Ted Benito
Ted Benito is an independent producer/director born, raised and based in Los Angeles. With his production company, LXV Enterprises, LLC, Ted’s mission is to promote, present and produce the talents of Asian-American/Filipino-American artists in all entertainment genre – live concerts, recordings, publishing, television, film, theater and digital platforms. While at UCLA, he served as Samahang Pilipino President, Editor-in-Chief of Pacific Ties and held positions with the Asian Coalition and SCPASA.
Ted has served as executive producer, co-producer, director and co-director in staged concerts at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the John Anson Ford Theater, the Greek Theater, the Aratani Theater, UCLA Royce Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and twice at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. His theatrical productions include “Songs for a New World”, Jessica Hagedorn’s “Dogeaters”, Leslie Lewis Sword’s “Miracle in Rwanda”, Ralph Pena’s “Flipzoids” and Lonnie Carter’s “The Romance of Magno Rubio” (with a Tagalog translation by the late Bernardo Bernardo) and two productions of Eve Ensler’s critically acclaimed “The Vagina Monologues”. Ted also co-produced the successful west coast U.S. Tour of “Ballet Philippines” in 2016 and for the past three years, he has produced the L.A. performances of Philippine Ballet Theater.
Ted was a contributing editor to “Kababayan Today”, the first Filipino-American daytime talk show hosted by Jannelle So which aired on KSCI-TV Channel 18. He has also been an advisor to “So Jannelle”, the lifestyle program airing on TFC. In the capacity of Special Correspondent for that show, Ted has covered the red carpet at the Golden Globes Awards ceremony and had the opportunity to interview Kevin Kwan, Michelle Yeoh, Darren Criss, Glenn Close, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, Halle Berry, John Chu, Spike Lee and others.
He has worked with actors and musicians including Lea Salonga, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tia Carrere, Tamlyn Tomita, Nia Peeples, Mark Dacascos, Angela Grey (Miss America 2001), Lisa Lew (multiple Emmy-award winning television producer), AJ Rafael, The Black Eyed Peas, Jo Koy, the Filharmonic, Becca Godinez, Mon David, David Bautista, Vincent Rodriquez III, Rex Navarrete, Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano, Pops Fernandez, Nicole Sherzinger, David Byrne, Michael Paulo (jazz musician), Michael Copon and Apl.de.Ap, among others.
Ted has worked with both the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Dodgers organizations to promote their respective Filipino Heritage Night celebrations and has brought talent to sing the U.S. Philippine anthem as well as the Philippine National Anthem (and with the Dodgers, celebrities to make the “First Pitch”).
In 2012, Ted co-founded the Apl.de.Ap Foundation International and served for over ten years as its Executive Director. He assumed the position of President of the Board late last year. During his tenure, the Foundation has built classrooms and music centers in the Philippines, has sent and placed medical equipment to two hospitals to diagnosed ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) in new born babies, oversaw a $3M donation of COVID test equipment to the University of the Philippines and helped raise over $4M during the Typhoon Haiyan recovery and relief efforts.
In 2024, Ted was appointed by then California Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the California Volutneers Commission and he ended his tenure with that organization in 2021.
He has produced/participated in fundraisers and community events for non-profit organizations such as SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans), The Filipino American Library, Kalayaan Incorporated, The Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture, Savor Filipino, The Asia Art Museum (featuring artwork curated by the Ayala Foundation), PeDRO (Philippine Disaster Relief Organization), the KTLA Typhoon Haiyan telethon, AADAP (the Asian American Drug Abuse Program), Asian Americans for Justice (formerly the Asian American Legal Center), the Filipino Veterans Reception for the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Filipino American National Historical Society (LA Chapter) among others. He has served on the Boards of the ABS-CBN Foundation International, Playwrights’ Arena and was recently accepted to the Advisory Committee of the Mabuhay Credit Union.
In November 2023, Ted produced and directed the annual Filipino American History Month celebration at the White House with emcees Lou Diamond Phillips and Tia Carrere and before then Department of Labor Secretary Julie Su.
He has also worked with various community groups including The Association for the Advancement of Philippine Arts, FilAmCreative and he currently serves as one of the producers of the Manila International Film Festival which just celebrated its 2nd anniversary at the Beverly Hilton.
Ted is currently working on his first film (a narrative short) and has optioned published works for transition to screenplays and subsequent films. He is slated to produce and direct the concert to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Black Eyed Peas later this year at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA. as a fundraiser for the Apl.de.Ap Foundation International.