaigns for a range of movies, from such iconic cinematic gems as The Shawshank Redemption to the widely beloved Harry Potter franchise, to commercial failures like The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Fired Up!

Opening Weekend explores the intricacies of the lesser-known business of film distribution and marketing, unraveling the complex mechanisms through which movies are sold to discriminating audiences.