Fred TV

People Magazine - April 2004

Fred Frenzy, by Angela Riccio - January 3, 2003

Fred Medill A few months back, I was covering a Paul McCartney charity event, and of all the stars I met that night from Brian Wilson to Jay Leno to McCartney himself the one person who I was most impressed with was Fred Medill.

Who is Fred Medill? Well, he's not a household name yet, but Medill is the most interesting entertainment reporter I've ever seen. He has just the right mixture of aggressiveness (without being obnoxious) and charisma, which makes all the stars on the red carpet want to stop and speak with him.

By the age of 12, Medill knew he had a natural talent and ease for starting conversations with stars. Now only 16, he has attended more than 350 red-carpet events (where he's interviewed nearly every major celebrity) and he even hosts his own entertainment show ("Fred TV") on STARZ! Movie Channel.

I asked Medill what triggered him to make a career out of this.

"Well, oddly enough, it started out with a party I had," he said. "We put a concept video together. This had to be real big, so we taped stuff of me just walking up to celebrities like Larry King in a deli and Neil Sedaka on the beach. I got great interviews with them, and I loved doing it, so that's basically how it got started.

"Then that June, I developed a Web site and I covered my first premiere when I was 13, which was 'Big Daddy' with Adam Sandler."

Since then, Medill has become a darling among publicists in Hollywood. He gets e-mails from every studio inviting him to premieres (sometimes two on the same day), and he keeps a Rolodex of every contact name and phone number he comes across. (I think the fact that Medill is more organized than people twice his age is a key to his success.)

Medill has a cooperative dad who helps him get to all the different events which is very important for a minor working the Hollywood beat but he basically does everything on his own, from researching the event he's covering to coming up with all those great questions he asks the stars.

I asked Fred to name some of the nicest stars he's met.

"Wow, there's so many nice ones," he said. "I could tell you that there's more nice ones than there are ones who are not nice. There's Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford -- the list goes on and on."

But what we all want to know is, who are some of the not-so-nice stars?

"The only bad experiences I've had are not necessarily between me and the stars, but like when you're at a premiere staring (at) some big star, and that person doesn't stop to talk with the reporters. It's upsetting and it gets frustrating sometimes because that's why I'm there. If the stars won't stop to talk, then I can't do my job. Fortunately, that doesn't happen much. Most of the stars are very nice and cooperative."

I know Medill has met hundreds of stars, but I wondered if there's still someone he wants to meet.

"Yeah, actually there's a lot of people I would like to meet," he said. "I'd say my top three are Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor would be cool, and Jack Nicholson -- who keeps eluding me somehow."

I asked what some of his future goals were.

"In the future I'd want to do the same thing I'm doing now just on a higher level. I know I want to do this for the rest of my life, and I want to go to journalism school."

Another thing I'd like to add about Medill: Many of my friends tune in to his show just because, as they say, he's a "HOTTIE!" So I had to ask him if he had a girlfriend. His reply: "No girlfriend right now, I'm just so busy."

If you're interested in learning more about Fred Medill, go to his Web site, FredTV.net, to see all his past interviews, premiere events, and photo galleries.

I think it's safe to say that Medill is a mentor for any young reporter, and for me, he's not just a mentor, he's a friend.

Los Angeles Daily News, by Greg Hernandez - March 2002

Fred Medill As Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe make their way to glitzy parties after Sunday's Academy Awards, amid the throng of reporters seeking face time with Tinseltown's elite will be a clean-cut kid who would seemingly be more at home at a high school prom.
But Fred Medill won't have to fight to be noticed. He will easily be the youngest journalist there, wearing a tuxedo and filing celebrity interviews for his popular FredTV Web site.

"I admire people for who they are and their talent but I'm not usually star-struck," said the articulate 16-year-old, who launched the site (www.fredtv.net) in March 1999.

Fred's rapport with Hollywood's major players has been evident at industry events like Saturday's premiere of "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" where he chatted up director Steven Spielberg for the first time.

At the Directors Guild of America Awards the weekend before, Fred was placed at the end of the red carpet and far away from the likes of "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood." But the celebrities still found their way to him.

"Hi, Fred!" said Kidman, the most sought-after star at the event. The "Moulin Rouge" actress gave Fred a lengthy interview -- she approached him -- as did the film's charismatic director, Baz Luhrmann.

"I see Nicole Kidman at a lot of events and she is always very nice to me," Fred explained later. "She took a liking to me and so did her publicists. You have to get to know the publicists and be nice to them."

Also at the DGA Awards was flashbulb magnet Halle Berry who Fred met for the first time. Guy Pearce, Helen Mirren and Ron Howard stopped for chats as well. Howard lingered the longest, peppering Medill with questions about his Web site before entering the awards dinner where Howard was named best director of the year by his peers.

FredTV combines the teen's exclusive interviews with celebrities with movie trailers and analysis. It is available in about 600 hospitals in the United States and Canada where hospitalized children can view the Internet broadcasts on special mobile computers called PC Pals.

The teen has also become involved in the Starlight Foundation, a charity that grants wishes to seriously ill children who Fred sometimes brings with him to Hollywood events.

Recording most of the proceedings with a digital camera is Fred's father, Los Angeles attorney Cary Medill, who has accompanied the oldest of his three sons to hundreds of Hollywood events.

"Just seeing him in action and seeing him get better and better is a father's greatest pleasure," Medill said. "When I saw that he had the talent and was not afraid of approaching people, we sort of let him run with it. This kid has no fear and a good gift for gab."

But that gift can sometimes make for a breakneck schedule for father and son. The day after the DGA Awards, the pair traveled to the Shrine Auditorium to cover the even more star-studded Screen Actors Guild Awards. The next afternoon, they were at the Beverly Hilton for the annual Academy Awards nominees luncheon, where Fred landed poolside interviews with nominees Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei and Howard. And later that night, they headed to Graumann's Chinese Theatre for the premiere of "Showtime" starring Robert De Niro who "I was really excited about interviewing," the teen said.

He is quickly learning to handle unexpected situations with aplomb, such as the time a well-known actress suddenly belched on the red carpet during the premiere of "What Women Want." At another event, Fred was waiting to interview Crowe when another reporter asked the star of "A Beautiful Mind" an inane question to which the actor barked, "That's the most stupid question I've ever heard!"

"My turn was next and I was so scared," Fred recalled. "But he was very nice to me and treated me with respect. He also straightened out my tie for me."

Since covering a premiere generally takes about an hour, Fred has become adept at time management, doing his homework then editing the evening's event on a Macintosh G4 so it can appear on his site the next day.

The teen's foray into celebrity interviewing began when he was 12 and was invited on a tour of CNN's Los Angeles studios by Larry King whom he and his father had met during one of their weekly outings to the famed Beverly Hills eatery Nate 'n Al's.

Later that year, his parents won tickets to the movie premiere of the Adam Sandler comedy "Big Daddy." When Cary Medill called to R.S.V.P., he asked if his son could cover the event from the press line. Fred has since worked more than 200 movie premieres and award shows.

"The first red carpet interview I ever did was with Adam Sandler, and I kept turning toward the camera and my questions weren't very thought provoking," he admitted. "But I've learned a lot being out on the press line."

His Web site has gained such a high profile that he was invited to guest on "The Tonight Show" and traveled to New York to appear on "Today."

Last year, FredTV caught the attention of StarzEncore, a Colorado-based network cable channel. About three times a month, they will send a cameraman with Fred to a premiere and air his two- to three-minute reports.

The increased demands on his time led to a decision a few months ago to begin being home-schooled. But Fred expects to return to the private Milken High School in Beverly Hills next fall.

"I miss my friends," he said.

Guide Posts for Teens, by Mark Haverstock - October 2001

Family Circle, by Margaret Jaworski - October 2001

"He's quiet at school", says Cary Medill, a prominent Los Angeles attorney, of his 15-year old son, Fred. "But put a microphone in his hand and watch out!" The eldest of Medill's three sons, Fred is the host, interviewer and producer of FredTV.Net.
Fred's foray into entertainment journalism began when he spied talk show Larry King at a Beverly Hills deli. Fred, then 12, "walked right over and asked King if he could visit his show," recalls his father. King said yes and ended up making an appearance in the film Fred was making of his Bar Mitzvah. After a taping of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Fred and the host adlibbed a skit that also ended up in the film. Then, at a school auction, Fred's dad won tickets to the premiere of the film Big Daddy starring Adam Sandler. The package included access to the red carpet and a chance for Fred to interview celebrities.

But it was his Bar Mitzvah film that clinched Fred's future as a celebrity interviewer. Impressed by the effort, film producer and family friend Peter Samuelson invited Fred back onto the red carpet for the premiere of his movie Arlington Road. Samuelson is also the chairman of the Starlight Foundation, the charity that grants wishes to seriously ill children. "Things just snowballed from there," says Fred, who's known by practically every publicist in Hollywood.

In the future, FredTV may be streamed via Internet to hospitalized children. In the meantime, Fred, who hopes one day to attend journalism school, juggles classes, his show and stints as an entertainment reporter on several kids' networks. "Interviewing celebrities is no big deal," says Fred, whose list of stars includes Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Cameron Diaz and Helen Hunt.

Whenever possible, Fred brings Starlight kids to movie premieres. And it's the kids, not the stars, who leave the biggest impression. "They make me grateful every day," he says.

National Geographic Society, by Janel Bouy - October 2001

US Magazine, by Tom Samiljan - April 2001

The Hollywood Reporter, by Sean Daly - February 2001

Fred Medill with Denzel Washington Meet Fred Medill, teen journalist to the stars. The sandy-haired high school freshman is the creator and star of "Fred TV" FredTV.net, a unique Web site based in his bedroom that combines movie trailers, analysis and streaming video of his exclusive celebrity interviews.
Since launching the site in 1999 to help raise money for the Starlight Foundation, Fred has been a fixture on red carpets all over Hollywood, pitching questions to such A-list stars as Jim Carrey and Tom Hanks and even President Bill Clinton.
Fred Medill Bill Clinton

"We go out (to premieres) an average of one to two nights a week," Medill explains. "The premiere usually only takes about an hour and then I go home to do homework."

Medill spends about an hour preparing for each event, and another two hours editing the video footage at home on his Macintosh G4 computer.

Much of Medill's audience is made up of hospitalized children, who view his broadcasts via the Internet on special mobile computers called PC Pals. According to his dad, Beverly Hills attorney Cary Medill, the show is available in about 600 hospitals in the United States and Canada.

But that may be just the beginning for the 14-year-old media maven. So far this year, the young Medill has already appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today, and interview requests have begun to roll in from as far away as Japan.

"I'm absolutely amazed at the power of the press," says Medill, who recently invited a camera crew from NBC's "Today" to look on as he schmoozed with stars Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Wedding Planner." In March, the ABC News magazine "20/20" will accompany Medill and his dad - who also serves as cameraman - to the 73rd Annual Academy Awards.

Medill is even being courted by television entertainment magazines "Extra" and "Entertainment Tonight." "Extra" executive producer Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey confirms, "You will see him on the air at 'Extra,' but in what capacity we don't know yet because no deal has been made."

Meanwhile, Medill is also in discussions with Disney and other networks about creating a show of his own. But he is not letting that get in the way of his commitment to Fred TV, which began, oddly enough, at his Bar Mitzvah.

"I was always interested in news," he recalls. "So, we put together a little concept video for the guests with the help of my dad's connections."

On the tape, Medill snagged congratulations and mock interviews from George Foreman, Jay Leno and Neil Sedaka and quotes from talk show host Larry King (both of whom he met by introducing himself at Beverly Hills' Nate'n Al's restaurant).

In a matter of months, Medill has become a red-carpet regular with valuable industry connections. "He's very professional and he does a good interview," says Dennis Higgins, senior VP publicity at Columbia Pictures. "The stars like talking to him because he conducts himself well, and it's kind of refreshing to have (questions) from a younger persona's point of view."

Although the audience for Fred TV remains small by most standards, his careful preparation and attention to detail has won the support of PR veterans such as Alan Nicrob, senior publicist at Rogers and Cowan.

"It's rare that a client won't be stopped by the level of intelligence of his questions," says Nicrob, who represents Fred's favorite movie star, Denzel Washington.

At the 1999 premiere of "The Hurricane" (for which Washington received an Oscar nomination last year), Fred caught the actor off guard when he asked: "Knowing Hurricane's character and the story as well as you do, what do you think of the U.S. justice system?"

"Fred, listen. The time this took place, 1966, was a very volatile time," Washington attempted to explain before turning to other nearby journalists and suggesting, "You could all learn something from Fred!"

"He's a pretty big, Oscar-winning actor, and he just talks to me like I'm one of his friends," Medill says, adding that he rarely gets starstruck anymore. "I have learned that celebrities are just like you and me. They are talented, but they're just people."

Medill will make his own acting debut this spring with a cameo appearance in the upcoming movie "The New Guy," and as an extra on Kevin Kline's next feature, "Life as a House." For now, Hollywood's youngest reporter has no plans to trade in his microphone for acting lessons anytime soon.

"I would like to do a little (acting) here and there," he says. "But journalism is my main thing. That's what I am good at and that's what I want to stick with."

USA Today, by Jefferson Graham - January 2001

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Fred Medill is 14. He plays tennis after school, listens to music in his room, and dreams of being a reporter when he grows up. Funny thing. Thanks to the Internet, his dream has already come true. Fred operates FredTV.net, a Web site based in his bedroom.

And with his cameraman (his dad, Cary), he stands on the red carpet every week, talking to celebs at Hollywood movie premieres. Unlike most teens, who settle for tacking photos of stars to their walls, Fred can list an impressive number of interviews in the past two months including Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Helen Hunt, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams and Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you want to look at the entire year, add Jim Carrey, Denzel Washington, Cameron Diaz and President Clinton.

"The stars go right to him," says Mindy Burbano, an entertainment reporter for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. "He's had better spots than me sometimes. People love him because he's a kid."

A high school freshman at a prestigious private school, Fred is the oldest son of two attorneys, Cary and Marlene Medill. He doesn't talk much about his outside life to his classmates "because I'm not the kind who brags."

Despite playing the role of the aggressive reporter, Fred seems generally shy and quiet. Interviewed at home before the recent premiere of Costner's Thirteen Days, he was working on a JFK-themed question, since Days takes place during the Kennedy administration, and Costner also was in JFK.

Fred, who asked if Costner ever wanted to play JFK (Costner said he would, "but I thought in this instance it probably wasn't right"), says he spends many afternoons trying to come up with interesting queries. "I try to report from a different angle," he says. "I'm a kid, but I ask adult questions."

When Fred's dad, well-connected socially and politically, arranged a talk with President Clinton on the runway at Los Angeles Airport, Fred asked: "Do you think the new generation of youth is more apathetic than during your time?" Clinton said no: "The youth of America care a lot about this country."

To Hanks, at the premiere of Cast Away, he asked, "Who voted you off the island?" Hanks laughed.

He got the idea for FredTV in 1999, after he ran into talk show host Larry King at a deli and mustered enough nerve to ask him to do a cameo for his bar mitzvah video. King invited him to the CNN studio and did a routine with him, saying, "The kid's trying to steal my show." Fred approached other celebs for a few video moments, including Jay Leno at a Tonight Show taping and singer Neil Sedaka, who happened to be vacationing at the same hotel in Hawaii.

A movie producer at the bar mitzvah loved the video so much that he invited Fred to stand on the red carpet for his film, Arlington Road, which stars Jeff Bridges. The highlight of the night: a hug from Michelle Pfeiffer's actress sister, Dee Dee, who "thought I was cool."

The producer, Peter Samuelson, also happens to be chairman of the Starlight Foundation, the charity that grants wishes to seriously ill children. He talked to Fred's dad, a Starlight supporter, about having Fred do interviews that would be shown to the kids.

Thus was born FredTV, which posts the interviews and sells DVDs, with all revenue going to the Starlight Foundation. The interviews are being shown at a Chicago hospital now and may go national. In the meantime, Fred brings Starlight kids to premieres to see films and have their pictures taken with stars.

"Teachers used to complain that Fred wouldn't participate in the class discussion," says Cary Medill. "Then we saw him walking up to these celebrities and being really aggressive. He's got a gift. He's not afraid of anyone. He talks to them as if he's known them all his life. So we're helping him pursue it."

Fred's Web site may lack professional polish and be light on content, but that doesn't bother movie publicists, who give him prime positions in line.

"The stars stop to talk to him," says Gina Soliz, a senior publicist for New Line Cinema. "They find it endearing and not as threatening to talk to a kid."

Fred hopes to have his own show doing celebrity interviews and he may not have to wait long. After the Los Angeles Times did a story about him, he was chosen for a tiny role in the upcoming independent film The New Guy, playing an awestruck kid who approaches Motley Crue's Tommy Lee. Now he has meetings set up with Nickelodeon and Disney to discuss his concept of a talk show run by a kid.

His grown-up colleagues are rooting for his success. "He hasn't even finished high school (and he's) out there on the red carpet where even professionals have a hard time navigating," says Access Hollywood's Pat O'Brien, a FredTV fan. "He does great. His questions are good, and he doesn't have an agenda."

Fred knows it might not be as easy to make it in Hollywood as an adult: "People get a kick out of seeing a kid doing an adult's job. But I'm getting older and the novelty is wearing off. So I better enjoy it while I can."

L.A. Times, by Lynn Smith - January 2001

Their Year That Was

For a moment, the Bubbleman, a female boxer, a recovering alcoholic and others shone in our pages. Here are updates on their remarkable lives.
Whether you thought of it as the first year of the third millennium or the last year of the second millennium, 2000 was a rich time for purveyors of feature stories. Today, Southern California Living publishes postscripts to the tales of some we've profiled in the previous 12 months. Together, the stories give a glimpse of the startling range of life that has been chronicled in these pages.

Two weeks after an article described the adventures of celebrity journalist Fred Medill ("Our Night on the Town With Fred," Dec. 13), the Beverly Hills 14-year-old is suddenly hot.

Fred, the star of FredTV, a Web site (http://www.fredtv.net) that features his interviews with movie and sports stars, says agents, producers, journalists from around the world and even journalism teachers have been calling to arrange meetings and offer work. "They called the school. They called my grandma. They were calling all over the place," says Fred, who created the enterprise with his father to benefit a children's foundation.

The movie people wanted him to start immediately. He has already finished filming bit parts in two movies: "The New Guy" and "Life as a House," starring Kevin Kline.

"Two news crews came over on Tuesday," he said late last week. "British television is doing something on me tomorrow. German television wanted to do something. Korean television wanted to do something."

After the new year, he said he'll be finalizing arrangements to appear on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," and "20/20." He hasn't gotten back to the journalism professor from Cal State Long Beach, he says, because "there's been so much going on."

Even with two years' experience, Fred is impressed with the power of the press. "It's amazing what it does," he says.

A stranger saw the FredTV license plate on his father's car and approached him to say, "Great article about your son in the paper." Fred's high school principal asked to see him in his office. "Why don't you share your personal life with the rest of the school?" he asked.

Now on winter break, Fred is taking it all in stride while his parents, both lawyers, do the hardball negotiating for his future appearances.

Fred realizes media attention can be fickle. "As soon as the press comes up, it can die down," he says. Whatever the future holds, he says, "it's been a lot of fun."

L.A. Times, by Lynn Smith - December 2000

Fred Medill has little time for a softball.

"What do you mean?" says the Beverly Hills 14-year-old when asked to name his favorite movie star. "The nicest to me? The best interview? The one I admire most?"

Fred, the star of FredTV, a Web site (at http://www.fredtv.net) that mixes his video clips, movie reviews and
philanthropy, is trying to knot his tie as he fields questions in his studio, a converted playroom on the second floor of his parents' home. It's Thursday, a school night, and he's about to rush out for the premiere of the movie "Cast Away."

Behind him, on shelves above $20,000 worth of computers, monitors and editing equipment, there are about 200 tapes of his interviews. Jim Carrey. Annette Bening. Kobe Bryant. The boys from 'N Sync. There is also a prized photo taken last April, an orangish, blurry image of President Clinton leaning down to answer one of Fred's questions.

Hollywood may be accustomed to child stars, and even a child journalist or two, but as far as anyone knows, it has never produced anyone quite like Fred Medill--child journalist to the stars.

The past two years, the Milken High School freshman has been cultivating A-list movie and sports celebrities, mostly plying the red carpet--the media gauntlet run by stars seeking publicity as they arrive for an event. By now, he's as familiar to stars and publicists as any reporter from E! or Extra. "We've seen him grow up," says one publicist who says she's not allowed to be identified in the press. "Now he's this chiseled and handsome young man. His voice is changing. He's just an old pro now."

FredTV was originally created by Fred and his father, Cary Medill, to provide entertainment to hospitalized children on mobile computers known as PC Pals. Now Fred has managers who have held meetings with Disney and other networks to explore a wider television audience.

But even if stars and their publicists aren't sure what FredTV will do for them, they are drawn to him. Pat Kingsley, the notoriously prickly publicist for Tom Cruise, Matt Damon and other elite stars, says she nonetheless steers her clients in Fred's direction at movie premieres. "He does his homework. He's prepared and asks short, concise questions," she says. "At the least, they get an interesting couple of minutes. "

Veteran reporters say they reap benefits just from standing next to Fred at premieres. "He gets everybody," says Willie Boudevin, a cameraman for Univision.

Video producer Cyril Gastambide, who taped some of Fred's early interviews, says there's something about Fred's presence that makes stars think something big is going to happen to them. With his fresh face, raspy voice and whisper of a smirk, he can charm celebrities from Ron Howard to Snoop Dog into supporting him with a promo: "Fred TV. The best TV around."

Fred pops a promotional tape for FredTV into one of the monitors in his studio. In clip after clip, he elicits double takes and laughs from celebrities. Speaking into the microphone adorned with the FredTV logo, Cameron Diaz turns the tables on him during an interview and asks how he copes with success. He replies, "I have poise. I have a good appearance. I have a way with women."

In another scene, Fred lounges in the pool on an inflatable chaise and says to the camera, "Cameron Diaz. She digs me."

Actually, though he'll never forget the hug he received from Michelle Pfeiffer's sister, Fred's favorite star, it turns out, is Denzel Washington. In an interview at the premiere of "The Hurricane," in which Washington plays the wrongly imprisoned heavyweight champion Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Fred's question obviously surprises the actor. "Knowing Hurricane's character and the story as well as you do," Fred says, "what do you think of the U.S. justice system?" Washington blinks, laughs, then explains, "Fred, listen! The time this took place, 1966, was a very volatile time. . . . It was a very different time from now. . . ." Washington tells Fred, "Heck of a question," and calls to the other reporters, "You could learn something from Fred."

Tonight, Fred hopes to snag "Cast Away" star Tom Hanks. He's researched the star and the movie on the Internet and has compiled a list of questions including, "How do you react to the perception that you're the most decent guy in Hollywood?" Fred also plans to ask a question for a fellow online journalist who couldn't get into the premiere: "Who voted you off the island?" Fred says, "Maybe it will get a laugh."

It's nearly 6 p.m., past time to go, and his father, driver and cameraman, Cary Medill, hustles him along: "OK, Fred. Show time."

Under a clear, moonlit sky, the Toyota Land Cruiser with FredTV license plates rattles downhill past the mansions along Benedict Canyon heading for Westwood, only a few miles away. Christmas lights illuminate the dark and winding route, which becomes brighter and festooned with "Cast Away" posters as it nears Wilshire Boulevard. Fred's father flips on the light inside the Cruiser so Fred can see the list of questions that he's trying to memorize. Looking up and down to his paper doesn't look professional on camera, Fred says.

The firstborn of two Beverly Hills lawyers, Cary and Marlene Medill, Fred clearly hasn't been hampered by growing up in the world's epicenter of entertainment with doting and relaxed parents. Cary and Marlene are both native Angelenos and civil litigators, with separate, solo practices. Cary, 54, is the son of the late Joey Medill, a Chicago-based lightweight boxer once ranked third in the world. In Los Angeles, Cary has had several high-profile cases, including that of Clarence Chance and Benny Powell, who in 1993 won $7 million after 17 years of false imprisonment for the murder of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy.

The Medills, self-described "movie freaks," have few restrictions on their three sons. There are no blocks on the Internet or the TV, no rules about R-rated movies or bedtime. Fred often stays up to watch Jay Leno at 11:30 p.m.
Cary says his son is mature enough to handle R-rated material. Besides, he says, "if he's going to be doing reviews, he has to see adult movies."

When he's not out interviewing, however, his mother says, "he's very immature in many ways." His father says, "He's still a 14-year-old, however you slice it."

At school, Fred "doesn't come off as a major extrovert," says his journalism teacher Emily Brewer. He's sweet, humble, assertive and polite, she says. "The thing he has going for him is that he's so dedicated."

He likes tennis and takes lessons on the courts in his backyard. He goes to Laker games. He listens to music with his friends.

Even as a baby, Cary says, they knew Fred was a little different. "When other kids were watching cartoons, he was watching '60 Minutes' and 'Dateline.' " Where Cary takes his other children, Bobby, 13, and David, 11, to sports events, he bonds with Fred over movie premieres, he says.

FredTV, a mutual project between father and son, grew from Fred's March 1999 bar mitzvah party at the Beverly Hills hotel, where he showed guests a humorous homemade video featuring himself as a disadvantaged reporter who claws his way to the top. The video includes mock interviews with talk show hosts Michael Jackson and Larry King--both of whom Fred met by introducing himself in Nate 'n Al's restaurant in Beverly Hills. ("That kid," King says, "is going to be a major star.")

After that, he snagged, and videotaped, basketball stars and other celebrities he saw at hotels during the family's biannual vacations on Maui. One tape shows Fred singing "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" with Neil Sedaka. Last year, a producer friend let them into the press line for the premiere of "Arlington Road." "Dad said, 'You're going to interview Jeff Bridges,' " Fred says. "I said, 'No way.' " But he wound up with a videotape of Bridges expounding on his character, "Dude," in "The Big Lebowski. "

"I didn't think it would get to that point, and it did," says Fred. "So I guess it can go anywhere from there."

Cary hopes FredTV will eventually make money, either by selling ads on the Web site or by selling it to a major network, but any profits, he says, will benefit the Starlight Children's Foundation, an international nonprofit philanthropy dedicated to improving the quality of life for seriously ill children. The goal is to provide entertainment for children in hospitals to distract them from their pain and loneliness, says Cary, a board member of the California chapter.

Through the Starlight Foundation, the Medills also bring seriously ill youngsters to Hollywood premieres, where they see the movie and talk to celebrities.

Although the father downplays his role in FredTV, he's clearly a prime mover, from setting up the interviews to buying equipment and bringing in friends and paid consultants to improve the professional quality of their product. When anyone calls the number for FredTV, a phone rings in Medill's law office. It was Cary who obtained the interview with President Clinton when he came to Los Angeles for a fund-raiser this year. The White House press office was accommodating, he says, partly because they were familiar with the Starlight charity, and partly because "it's an election year."

Medill insists he's not a pushy stage dad and would drop FredTV the minute it becomes more work than fun for his son. On the other hand, some, like the video producer Gastambide, who sold footage of Fred to a major European television network, believe he's not pushy enough. Anyone with an unusual talent needs to work harder to maintain it, Gastambide says. "He's bright. He's quick. He has a huge potential for the next two years. In three years, he will be like everybody else."

Fred knows his youth is a novelty, but says he dreams of one day having a TV show of his own. He researches his own questions and edits his own tapes, he says. If his father didn't participate, he says, he'd still pursue his extracurricular reporting. "But I can't do it alone," he says. "I'm only 14."

When Fred and Cary arrive in Westwood, fans are already gathering around the intersection of Weyburn and Broxton avenues, roped off and covered with a fresh red carpet, running from theater to theater and glistening under a row of bright lights. Cary and Fred stop off at California Pizza Kitchen to meet up with a Starlight family from Colton in San Bernardino County with two seriously ill teenagers. The family has never been to Westwood.

Fred takes his place among 30 journalists allowed admittance and lined up in order of importance to the publicists. (Unable to secure a spot on the red carpet, The Times was told, "Just say you're with FredTV.") In his thin suit, Fred shivers in the cold, midway between "Entertainment Tonight" and TV journalists from Spain and Brazil, as the limousines pull up.

He warms up with the movie's producer and director as they pass down the line. A young actress from "Meet the Parents" whose name he can't remember is approaching. Fred hasn't prepared any questions for her, so he repeats what he has just overheard. "You're doing a movie with John Travolta, right?" Teri Polo looks at him, impressed. "Indeed I am. Where'd you hear that?" she wiggles her eyebrows at her companion.

Cheering erupts from the crowd. Reporters yell, "Helen!" Helen Hunt stops for Fred, who holds out the microphone. "With the recent success of the 'Survivor' TV show and with this potential blockbuster, do you think we will be seeing more 'Gilligan's Island'-type shows?"

Hunt narrows her eyes. "Have you seen this movie yet? It's not a 'Gilligan's Island'-type movie.' " He moves on quickly. "Can you tell me about your part in it?" As she talks, the other reporters move their mikes in.

When Hanks comes by (to shouts from paparazzi of "Get him!") Fred fares no better. The most decent guy in Hollywood? "I have no response to that," he says. "I am what I am." Who voted him off the island? "Wilson, the soccer ball," he quips without a smile.

However, Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, return moments later to talk and be photographed with the Starlight family.

All things considered, Fred says, it turned out just about the way he expected.

Back home in his studio by 8:30 p.m., tie and loafers shed, Fred is fielding questions from his mom as she and Fred's brother Bobby review the tape with Fred and Cary. Did the Starlight kids have a good time? she wants to know. Who else was there? "I got Bob Zemeckis," he tells his mother. "Good job," she says, giving him a hug and a kiss.

Then Fred tells his folks he can't edit right now. He's hungry. Besides, he just remembered he has to write an essay on Jewish law for tomorrow's class.

FRED ON THE TODAY SHOW:

FRED ON THE TONIGHT SHOW:

FRED ON THE OTHER HALF: