Meet the Team
XLE is led by these five most excellent nerds -- who also happen to be top-level professionals in their fields. XLE is both led and supported by a team of genre fans, cosplayers, and otherwise local LA fandom-community folks that turned their passion towards elevating comic-con nightlife.
Director of Business Development / Event Production
Bernie bregman
Bernie Bregman has been producing events since 2010 starting with special engagement film screenings and the 35th Anniversary Rocky Horror convention working with Lou Adler. Since then, Bernie has worked with several entertainment giants such as Fox, MGM, and Marvel to name a few. From activations and release/wrap parties to full conventions, screenings to film festivals, concerts to masquerades, Bernie is versed in creating a thoughtful and impactful guest-driven experience. Seeking to fill the void of pop-culture driven nightlife he began innovating cosplay nightclubs and Comic-con celebrations in 2014 working with national acts and Rock n Roll Hall of Famers such as Run DMC and The Black Eyed Peas, Redman, Slick Rick, and Flava Flav on events like the Los Angeles Comic Con Cosplay Ball before setting sites on San Diego Comic Con. In 2017 he produced Stan Lee’s 95th Birthday celebration at Stark Mansion in Hollywood, a part of the Handprint Ceremony celebration for the comic icon at the Chinese theatre on behalf of Legion M and partnered with Akumen, Celsius, Nerdist, TCL, Variety magazine and more! Bernie has been creating and fostering relationships across the pop-culture landscape and is committed to bringing people together to create memories that will last a lifetime.
Creative Director
Haley Keim
Haley is a co-founder of Damn Good Shindig, a company started to bring the creativity behind set design for film and a true passion for pop culture into the world of events. She has production designed a fun assortment of projects including the indie romance darling "Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong,” and HULU’s “Into the Dark: All That We Destroy”, and her personal favorite, the (disturbing?) viral video "Sexy Wookiee Hotline”. As a film/tv graphic designer and concept artist, she has worked on projects such as "Runaways" Season 2, "Love, Simon,” "Constantine", and was the mastermind behind the entire brand of Cloud 9 for "Superstore" on NBC. She has also worked for three years apiece on Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor and Super Bowl Live, and created graphics and renderings for Dubai’s Hub Zero theme park. Through Damn Good Shindig and Xlevelent she is realizing her dream of designing immersive worlds and realities that every fan can enjoy.
Creative Director
Ellie repka
Ellie Kushner is a co founder of Damn Good Shindig, and a 10 year veteran of the art department trenches of film and television. Projects she has worked on range from the tv show Weeds, Suburgatory, Casual to Great News, and a plethora of doomed one season shows. Ellie has used her background in fabrication to bring to life many themed parties and pop ups with Damn Good Shindig. From the reaches of a Galaxy far far away with the Darkside Bars in Washington DC, NYC and LA to a little slice of Westeros during the Game of Thrones inspired pop up at the Scum and Villainy Cantina, Damn Good Shindig has solidified itself as a favorite source for fandom themed event design. Ellie brings the same creative skillset to Xlevelent produced events, bringing them to a new level of immersion, helping to create a true experience for all who enter.
Director of Multimedia & Technology
ryan silverberg
Since 1996 Ryan has worked for himself as a branding and website developer. He has developed various IP's in the tech community, and sold his own social-media software company in 2009. Ryan has been involved in private seminars all over the country geared towards solving branding and marketing troubles for Fortune-500, to small to medium-sized companies. But his real passion is his musicianship as he is one of the founding members and keyboardist of the world-renowned '80s band - The Flux Capacitors. Starting small, the band is now the official flashback band of the 30th - 35th anniversaries of the Back to the Future trilogy. The Flux Capacitors have performed for many the largest companies in the world (e.g. Google, Toyota, Universal, Microsoft, Sony, Netflix, Livenation, Youtube, and many many more.) The band has been involved in numerous film and TV franchise celebrations including the 35th anniversary of Ghostbusters, experiential activations with Netflix for Stranger Things, officially-held and fan events for Back to the Future, Microsoft Forza7, among others. The band has been featured on CNN, LA Weekly, Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals, and are cast members in the Back to the Future documentary 'Back In Time' (available on Hulu).
Director of Operations and Media
Elvin zuleta
Elvin Zuleta is the founder of Nerdbot Media Company based out of Los Angeles, CA. Nerdbot is a digital media production company with a focus on pop culture content creation. Those productions include live shows, films, fan series, news and viral media content creation. His originally site, Nerdbot.com has become a highly ranked and trusted news source to the pop culture community. Elvin has also founded and currently manages popular and well attended yearly conventions: Anime Pasadena and Nerd Expo, both located in the Southern California area. In addition to Nerd Knights, a nighttime bi-monthly event in partnership with Dave & Busters.