The Brief

Brain Dead is a fashion brand that’s been around Los Angeles for 10 years now, and has stores in Tokyo, New York, and London. You’ve probably seen its skate and post punk inspired pieces on cool kids around the city: graphic tees, fuzzy sweaters, A24 collabs. (If you look closely, you can even catch a Brain Dead shirt on oldest daughter Margo in the Despicable Me 4 trailer.)

You’ll also see their logo on the marquee of the old Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax, or, as it’s known now, Brain Dead Studios.

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#264: Fashion label Brain Dead has taken over a site that some would consider....a little cursed. Originally opened in the 1940s as The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax, the venue was home to premieres and parties. Until a theft and murder shut the theater down.
Take a listen as we explain the history and present of this theater.

Revival House: The Long Road From Silent Films to Brain Dead Studios

#264: Fashion label Brain Dead has taken over a site that some would consider....a little cursed. Originally opened in the 1940s as The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax, the venue was home to premieres and parties. Until a theft and murder shut the theater down.
Take a listen as we explain the history and present of this theater.

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The company’s founder, Kyle Ng, took over the 82-year-old theater and reopened it in October 2020. The venue came with quite a bit of baggage that we’ll get into later, but Ng said he was driven by his love of indie film and concerns about the many theater closures during the pandemic.

“It was from film and music that I learned about anything about fashion,” he said. “We need to keep places like this alive to inspire generations.”

The Brain Dead touch

The 163-seat theater has digital and 35mm projection capabilities, and sits just up the street from the iconic Canter’s Deli. There’s a retail showroom upstairs and a patio and cafe, Heavy Head, in the back. It’s an inviting space.

Signage leads visitors to different areas of the Brain Dead Studios on March 31, 2024.

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“I realized that I wanted to create a place where it was more inclusive and more inviting to an audience that maybe never felt like they were being spoken to by the repertory cinema,” Ng said.

Ng came to Los Angeles to work in film shooting music videos after being inspired by picking up a copy of RES magazine. He was hanging out with Rick Stello in the import DVD section of Meltdown Comics, picking up official releases of international films like Oldboy and Battle Royale.

“Through curiosity we learn and get excited about different things we've never learned about,” said Ng. That curiosity that led him from comics and music to film and fashion. Now, with the movie theater, Ng said his team can “take risks and do things to make the theatrical experience a little different.”

Brain Dead Studios has screened docs for the skateboarding community, hosted Magic the Gathering tournaments and created fashion collaborations with some of the films it’s screened, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

And it leans on its audience for feedback.

The theatre fills up for the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind screening at Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles on March 31, 2024.

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Like many repertory theaters in 2024, the Brain Dead audience is young. If folks sign up for a monthly membership at the theater, (that’s $28 a month for unlimited film screening tickets and a 10% discount on clothing and concessions) they’re invited to write in with films they’d like to see.

“Most people wrote old titles,” Ng said. “And the cool thing is that old titles is so subjective to our audience because an old title might be Lost in Translation or it might be a '90s film.”

He noted that Sofia Coppola movies sell out, screenings of films like Speed Racer sell out, and anime will always garner interest.

It’s a connection to the theater’s past as a revival house, but with a slightly different niche.

The Silent Movie Theatre

The movie theater originally opened in the 1940s, built by John Hampton and his wife Dorothy. According to theater historian and film professor Ross Melnick, Hampton was a “massive silent film nut, if you will,” and loved silent cinema growing up in Oklahoma.

The Silent Movie Theatre was a classic mom-and-pop operation — Dorothy sold tickets and worked concessions, while John was in the projection booth screening his collection of silent film prints.

By the '40s, silent cinema was old news, so the theater filled a niche. Hampton’s collection was huge — an archival treasure trove of a medium known for being difficult to preserve. The couple screened films for 38 years.

By the 1980s, Hampton was having health issues and audiences were dwindling. He sold about half of his collection (most of which ended up in the archive at UCLA) and died in 1990. That’s when trouble broke out in his family.

Photograph caption dated February 10, 1980 reads, "'The Silent Movie' in its 30th year of showing films from the silent era on Fairfax Ave., also offers what may be L.A.'s bargain movie price: $1.50 admission."

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Herald Examiner Collection, courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library Tessa Collections

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As Melnick explained, his “nephew came in during a cleaning spree and just threw out hundreds of rare prints, posters, lobby cards — all that would be worth today, probably millions of dollars.”

Dorothy Hampton retained ownership, but the theater was empty until a family friend, Lawrence Austin, began running the space in 1991.

“He improved the theater, he brought in a live organist, and so it was, again, humming as the only operating silent movie theater in the country,” said Melnick. The theater was “attracting people from all over the world, not just those here in L.A.”

A troubled history

Lawrence Austin’s partner, James Van Sickle, was the theater’s projectionist, and the sole beneficiary of Austin’s estate. For about $30,000, Van Sickle hired a man named Christian Rodriguez to murder Austin and make it look like a robbery.

Austin was shot and killed, but another theater employee survived and identified Rodriguez, which led to Van Sickle. It was determined they had worked together, and both were sentenced to life in prison. 

Charles Lustman, a singer-songwriter, purchased the theater in 1999 and reopened the space with silent films, a cafe, live acts and private party rentals. In the mid-2000s, deciding to rededicate himself to music and recently diagnosed with a rare bone cancer, he sold the theater to brothers Dan and Sammy Harkham.

Sammy, a 26-year-old cartoonist and Dan, 24 at the time, took over the space in 2006. Bringing in film producer Hadrian Belove, they opened Cinefamily in 2007. For 10 years, Cinefamily was one of the “hottest places to go see movies,” said Melnick.

Celebrities would come in for events, and you could catch anything from silent films to art house classics to indie premieres and retrospectives. “It was all given this kind of veneer of cool," Melnick added.

In 2017, allegations of harassment and abuse came to light. An investigation found “breaches of acceptable behavior alleged to have happened at Cinefamily offices and events,” according to a statement issued by the Cinefamily board of directors at the time.

Giles Miller, who spearheaded the investigation, told the Los Angeles Times his team reached “findings that were not conclusive, but that the board was able to work with." Executive director Belove and board member Shadie Elnashai apologized, resigned and denied the allegations. Cinefamily shut down permanently.

The Harkham brothers tried to reopen the theater with a new name, the Fairfax Cinema, detached from the former Cinefamily board in 2019, but due to issues finalizing opening night programming and the 2020 COVID shutdowns, the space stayed empty.

What's next?

Brain Dead Studios reopened in the theater almost four years ago with A Nightmare on Elm Street.

“I think spaces always have a history and you have to learn and adapt," Kyle Ng said. "And I think that's what we're trying to do.”

Every month, in addition to director spotlights (this month’s is Wong Kar-Wai), there will be signature drinks in the back with Heavy Head cafe. It’s all part of the storytelling, Ng said.

Patrons order drinks before the movie showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the Heavy Head Coffee & Wine back patio behind Brain Dead Studios on March 31, 2024.

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“And we're going to start serving wine. So there's going to be a lot more night events,” he added.

Brain Dead Studios has also been moving beyond just this theater on Fairfax.

“We've been able to [co]produce a couple films like Carpet Cowboys with Memory, which is an amazing documentary,” said Ng. That’s alongside short animations Brain Dead’s produced. “When you come to the movie theater, we have a lot of … incredible short films and animations by so many different artists.”

Ng wants to keep the theater accessible and inviting to the community as a place of inspiration. “That's what makes me happy and sleep at night,” he said.

Despite being an independent brand in an industry that’s not known for being a cash cow, Ng said that “even if it's hard, we will do our hardest to make sure that this place always has its lights on.”

The lobby and concession stand of Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles on March 31, 2024.

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Check out the Brain Dead Studios calendar of upcoming films here.

L.A. County health officials Wednesday confirmed the county's seventh measles case this year — a traveler who passed through Hollywood Burbank Airport on the morning of June 17.

They're warning people who may have come in contact with the person of possible exposure to the highly contagious virus.

What you should know: Public health officials say the infected traveler arrived on Southwest Airlines Flight 4245 Gate A4 on June 17 at the Hollywood Burbank Airport. Anyone who was at that gate between 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. may have been exposed.

Officials also noted that people who were at the Thrifty Rental Car Service on June 17 from 9:20 to 10:20 a.m. and on June 18 from 10:25 to 11:25 a.m. may have been exposed. That's located at 2627 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank.

What if I was on the flight? Public health officials say passengers sitting next to the traveler will be notified by local health departments and should monitor for symptoms. Keep in mind those symptoms could appear up to three weeks after you were exposed.

Symptoms to look out for: Common symptoms include runny nose, fever cough, or a rash. It's also important if you develop these symptoms, don't just walk into a health care center without calling ahead first.

For people exposed on June 17, the last day to monitor for symptoms is July 8. For those exposed on June 18, the last day to monitor for symptoms is July 19.

How can I protect myself?: It's important to check if you are vaccinated against the measles. As health officials noted in the news release reporting the latest case: "The most effective way to protect yourself and your family is with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine."

The Los Angeles Unified Board voted unanimously to appoint Andres Chait, a longtime district administrator, as superintendent days after his predecessor resigned.

 “This board's decision reflects the confidence in Mr. Chait's leadership, his decades of service to Los Angeles Unified, and his demonstrated ability to guide the district during this period of transition,” said board President Scott Schmerelson.

The board met privately to discuss the district’s top job three days after Alberto Carvalho resigned. Carvalho wrote in a letter that he was leaving “because I believe our schools must remain focused on students and learning without distraction.”

The board placed Carvalho on paid administrative leave following FBI searches of his home and district office in February and appointed Chait acting superintendent. Carvalho has not been charged with a crime and has maintained his innocence.

Who is Andres Chait?

Chait rose through the ranks from teacher to administrator at LAUSD over nearly three decades. The responsibilities of his most recent role, chief of school operations, included overseeing school safety, athletics and the district’s office of emergency management.

Chait thanked the board, the community and his family after the announcement Wednesday and reflected on his first day as a kindergarten teacher 30 years ago. “ I was probably more nervous than the kids were, but I knew then that this was a place where I could make a positive difference in the lives of students and families,” Chait said. “I've always known that there is no greater accelerator of change and opportunity than the schoolhouse, and that is still true today.”

What is the superintendent responsible for?

LAUSD is the country’s second-largest school district, employs 83,000 people and enrolls more than 400,000 students across more than 1,000 schools. Despite recent gains in student test scores, the majority of students are not proficient in reading and math skills for their grade level. The district also faces looming financial challenges from declining enrollment — which is tied to state funding — and federal investigations into programs designed to help underserved students succeed.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A former state parks superintendent who oversaw Orange County beaches was charged Wednesday with secretly filming naked male lifeguards and other workers inside the locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach. The former superintendent, Kevin Pearsall, is also accused of sending some of the images to two other men.

What charges does he face?

Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 18 years and eight months behind bars.

Scott C. Thomas, a defense attorney representing Pearsall, declined to comment in the wake of the charges being announced by the Orange County District Attorney's office. Pearsall is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 6 and could enter a plea at that time.

Details of the investigation

In July 2025, a California State Parks officer discovered a USB stick with a hidden camera in the men's locker room at Bolsa Chica State Beach Lifeguard Headquarters. The officer contacted California Highway Patrol, which launched an investigation.

The investigation found Pearsall allegedly had recorded numerous secret videos in the locker room over an 11-month period beginning in August 2024, according to the DA's announcement. Pearsall retired from his job shortly after CHP served search warrants in the case. He turned himself in earlier this week.

State Parks reaction

Marty Greenstein, a spokesperson for California State Parks, told LAist the agency “takes these charges very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement through every step of the investigation.” Greenstein declined to comment further, citing the active criminal investigation.

Making your way through South Coast Plaza — the sleek consumer cathedral in Costa Mesa, a sort of mall of malls — past Uniqlo window displays and Pop Mart blind boxes, there's a good chance you'll eventually land at Tiny's, the new casual restaurant from Chef Sang Yoon.

The burger shack-meets-Asian convenience store is the latest from Yoon, best known for Father's Office, the Los Angeles institution where he's spent two decades running one of the city's most uncompromising kitchens — no substitutions, no exceptions.

Tiny’s marks Yoon’s first venture into Orange County — a deliberately accessible entry point for a chef who has spent decades at the top of L.A.'s gastropub scene.

The concept

Tiny's is the place Yoon wanted to exist as a kid.

Inside, you're greeted by shelves stocked in the style of a konbini, the beloved Japanese convenience corner store, with cilantro-flavored Doritos from China, elote-flavored Turtle Chips from Korea and, for the purists, the requisite Japanese Kit-Kats and Pocky too.

At the counter, a friendly employee greets you beneath a letterboard menu anchored by Yoon’s signature 30-day dry-aged beef burger. Starting at $9 for a plain burger, up to $12 for the Tokyo Dog dressed in bonito flakes and furikake, there's also salt and vinegar tots, french fries, miso mac 'n' cheese and soft serve that runs from Straus vanilla to Pineapple Dole Whip, available as a swirl, cup, cone or float. That's the menu, streamlined by design.

Chef Sang Yoon's cheeseburger and Tokyo Dog at Tiny's, his new fast-casual concept inside South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa

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For Yoon, the son of Korean immigrants who grew up between two worlds, the idea of opening a burger stand with a konbini was about tapping into the happy place of his memories: after school with friends, trying out the latest snacks to hit the market to Friday nights with the entire family celebrating after a long week of grinding it out with burgers and chili fries.

"The corner burger stand is where life happened. ... What if those two of my favorite things were under one roof?" said Yoon.

Tiny the dog

Inspiration for the name Tiny’s came from a somewhat unlikely place: Yoon’s beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Yoon describes her as appearing extremely cute and friendly, but in reality, she was actually sassy and judgmental. Illustrations bearing Tiny’s "don't mess with me" vibe can be seen throughout the restaurant.

“People would rather hear this from a sassy, cute dog than me. So I decided that we should channel Tiny. And let this belong to her," Yoon said.

The food

The cheeseburger itself is simple: a thin patty topped with melted American cheese and Tiny's signature sauce — a blend of Kewpie mayo, caramelized gochujang, ssamjang and tomato — finished with pickle chips and a bed of lettuce.

What sets it apart is what you can’t see, the same 30-day dry-aged chuck Yoon has used at Father’s Office for over 25 years.

“I still don’t think there’s any product superior to that for the purpose of a hamburger,” he said.

The spread at Tiny's includes the cheeseburger, miso mac 'n' cheese, chicken nuggets, tater tots, fries and a jammy egg sando — a konbini staple in Japan.

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The nuggets ($10) had a crispy, craggy exterior finished with visible seasoning crystals, a small but deliberate touch, and came with a fresh herbaceous dipping sauce. As for the chili fries ($8), the chili itself was sufficient as an L.A.-style chili (think Tommy's), but since Lao Gan Ma chili crisp was promised in the name, I was expecting that distinctive, crunchy, fermented kick — but left wanting more of it. It felt more like a whisper than a statement.

The miso mac 'n' cheese ($6) was a highlight of the meal, especially for someone who doesn't usually order mac 'n' cheese. Fresh ridged elbow pasta with a proper chew in each bite, and salty morsels of miso folded into a tight cheese sauce had me picking up forkfuls until it was mostly gone. Consider my position reconsidered.

Encouraged, I went back and ordered a Dole Whip ($7). The electric, tangy flavor, paired with the soft creaminess, served as a suitable exclamation point for my lunch that day.

With Tiny's, Yoon has built his most personal restaurant — accessible in price, but uncompromising in intention.

Could mall food now be on a new trajectory? Perhaps we've finally transcended corn dogs at Hot Dog on a Stick and cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon.

After dining at Tiny’s, all signs point to yes.