How do LA premieres get built? Meet the company that makes it happen

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — “Joker: Folie à Deux” is now playing in theaters following its Los Angeles premiere earlier this week. As expected, it was a star-studded Hollywood affair, with dazzling set pieces leading up to the coveted TCL Chinese Theatre’s entrance.

But who exactly is the brains behind these visually stunning events? The red carpets weren’t always such a spectacle — that is, until a Hawthorne-based production facility by the name of 15|40 came along. Craig Waldman, its president and chief creative officer, recently spoke with Spectrum News about what it has in store for the rest of 2024 on the consumer-experiences front.

“We produce probably 250 movie premieres a year, so we keep busy with those,” Waldman said. “The red carpet was never our business until it was, you know, and the studios just weren’t getting what they wanted and asked us. I think it was like ‘Spider-Man 2’ when we stepped into the arena with Sony. And then from there, it just expanded to Warner Bros., Universal and the rest.”

And the fun doesn’t stop there with Waldman’s production house, which also has a thriving New York location now. In addition to the Hollywood premieres, 15|40 has offered its construction and design services to prestigious SoCal conventions this year, such as San Diego Comic-Con and Disney D23 in Anaheim.

“Now we’ve got 120 people or so between LA and our Brooklyn office,” Waldman said. “Even during COVID, we kept everybody on. We just figured out what we could live on, and then we came out of it together. And that’s how you run a company.”

Looking ahead, 15|40 will keep busy with the premieres for “Gladiator II,” “Wicked” and the star-studded Christmas film “Red One,” among others. For more information about the company, visit here.