Brett Bertolino Email & Phone Number

Philadelphia, Pa / Los Angeles, Ca

As the Director of Special Projects I help grow our business by overseeing the company’s new and innovative projects to ensure they are completed on time, within budget and to the high level of quality that 13th Floor Entertainment Group is known for.

Www.Coaster-Nation.Com

Co-Founder of Coaster Nation. Our Coaster Nation team covers the latest news in the amusement park and haunted attraction industries. Visit our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram sites for theme park and haunt attraction news.

Greater Philadelphia Area

For more than 20 years, I oversaw all operations for Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc (ESPHS) ultimately being promoted to vice president and director of operations, reporting directly to the president and CEO.In this role, I was one of three senior policy-making officers for the organization along with the president and CEO and senior vice president. Together we led the organization and developed and implemented the strategic and tactical long and short-term goals for the organization, transforming a small, seasonal historic site into one of the most popular and well-known tourist attractions in Philadelphia attracting more than 300,000 visitors each year. As director of operations I was responsible for all business operations, including oversight of 70% of the employee population and the organization’s annual operating budget of $10 million. In this role I oversaw the strategy, planning and efficient operation of ESPHS’s tour programs (daytime prison tours, Night Tours and private group tours), regular business operations, facility rental program and special events – most notable of which is Halloween Nights, which generates more than 50% of the annual operating budget for the organization. Halloween Nights is a bold new iteration of the organization’s famed Halloween fundraiser which was previously known as Terror Behind the Walls.

Greater Philadelphia Area

During my time at Eastern State, I was the senior staff member in charge of the Halloween fundraiser. During that time, I grew Terror Behind the Walls from a small regional Halloween event with three haunted houses into one of the largest and most successful Halloween events in the country attracting more than 130,000 visitors each year. In its final year of operation in 2019, Terror Behind the Walls featured six haunted houses, a haunted speakeasy, choreographed zombie dance performance and off-site parking and shuttle operation. In 2020, Terror Behind the Walls was suspended due to the pandemic. During this time, I successfully guided the organization through the pandemic and, with our programming team, launched a new evening program called Night Tours, which ran select evenings in the fall of 2020. While continuing to navigate the pandemic, I was tasked with reimagining Terror Behind the Walls to create a mission aligned Halloween fundraiser that would attract a wide, broad audience. After only a few short months of planning, we launched the inaugural season of Halloween Nights in fall 2021. This Halloween festival of epic proportions occupies all ten acres of Eastern State Penitentiary’s abandoned cellblocks and yards and features five haunted houses, live entertainment, themed bars and lounges, festive eats and treats, as well as nighttime historic tours and Eastern State’s flagship museum experiences. In each of its first two years in operation, net revenue from Halloween Nights exceeded budgeted projections. In 2022, the last year I oversaw the event, 99% of tickets for Halloween Nights were sold in advance online, nearly 1/3 of event nights sold out and 89% of attendees rated the experience as “excellent” or “good”. Halloween Nights is one of the largest and most successful Halloween events in the county and carries on a 30+ year tradition of Halloween celebrations at Eastern State.

Philadelphia, Pa

Philadelphia, Pa

Bs, Biology, Education

Activities and Societies: Beta, Beta, Beta Honors Society, Campus Activities Board, Alternative Spring Break

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Biology, General