Avram Chaim Freedberg (born June 25, 1947) is a Broadway theatre producer, a direct marketer, and founder of

National Collector's Mint National Collector's Mint, Inc. is a Westchester County New York based company that sells privately produced coins, tokens, commemoratives, and collectibles, as well as anti-aging skin products through the BioLogic brand. The company does not ...

. He founded Maximum Entertainment Productions LLC and has produced and invested in a number of Broadway shows. He is also a

thoroughbred racehorse The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

owner.

Broadway

Freedberg's Broadway credits include ''Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas'', ''The Addams Family'' and ''Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking''. One of his off-Broadway shows, ''Los Big Names'', earned Outer Critic’s Circle and Drama Desk nominations. In 2006 and 2007 Freedberg's company Maximum Entertainment was the producer for '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' during the Christmas season. The 2007 production was halted for seven days during the

2007 Broadway stagehand strike 2007 Broadway Stagehands Strike was a strike action by stagehands represented by Theatrical Protective Union Number One (Local One) of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) against the Shubert, Jujamcyn, and Nederlander ...

and managed to get back into performance by getting a special dispensation.

Obscenity charges

In 1988 he operated Consumer Marketing Group in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, and Dirty Dick's Dynamite Discount Den as a distributor of pornographic materials. After being tried for

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

charges, Freedberg accepted a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

to pay $600,000 and promise to never deal in sexually explicit materials again. A United States District Judge ruled that he could not be prosecuted in two states simultaneously on

charges.

National Collectors Mint

In 1991 he founded the

National Collectors Mint National Collector's Mint, Inc. is a Westchester County New York based company that sells privately produced coins, tokens, commemoratives, and collectibles, as well as anti-aging skin products through the BioLogic brand. The company does not ...

in Port Chester, New York. The company, through its online catalog and television advertisements, markets collectible and commemorative coins. In 2004, it began selling coins commemorating the September 11 attacks with silver purported to have been recovered from the World Trade Center. The coins, which it allegedly purported to be legal tender, are said to have been issued by the United States territory Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands which cannot issue legal tender. After the company paid a $750,000 settlement to the FTC for repeatedly and fraudulently marketing the coins, senator Chuck Schumer stated, "This settlement will assure consumers that we, as a nation, will not tolerate such a despicable scam."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedberg, Avram 1947 births People from Brooklyn American theatre managers and producers Living people Businesspeople from Connecticut