Board of Directors
Steve Gerdes (President)
Steve is a long time member and former board member of the LAHTF, and served as President of the organization a few years back. He knows and has worked with board members, local historians, and city leaders for several decades.
Other history involves many years of work with the Los Angeles Conservancy and their “Last Remaining Seats” series, often leading tours of the movie palaces. Steve has a pretty thorough knowledge of and love for Los Angeles area theatres, and he has made contributions to Los Angeles Theatres Blogspot.
Steve worked all around Los Angeles as a proud union sheet metal worker for his entire career. Steve is now retired and has some time to devote to bringing the LAHTF back to an active and vibrant organization.
John Bernstein (Vice President)
John is a Creative Producer with a professional background spanning independent film, nonprofit arts organizations, and major studio production. He has a longtime passion for silent film, film preservation, local history, and the protection of historic architecture.
John began his career at CNN in Atlanta and later worked as a freelance photojournalist for a variety of publications and outlets. He was involved in the earliest years of IndieWIRE and, prior to moving to Los Angeles, served on the Board of IMAGE Film & Video Center (a 501c3) and as Board Chair of the Atlanta Film Festival.
After relocating to Los Angeles, John joined the programming team at AFI Fest and later served as an Associate Shorts Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival for a decade. He spent more than 16 years as a Senior Producer at Walt Disney Studios, where he developed documentary content for Blu-ray, DVD, and other distribution platforms. During his tenure, he received 14 awards, including two Saturn Awards, and was granted two U.S. Patents.
John has been a member of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation since 2018. During his current term, he has focused on strengthening the organization’s social media presence, using archival material and storytelling to expand engagement, highlight preservation efforts, and connect new audiences to LAHTF’s mission.
Escott Norton (Treasurer)
Escott grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by theatre and architecture. His design consultation company, EON Design, specializes in historic buildings, with a focus on Historic Theatres. He regularly consults with the Chinese Theatre, and has done design work for the Fox Fullerton, Earl Carroll, Bay, and Eagle Theatres. Escott loves to design theatre marquees, including the recently completed marquee for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.
A lifelong preservationist, Escott founded the non-profit Friends of the Rialto in 1983 to advocate for the preservation and reactivation of his favorite theatre. He was a charter member of the L.A. Historic Theatre Foundation, served on the Board of Directors, and as the Executive Director for many years. He’s been an active member of the League of Historic American Theatres for more than a decade. He worked with local officials on the Bringing Back Broadway initiative and was on the planning committee for the highly successful Night on Broadway events.
Escott’s focus is on advocacy. He believes that working with theatre owners and operators to protect their theatres and make their businesses successful is the best way to ensure that the theatres will be preserved for future generations.
Mike Hume (Secretary)
Mike is a Scottish-American theatre researcher, photographer, and historian. Introduced to theatre at a young age, Mike worked in technical theatre in the UK before moving to the United States in 2010.
Based in Los Angeles, Mike researches and photographs historic and significant theatres across the world for his website Historic Theatre Photos. His research specialism is Atmospheric theatres, and he’s currently on a quest to visit all 98 remaining Atmospheric theatres in the United States. Mike is a member of multiple theatre organizations, most notably in the U.S. the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT).
Mike has been a member of LAHTF since 2014, has volunteered for LAHTF since 2016, and served on the Board from 2018 to April 2025, most recently in the role of president.
Alan Bell
Alan is a Los Angeles–based media professional with more than five decades of experience in publishing, graphic design, and film. He operates BLK Publishing Company, a small independent graphic design practice he founded in 1988. Earlier in his career, Bell served as production manager at a major advertising typography firm, where, among other projects, he designed end titles for Paramount films including Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 48 Hrs., and Trading Places.
Bell served for 12 years as a film critic for the Los Angeles Sentinel. His writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Our Weekly, and graphic arts journals, and he is a contributor to Encounters with James Baldwin (2024). He previously published and edited Gaysweek in New York and BLK in Los Angeles.
Bell pursued graduate-level film studies at UCLA and NYU and was accepted into the Directors Guild of America Assistant Director Training Program. He holds sociology degrees, including a B.A. from UCLA and an M.A. from California State University. He currently manages The InDesign User Group, an international virtual community focused on publishing and design, and regularly contributes photographs to the Cinema
Treasures website, documenting historic movie theaters.
Wendell Benedetti
Wendell began his photojournalism career covering winter sports for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, North County Times (Oceanside Blade-Tribune), Los Angeles Daily News, Tap-Online, Skiing Magazine, and City Sports Magazine.
Following that his coverage of photography and digital imaging topics appeared in Petersen’s Photographic Magazine and Website, in addition to Professional Photographer, Photo Electronic Imaging, Rangefinder, and Focus on Imaging magazines. He was co-editor of the Prodigy Photography Forum.
His writing and photography has also appeared in the Orange County Register, Snow Country Magazine, and Powder Magazine, among others. He was the past president of the Southern California Ski Writers Association and national board member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association (NASJA). He was Technology Editor at Newswatch Feature Service.
Michelle Gerdes
Michelle loves the old theatres of Los Angeles! As a former LAHTF board member that was brought on by founder Hillsman Wright, Michelle would like return to the Board of Directors to help in any way I can. Previously Michelle was the volunteer coordinator for LAHTF and enjoyed working with the rest of the board and all the wonderful volunteers. Michelle hopes to encourage people to become members and get members to do enjoyable volunteer work.
Michelle is semi-retired and volunteers with the Los Angeles Conservancy, Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, and the El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach.
David Gorshein
David Gorshein is a lecturer at UCLA, where he teaches in the School of Theater, Film and Television. He also works as a creative director at a marketing agency focused on live events and branded experiences, with a background spanning event strategy, marketing, copywriting, and stakeholder engagement. He holds a PhD in Theater & Performance.
His appreciation for historic theaters has been shaped by years of studying theater history and working in live performance spaces. He looks forward to supporting LAHTF’s efforts to support historic theaters as active venues that continue to serve artists, audiences, and communities.
Rory Mitchell
Rory Mitchell is a Director and Producer of AR and VR and founder of MERCANTILE, a Spatial Studio. His work has screened at SXSW, Cannes, and Doc NYC and he’s produced branded XR work for Fortune 500 companies including Disney, General Mills and others.
A native Angeleno, much of his work has focused on Los Angeles; Augmented Reality Story, THE TENT (2024) a dark fairy tale about the unhoused crisis that toured the world and has been translated into Korean, French and German, 360°VR Documentary DIVERSE & SUBVERSIVE: THE ANTI-GENTRIFICATION OF BOYLE HEIGHTS (2020) and his current project, OUT OF THE ASHES, an immersive documentary about the Los Angeles Fires co-directed with Nonny de la Peña.
As a student of Los Angeles History, his work began with the Echo Park Historical Society where he sat on the board. He has researched and written on the history of Echo Park and Sunset Boulevard for The Eastsider and directed short documentaries about the Short Stop Bar, the Anna Zacsek Cottage and the origins of Sunset Boulevard. With a background as a theater director and a lover of the history of cinema, he’s happy to work with the LAHTF to preserve and celebrate our historic theaters. He lives with his wife and young daughter in Silver Lake.
Kyle Olson
Kyle is an Emmy-winning producer, director, and storyteller dedicated to preserving cultural history through modern media and live audience experiences. A lifelong champion of storytelling, Kyle is drawn to the power of historic theaters as civic landmarks where communities gather, celebrate, and pass stories forward.
Kyle has spent the majority of his career producing large-scale television, film, and live productions – bringing complex logistics to life in service of unforgettable moments. Some of his credits include Barbie, House of the Dragon, Masters of the Air, Dancing with the Stars, America’s Next Top Model, and The Bachelor, along with many other television and film productions, concerts, premieres, and live events. He is also the creator and host of Love & Justice, an investigative true crime podcast known for cinematic reporting and thoughtful advocacy.
Kyle regularly produces and moderates live conversations, Q&As, and screenings that connect audiences to the people and history behind cultural milestones – work that aligns directly with the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation’s mission.
Lexi Reihanian
Lexi holds a degree in film and communications and has worked in the film industry both on set and behind the scenes in production, as well as in movie theater operations.
They served as General Manager for 2 historic movie theaters in San Francisco, the Balboa and Vogue Theaters, where they oversaw daily operations and built each theater’s marketing and social media presence, helping drive consistent sell out events.
This role allowed them to combine a love of film history with community building and practical theater management.
Since 2010, Lexi has worked as a social media manager, leading campaigns for films released theatrically and on streaming platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime. Their work includes projects that reached #1 worldwide and others that went on to win major industry awards, including a Grammy.
Lexi is passionate about preserving historic cinemas and supporting the cultural spaces that keep film history alive.