
Frank was born in Glendale, California to musician Jack Marshall. He entered the film world when his parents invited him to a birthday party for the daughter of directing legend John Ford in 1966. There, he met Peter Bogdanovich and soon agreed to work on his first film, Na Mira da Morte (1968), later followed by collaborating on A Última Sessão de Cinema (1971) and many other films.
Continuing to branch out into the industry, he served as line producer on Martin Scorsese's O Último Concerto de Rock (1978) and associate producer on Walter Hill's crime thriller, Caçador de Morte (1978). Marshall first worked as executive producer on Hill's cult classic Warriors - Os Selvagens da Noite (1979). While producing the iconic Os Caçadores da Arca Perdida (1981), he met Steven Spielberg and their future wife Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank himself was hired to join the Amblin Productions company in 1980.
He continued producing memorable films with Spielberg including Poltergeist: O Fenômeno (1982) and No Limite da Realidade (1983) (while Kennedy separately produced E.T.: O Extraterrestre (1982)). He worked as executive producer on Indiana Jones e o Templo da Perdição (1984), Gremlins (1984), Os Goonies (1985) and the De Volta para o Futuro (1985) trilogy.
He married Kathleen Kennedy in 1987, and after producing numerous films, he made his feature directing debut with Aracnofobia (1990). Reacting to the success of his directorial debut, he left Amblin in 1991. In 1992, The Kennedy/Marshall Company was formed, and the next year they released its first film Vivos (1993), directed by Marshall. Both Kennedy and Marshall signed deals with Paramount in 1992, at the same time the company was formed. His productivity has only increased since then, as he took over primary duties of the production company since Kennedy was named president of Lucasfilm in 2012.