FRED GOLDRING is an entertainment lawyer, entertainment/new media/marketing strategist, and political activist based in Beverly Hills, California. His law firm, Goldring, Hertz, and Lichtenstein, LLP, represents numerous superstar record and performing artists, and his consulting firm, Membrain, LLC, works with several Fortune 500 companies and new media and technology enterprises. He is a member of the California and New York bars and is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Miami School of Law.

Fred is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rock The Vote, and he was Executive Producer of his client will.i.am's "Yes We Can Song" music video, for which Fred shared the 2008 Emmy Award for Best New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment. Fred is also a Co-Executive Producer of the upcoming documentary film/music project The People Speak, based on Howard Zinn's seminal work The People's History of the United States.

In 2002, Fred and his partner Ken Hertz received the Bill of Rights Award from the ACLU for their extraordinary commitment to social justice.

Fred is a frequent speaker and commentator on the subjects of entertainment, marketing, media convergence, and politics, and has been an instructor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

Blog Entries by Fred Goldring

Reflections of a Would-Be Astronaut, 40 Years Later

20 Comments | Posted July 19, 2009 | 11:04 AM (EST)


When I was a kid, I was pretty convinced I was going to become an astronaut. In fact, I was obsessed. I memorized tons of facts and figures about the space program, learned the names and backgrounds of all the astronauts in each of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space...

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"Yes We Can" Music Video: A Pre-Election Reprise

Posted November 3, 2008 | 03:38 PM (EST)


A week before Super Tuesday last February, a bunch of inspired Americans got together over two days to make a music video. Will.i.am had just written a brilliant song based on Barack Obama's speech following the New Hampshire primary. As a long-time supporter of Barack, I had been encouraging Will...

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The Power in a Genuine Obama Mandate

Posted November 2, 2008 | 01:28 PM (EST)


I've been thinking a lot recently about an article I read some years ago. The author had asked about 50 people how they would define the word "power". There were the usual responses one might expect, such as "rich and famous", "strength" or "being able to have anything you want"....

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The End of the Bradley Effect -- and the Dawn of The Palin Defect

Posted October 19, 2008 | 09:56 PM (EST)


There has been much discussion recently about whether the so-called "Bradley Effect" will contribute to the outcome of this presidential contest; whether voters in the private confines of the voting booth will actually pull the lever or punch the ballot for an African-American candidate. When Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley,...

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John McCain: Four More Years of 'You Just Don't Understand"?

Posted September 27, 2008 | 03:22 PM (EST)


For eight years now, the overarching strategy of Bush and Cheney has been to condescendingly bludgeon the public, the world and even members of their own administration with the notion that "you're either with us or you're against us." There has been no room for questioning or discussion, no transparency...

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"Flight 2008, Your Plane Is Now Boarding"

Posted September 17, 2008 | 03:46 PM (EST)


During the 2004 presidential election and for several years thereafter, I was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rock the Vote, the well-known non-profit young voter registration and education organization. At my suggestion, we decided that our 2005 Rock the Nation Award would be given for the first...

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American Idolatry and Sarah Palin

Posted September 12, 2008 | 07:13 PM (EST)


American Idol hasn't actually begun its eighth season yet, but the verdict is already in and we have a winner. However, unlike the winners from every other season, this new Idol's path to victory was unique: it only required a single (albeit impressive) performance. She didn't have to audition, or...

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