Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published May 9, 2025 5:00 AM
A country levain loaf from Colossus Bakery, a naturally leavened sourdough bread that's fermented for 36 hours.
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Danielle G Adams
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Courtesy Colossus
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Topline:
Across L.A., a group of bakers and pizza makers are slowing down the production of their products, yielding some seriously delicious results.
How long are we talking about here? Sourdough bread in Long Beach takes a day-and-a-half from start to finish, and New York-style pizza even more. Because what is time anyway?
Who's doing this? We visited Colossus, which has locations in Long Beach and San Pedro, Danny Boy's Famous Original Pizza in downtown L.A. and Grá in Historic Filipinotown to learn their secrets.
Flash back to the pandemic, when everyone you knew made sourdough bread because all they had was time on their hands. That new obsession birthed a million loaves of bread.
There was a whole rabbit hole to fall into, including how to source a sourdough starter, the length of fermentation, consistency, taste and crumb. People began showing pictures of their home-grown loaves, and naming their sourdough starters as if they were their children.
Post-pandemic, it led to a new appreciation of something that had been under our noses for some time — the handful of L.A. bakeries making artisanal sourdough bread.
While you can get sourdough rolls in your local supermarket, commercially made bread often doesn't follow traditional sourdough baking methods, likely supplementing with yeast to get a quicker fermentation.
But other bakeries, like Lodge Bread, Clark Street Bakery, and Bub & Grandma's, have committed to the full-on, time-consuming process, taking at least two days to allow different tastes and textures to bubble up (literally). And now, it's spreading to other dough-centered foods, like pizza, as pizza makers experiment with techniques allowing the rise to take four to five days.
What is it about slow fermentation that has captured the attention of bakers and pizza makers? I spoke to some people leading this trend.
Something in the air
At Colossus, located in Long Beach and San Pedro (and soon to be Anaheim), Kristin Colazas Rodriguez has been slowly perfecting her recipe for naturally leavened sourdough loaves for over five years.
Colazas Rodriguez cultivated her bread-making style when working in the Bay Area in the early 2010s. There, she worked alongside ex-employees of Tartine Bakery, the famed bakery that started in San Francisco and built its reputation on slow-fermented sourdough bread. The technique fascinated Colazas Rodriguez, who brought it down to Long Beach and began making her own version of the bread, and selling it at local farmer markets before expanding to open Colossus.
The sourdough starter at Colossus, affectionately named Jesus, is the basis for their naturally leavened sourdough loaves.
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Courtesy Colossus
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Kristin Colazas Rodriguez, owner of Colossus, taking time to prepare the naturally fermented dough.
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Courtesy Colossus
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Her team starts each morning by making the dough, adding a portion of their starter, and allowing it to ferment at room temperature for five to six hours.
Kristen Colazas Rodriguez, owner and operator of Colossus Bread
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Courtesy Colossus
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Then, it's time for cold fermentation, where the dough is put in the refrigerator overnight, slowing the fermentation process. This also forms lactic acid bacteria, which gives the dough its sour flavor.
After roughly 36 hours, the dough is finally ready to be baked into a stretchy, crunchy loaf of bread.
Her work is best exemplified by their country levain, a tangy, sliced sourdough loaf. Its large open crumb makes it perfect for a sandwich, or toast with butter and jam. For me, no other type of bread comes close.
Colazas Rodriguez's passion for sourdough isn't simply artisanal; she also feels it contributes to a healthy way of life.
"We can manipulate it, improve the nutritional quality of the starches and enzymes, and unlock its minerals," she said. "I don't think we would have a product that was as healthy if we were throwing in instant yeast, if we weren't correctly fermenting, and if we weren't long fermenting those grains."
A customer looks over the bakery case fulled with naturally leavened bread displayed at Colossus in Long Beach.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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The pizza dough whisperer
Chef Daniel Holzman, owner of DannyBoy's Famous Original Pizza inside the Wells Fargo building in downtown L.A., with another location in Westwood, makes acclaimed New York-style pizza.
But it comes with a twist. Instead of proofing the dough for a day, as is customary for New York style, Holzman, who has formal training as a chef, extends the fermentation for four or even five days. It's been somewhat controversial.
"I was told I was doing it wrong, and I've been consistently told we're doing it wrong," Holzman said.
Daniel Holzman of Danny Boy's Famous Original Pizza with his prized take on New York-style pizza
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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Daniel Holzman of Danny Boy's Famous Original Pizza shows the gluten structure that's formed after the long fermentation process.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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Wrongness be damned, as plenty of customers (and I) discovered, the pizza he creates is buttery, flaky, soft and chewy. Holzman's pizza dough, however, doesn't use a sourdough starter. Instead, he uses commercial yeast for the long fermentation, even though it's typically used to speed up the fermentation process.
The yeast produces carbon dioxide, which allows the dough to rise and creates micro blisters, or bubbles, in the crust, similar to the bubbles in beer. This results in a crispy crust on the outside yet an airy, light texture on the inside. While that is happening, the formation of the gluten structure occurs, which gives the dough its elasticity and chewy quality.
As an illustration, Holzman recently made a viral social media video where he walks shows a series of proofing boxes containing furled pizza dough balls.
Each box holds dough at a different stage of the fermentation process. You can see the texture developing as he pokes his finger in each one. By the time he reaches day three, the dough is producing complex structures resembling spiderwebs. It's impressive to see, and not something you expect in traditional pizza.
A New York-style pepperoni pizza being sliced at Danny Boy's Famous Original Pizza in Westwood.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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He said part of the reason long-fermented New York-style pizza isn't more common is not a cooking issue; instead, it involves real estate. In New York, space is much more scarce, and access to large refrigeration areas is a challenge.
In less-cramped Los Angeles, Holzman was able to experiment before honing in on his now trademark style.
" We use the same ingredients and method that we would use in New York," he said. "Ultimately, we concluded that fermentation would be one thing we would extend."
Easier on the body
A little further down the road in Historic Filipinotown is Grá ('love' in Gaelic), founded by owner Michael McSharry. He's originally from Ireland, but was living in London, working in advertising, when he discovered he had a gluten intolerance.
" At that point, I had to stop eating pizza, bread, stop drinking beer, and all those kinds of carbs," he said.
But when he tried sourdough pizza, he discovered he could eat it and still feel OK.
Michael McSharry, the founder of Grá, during the fermentation process for his sourdough pizza.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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Michael McSharry of Grá turns his sough dough starter.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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While it's a bit of a grey area, scientifically speaking, it seems that some people with a gluten intolerance can eat sourdough bread. The long fermentation is theorized to help break down the gluten, making it easier to consume.
Fast-forward almost a decade to Los Angeles, where McSharry decided to open a restaurant focusing on sourdough pizza, natural wine and fermented foods.
McSharry described it as "food that not only tastes good, but nourishes the soul." He wanted his pizza to be as healthy as possible, which is where fermentation comes in.
As he prepared to finalize his menu for Grá, McSharry planned a last-minute trip to the famed Irish cooking school Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork. There, he studied under celebrity chef Darina Allen for a weekend course about fermentation.
Upon completing the course, he was given a sourdough starter as a parting gift, which he brought back to Los Angeles.
McSharry explains that his fermentation program at Grá takes approximately 40 hours, with the dough assembled in the morning and used for the following evening during their dinner service.
The dough is made from whole grain and 00 flour (a very finely milled Italian flour used in pizza and pasta).
" It took me a while to dial in the recipe, or should I say the principles behind the processes that exist within the pizza we have today", McSharry said.
In great detail, McSharry described all the elements of the process to get his sourdough just right, from the proofing stage to the temperature of the water and the oven. He recounted working 8-10 hours daily for over six months in his apartment before the restaurant opened, tweaking each element to achieve his desired result.
The Banger pizza at Grá made with tomato sauce, mozzarella, salami, ‘nduja, fermented mustard seeds, honey & basil
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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Diners sit for dinner service inside of Grá
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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After locking in his dough recipe, McSharry and his team decided to fire the pizza at 750 degrees inside a wood-burning oven.
" It's another element to this very natural process. So you're working with Mother Nature in the fermentation and then with Mother Nature with real fire, and it's exciting," McSharry added.
The sourdough pizza at Gra isn't particularly sour in flavor. Instead, it takes on a soft and chewy texture, similar to a Neapolitan-style pizza. This format works well with various topping combinations on the menu, as is the case with a couple of house favorites, such as The Banger ($27), made with salami, nduja, fermented mustard seeds, and honey, and their Kimchi Pizza ($27), which contains tomato kimchi sauce, gouda, buffalo mozzarella, green onions, and sesame seeds.
The punch of flavor and freshness brings home precisely what McSharry aims to achieve.
By including other fermented foods — kimchi and fermented mustard seeds — McSharry hopes to extend the notion that the natural process can be applied to different foods, not just sourdough.
While he runs a business, he believes fermented foods are an extension of a more global way of thinking.
" One of our main focuses is having good working relationships with the farmers and doing our little bit to save the planet, like with upcycling," McSharry said. "This is an important characteristic of maximizing the return."
Kavish Harjai
keeps track of public transportation projects in L.A.
Published November 19, 2025 5:00 AM
The LAX Automated People Mover project was originally slated to open in 2023.
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Courtesy Los Angeles World Airports and LAX Integrated Express Solutions
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An ongoing dispute over maintenance of parts of the system that powers the LAX Automated People Mover could be the reason the long-awaited train won’t open until next summer, or even later, according to public documents reviewed by LAist.
More on the dispute: Power was partially shut off to the train between February and July 2025 so the contractor could repair faulty equipment in a metering cabinet used to measure how electricity is distributed throughout the system. The power shut-off reportedly delayed critical testing.
Public documents provide more insight: In October, LAist reported about how the train’s estimated completion date moved from early 2026 to next summer. The dispute detailed in public documents about the project offer a more specific reason for the delay, which was previously opaque.
Status of the Automated People Mover: In a statement, Los Angeles World Airports said it’s not "unusual" to see “contractual disputes” on large capital projects like the Automated People Mover and that the train is still on schedule to open to the public next summer. Construction on the project is nearly complete, and most of the current work is focused on testing and ensuring all the parts of the system work together.
Read on … to learn more about what LAist uncovered about the latest issue embroiling the city agency responsible for LAX and its contractor.
An ongoing dispute over maintenance of parts of the system that powers the LAX Automated People Mover could be the reason the long-awaited train won’t open until next summer, or even later, according to public documents reviewed by LAist.
The current dispute adds to a long series of disagreements between the city and LINXS, the group of companies contracted to design, build and operate the train, that have led to the ongoing saga of delays, hundreds of millions in cost overruns and diminishing public confidence that there’ll ever be a rail-only connection to LAX.
An L.A. County Civil Grand Jury report released earlier this year claimed that LINXS has used the dispute resolution process and “political pressures” to force contract extensions and additional compensation throughout the design and construction process.
In October, LAist reported about how the train’s estimated completion date moved from early 2026 to next summer. The dispute detailed in the public documents offers a more specific reason for the delay, which was previously opaque.
Dispute over metering cabinet equipment
In February, staff from city agencies directed LINXS to repair faulty equipment in a metering cabinet, according to a summary of the dispute and findings by a third-party evaluator. While the type of equipment isn’t specified, it’s likely related to measuring the power distributed throughout the system.
Power was partially shut down during the period of repair work, which lasted until July 2025.
That power shut-off delayed critical testing of the technology that allows for central control of the train’s systems, according to the third-party evaluator.
The third-party evaluator’s report said LINXS argued it was not required by contract to perform the repair work and is entitled to a schedule extension and compensation. The third-party evaluator, whose recommendations are not legally binding, agreed with LINXS’ position.
Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that manages LAX and the Van Nuys Airport, did not participate in an August hearing regarding the dispute, the third-party evaluator’s findings said.
The agency “rejected” the third-party evaluator’s conclusions, according to a November report from a management consulting firm retained by project lenders to monitor project progress.
What happens next?
According to the project contract, if a dispute remains unresolved after inquiring with the third-party evaluator, the next step is for LINXS to file a claim under a section of state law that governs complaints against public entities.
A section on the California Tort Claims Act on the Sacramento County Public Law Library website notes that the claim is a required precursor to any civil action.
“Filing a claim gives the agency the opportunity to settle the claim before a lawsuit is filed and to investigate the claim so that it can properly defend itself, or to correct the conditions or practices that led to the claim,” the website states.
The management consulting firm’s November report notes that LINXS “formally submitted” a claim on Oct. 21, triggering a 60-day period for the city to “respond to the claim and sets out the basis for the LINXS entitlements to relief.”
“Submission of [the] claim was explicitly requested by [Los Angeles World Airports] as a precursor to negotiation,” the report continues.
The status of the Automated People Mover
In a statement, Los Angeles World Airports said it’s not "unusual" to see "contractual disputes" on large capital projects like the Automated People Mover and that the train is still on schedule to open to the public next summer.
“LINXS continues to assure us the train will be ready for the FIFA World Cup, but we have back up plans in place to ensure an outstanding experience for all fans who visit Los Angeles,” the statement added. “[Los Angeles World Airports] does not comment on pending legal matters.”
Where did LAist find these documents?
LAist found the documents on a website that tracks municipal securities called Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA). To find the page relevant to the Automated People Mover, head to emma.msrb.org. Then, in the search box on the upper righthand corner, search for 13048VBA5. This CUSIP number as it is known uniquely identifies the $1.2 billion in bonds that the California Municipal Finance Authority provided for the Automated People Mover. Halfway down the page, select the “Disclosure Documents” tab, and you’ll see a list of documents, including the third-party evaluator’s findings, as well as the monthly reports from LINXS and the management consulting firm.
Construction on the project is nearly complete, and most of the current work is focused on testing and ensuring all the parts of the system work together.
In November, Fluor, one of the companies that makes up LINXS, reported to investors that they can expect the Automated People Mover to “reach substantial completion over [the] next 3 quarters.”
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which was also named in the documents about the dispute, declined to comment.
LAist also reached out to LINXS and the companies that make up the group, but did not receive any response.
The management consulting firm also did not respond to emails requesting an interview.
Do you know something about the Automated People Mover that LAist should look into?
If you have a tip, you can reach me on Signal. My username is kharjai.61.
You can follow this link to reach me there or type my username in the search bar after starting a new chat.
Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and digital equity reporter.
Published November 19, 2025 5:00 AM
With the passage of Prop. 50, Los Alamitos joins the newly redrawn District 41, which will also include Downey and La Habra.
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Allen J. Schaben
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Getty Images
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Topline:
After the passage of Prop 50, the race for the newly redrawn U.S. Congressional District 41 will be vastly different. Once encompassing parts of the Inland Empire and the Coachella Valley, the district now will include southern L.A. County cities and a slice of Orange County.
What did the passage of Prop 50 do? The proposition approved new congressional maps drawn by Democratic state officials to elect congressional representatives from 2026 through 2030.
How exactly did District 41 change? In the previous map, District 41 stretched from Norco to Palm Desert. The newly redrawn district includes Whittier, Downey, La Habra and Los Alamitos. The new district is more than half Latino, whereas before Prop. 50, only 30% of voters were Latino, according to state Census data.
Who is running to represent the updated district? Rep. Linda Sánchez already has thrown her hat in the ring to represent District 41. No one else has announced their candidacy yet. The deadline for the June primary is March 6.
Read on … for how the old district compares to the new one.
Once spanning parts of the Inland Empire and the outskirts of the Coachella Valley, the newly redrawn U.S. Congressional District 41 will be uniquely different.
When voters approved Proposition 50 in November, it allowed California to use new congressional maps drawn by Democratic state officials to elect members of Congress from 2026 through 2030. Before this, maps were drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission.
The maps — which state Republicans are trying to block — are expected to benefit Democrats.
Shortly after Election Day, California Republicans announced they were challenging Prop. 50 in federal court, arguing the new district maps favor Latinos at the expense of other groups in violation of the Constitution. The federal Department of Justice filed last week to join the lawsuit. A similar legal battle playing out in Texas — where congressional maps were redrawn to favor Republicans — saw the new maps blocked Tuesday by a federal court.
At the moment, Prop. 50 is going forward in California, and the new maps put the previously safely Republican 41st Congressional District in Riverside County in a now primarily blue district in L.A. County and even a small portion of Orange County.
“There's a lot of changes and some musical chairs that are happening,” Jodi Balma, political science professor at Fullerton College, told LAist. “Your house hasn't moved, but your congressional district boundary has moved around you, and so you might be interested to know who is likely to represent you at the end of the 2026 elections.”
Here’s how the chairs have shifted and why it matters in this corner of Southern California.
Why is the race for District 41 unique?
Balma said District 41 isunlike many other California districts in the wake of Prop. 50.
“The others, you could kind of understand how the borders changed and some segment of the district remained the same,” Balma said. “But this one just wholesale was picked up from the Inland Empire and moved to Los Angeles, and it's a completely new district.”
The new district brings together residents who might have different lived experiences and cultural backgrounds, said Sara Sadhwani, assistant professor of politics at Pomona College.
“This district is substantively and geographically quite different from that, so you certainly can't compare 41 from before to 41 today,” Sadhwani said. “We have seen an incredible amount of growth throughout the Inland Empire, and notably, many Latino and Black communities moving into the Inland Empire, and with them brings a different kind of politics.”
While those communities might lean Democratic, she added, they have varied interests.
“For whoever wants to run in District 41, or any of the districts representing the Inland Empire, I think that those are some of the dynamics that they will need to be attuned to in order to earn those voters' votes,” Sadhwani said.
What are the big changes?
In the original map, District 41 stretched from Norco to Palm Desert. It included Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Palm Desert and La Quinta. Census data show that the congressional district originally was made up of 56% white, 30% Latino, 7% Asian and 6% Black voters. Before the passing of Prop. 50, District 41 was represented by Republican Congressman Ken Calvert for more than 30 years. Calvert now is running for the newly drawn 40th District.
The original District 41 has been sliced into several congressional districts. Norco and part of Corona now are included in the new District 35; Menifee and Lake Elsinore are in District 40; and Palm Springs and La Quinta are split into separate districts.
Whereas Prop. 50 made some slight regional changes to certain districts in Southern California, the newly redrawn District 41 encompasses completely different counties — including parts of L.A. and Orange counties.
District 41 now includes Whittier, Downey, La Habra and Los Alamitos. More than half the voters in the newly redrawn area are Latino, 28% are white, 11% are Asian and 5% are Black, according to state Census data.
Who could represent the new District 41?
Rep. Linda Sánchez, currently representing the 38th District, announced her run for the newly redrawn 41st. Sánchez could have chosen to run in either the new District 38 — which includes Bell, Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights and part of Yorba Linda — but chose the new District 41 instead.
“After Proposition 50 passed and split my current district, deciding where to run was an emotional but ultimately an easy choice — I chose home,” Sánchez said in a statement. “Boundaries may change, but my commitment to fighting for the people I love will never waver.”
There are 80 House seats up for grabs in the California primary election, as well as 20 Senate seats. More than half of those are in Southern California.
No one else has announced their candidacy for District 41 yet, but that could change. The deadline to decide to run in the June primary is March 6. Here’s an election schedule.
First artifacts installed in LA museum's expansion
Makenna Sievertson
has been covering space shuttle Endeavour's journey at the California Science Center since December 2023.
Published November 18, 2025 4:08 PM
The first of many artifacts have been installed in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery, including a space shuttle main engine (right) and a solid rocket booster segment.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Topline:
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Why it matters: Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet that will inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
Why now: The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
The backstory: It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
What's next: Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
Read on ... for a peak inside the expansion coming to Exposition Park.
The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum’s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.
Once complete, the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will include multi-level galleries built around a towering centerpiece — the space shuttle Endeavour — displayed in its 20-story vertical launch position.
It’ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its “Go for Stack” position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.
Museum admission will be free.
Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California’s biggest “endeavor” yet to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
“The enthusiasm that people have when they come in and see this stuff and get excited about it will hopefully lead to many more people, young and old, but particularly young people wanting to pursue more education in science,” Rudolph told LAist.
Museum officials expect to announce next year an opening date, according to Rudolph.
A look inside the center
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will feature three main galleries: the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
Guests will be guided through hundreds of exhibits and authentic artifacts focused on the exploration of the universe — including rocket ships that carried humans into space and telescopes used to view stars and galaxies beyond our reach.
A real Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach spans several stories tall in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.
Adam Spice, chief financial officer of Rocket Lab, told LAist the Electron helped lower the cost of getting to space by sending satellites in smaller, cheaper rockets. The new center is an opportunity to get up close and personal with an Electron for the first time outside of a factory.
Spice said he hopes it’ll show visitors their dreams can become a reality.
“They can be part of something much bigger than probably they ever thought they could,” he said.
The first artifacts installed in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center include a solid rocket booster segment. Kenneth Phillips, aerospace curator, shows the scale of the piece, which has flown into space several times.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The solid rocket booster segment will become a walk-through interactive experience in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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A segment of a solid rocket booster that flew into space several times is laid on its side on the second floor of the gallery.
Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center’s aerospace curator, told LAist it’ll be turned into an interactive exhibit with audio, video and educational graphics.
“It's 12 feet in diameter, so people can actually walk through it and learn about the function of it from the inside out literally,” Phillips said.
Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with a space shuttle main engine.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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A detailed model of a space shuttle main engine is set up next to the solid rocket booster. Three of those main engines helped boost space shuttles into orbit by providing about 20% of their power, Phillips said.
What's next
Construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center started more than three years ago and is on track to be completed in the coming weeks, according to museum officials.
With construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center weeks away from completion, crews have started to put in landscaping around the outside of the expansion.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The exterior of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center as of Tuesday.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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The remaining exhibits and artifacts will then be installed over "many months," Rudolph said. Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.
The California Science Center also is looking to raise about $70 million more for the $450 million project before it opens. You can learn more about its “EndeavourLA” fundraising campaign here.
Matt Dangelantonio
directs production of LAist's daily newscasts, shaping the radio stories that connect you to SoCal.
Published November 18, 2025 3:58 PM
The Westwood Village Theater will be operated and programmed by American Cinematheque when it opens
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George Rose
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The group of directors restoring the Village Theater in Westwood are tapping film nonprofit American Cinematheque to program and run the venue when it opens.
Why it matters: American Cinematheque also programs the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Los Feliz Theater, making it a visible and active film arts nonprofit in the industry.
The backstory: The nearly century-old movie palace went up for sale in 2024 before Village Directors Circle bought it in February. The group is comprised of more than 30 notable filmmakers. They're led by director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno) and their ranks include Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Lulu Wang, Chloé Zhao, Christopher Nolan and Ryan Coogler.
What's next: VDC says it's eyeing a 2027 opening for the Village Theater, and is currently in the quiet phase of a capital campaign to raise $25 million to restore and remodel the Village Theater into a more than 1,000-seat venue.
