“Selling Hollywood:” a look into the future of moviegoing
By Laura Garber
by Laura Garber
Jim Fredrick spent 40 years getting people into movie theaters. But after the pandemic, even he stopped going.
“I’ve been in the business for 40 years and since COVID had not been a regular attendee,” Fredrick said.
That changed this year. Fredrick will moderate “Selling Hollywood: The Changing Business of Going to the Movies” on Thursday, November 12, at the Clark Building in Hermosa Beach. The free panel is the final installment of the Hermosa Beach Friends of the Library’s 2026 Writer’s Stage series. Frederick poses a single question: Are movie theaters really back?
Fredrick says the numbers point to yes.
“It’s been a very good year for the business,” he said. “Business is up 20% in movie attendance compared to last year, and it’s getting very close to the pre-pandemic 2019 number, which was a really good year for moviegoing before COVID hit.”
Fredrick led marketing at Castle Rock Entertainment, Warner Bros. and Sony Screen Gems. He worked on campaigns for “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Million Dollar Baby” and the “Harry Potter” franchise. He taught film at Chapman University for years. He titled his memoir “Opening Weekend” and hosts the podcast “Opening Weekend: Selling Hollywood.”
He said the theater business took two hits.
“Don’t forget, even before COVID hit, streaming was really putting a huge dent into people going to the movies,” Fredrick said. “And COVID was rocket fuel for that movement.”
Home screens got bigger. Sound systems got better. The content never stopped.
“There was a lot of doomsday, people in the media saying this is the death of the movie theater,” Fredrick said.
He rejects the argument that ticket prices drove people away.
“For a family of four; four tickets, popcorn and Coke, it’s 80 bucks,” Fredrick said. “That’ll barely get you in the Dodger Stadium parking lot for a playoff game.”
Fredrick credits variety for this year’s turnaround. Studios released more original work alongside the superhero films that still earn $1 billion.
“I think the studios have done a good job in general this year of variety, and I think people want variety,” he said. “They want films that they think look right for them, whether it’s a horror film for a young person or ‘The Odyssey’ for people like me.”
Horror films do well in theaters for a reason, Fredrick said. They are cheap to make, and young people “want to get out of their house, away from their parents, but also want to be scared together.”
Then there are what he calls the “phenomenons.” His top example is “You Can See Everything,” the nearly three-hour A24 documentary released in mid-October about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim.
“Nobody saw this coming,” Fredrick said.
He called it a film that “skewers genres in the most creative way.” He also said it turns the theater into a social space.
“I hear people gasp, people talking, laughing out loud, leaning into each other, asking questions,” Fredrick said. “It promotes this kind of interactivity, ironically, in a movie theater.”
Fredrick is an Academy voter. He expects the film to earn a best picture nomination.
“I could not have had this Elizabeth Holmes movie experience at home,” he said.
Fredrick and his wife now see films at Cinema West, the small family-run chain that took over the former ArcLight site in El Segundo.
“It’s really comfortable, the popcorn is great, and to me, that matters,” Fredrick said. “It’s got my wife and I going to the movies again, because it’s nearby. It’s our local theater.”
Frederick wants to use the word “habit” when speaking of creating more incentive for moviegoing experiences.
“So the question is, after this year has shown roughly a 20% bump in ticket sales, will that create more habit?” he said. “Will that continue into next year? Will the movies be as good? Will they be as diverse? Those are questions that Hollywood has been asking for the last 100 years.”
“It’s not an exact science,” he said. “It’s as risky as Wall Street.”
The panel brings three other industry veterans. Allison Abbate is a BAFTA Award-winning producer and former executive vice president of Warner Animation Group. Her credits include “The Iron Giant,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Corpse Bride” and “The LEGO Movie.” Fredrick worked with her on “Corpse Bride” and “The Iron Giant.”
“Which, unfortunately, nobody went and saw, but has become a modern-day animated classic,” Fredrick said of “The Iron Giant.”
Corey Nathan founded Nathan, McDowell & Rose, an M&A and executive search firm that specializes in entertainment advertising. He hosts the podcast “Trailer Geeks & Teaser Gods.”
Eric Paquette is founder and CEO of Meridian Pictures & Television. He is a former senior executive at Sony’s Screen Gems and MGM. His credits include “Barbershop,” “Friends with Benefits” and “Stomp the Yard.”
Fredrick said Paquette will want to hear from the audience about what stories belong on screen.
Audiences rarely decide which films get made, Fredrick said. They usually weigh in after a film is finished, through test screenings and response cards.
“That’s how movies have always been tested in Hollywood for 100 years,” he said. “That is something that has not changed at all.”
Fredrick said the audience is the point of the evening. He wants residents of Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach to talk about their own moviegoing experience.
“I hope they raise their hand and say, ‘I finally have been to a movie theater, and this is why I went,’” Fredrick said. “I want to raise the subject of their moviegoing habit and see how it’s playing locally.”
“Selling Hollywood” starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, November 12, at the Clark Building, 861 Valley Drive. Admission is free. Reservations are recommended through HBFoL’s Eventbrite. ER
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