Samantha Leeds is a 15-year-old student from Crossroads High School in West L.A., with a passion for acting, writing and filmmaking and a love for Shakespeare. Two years ago, Samantha created The Riot Stage, a theater and film company. She brought in her beloved drama teacher and mentor, Zoey Zimmerman, who had recently retired from Crossroads, to help with creative direction on the plays. You can see The Riot Stage’s original play, which Samantha describes as “in vein of School of Rock meets Shakespeare,” on May 20 and 21 at The Odyssey Theater.
We recently chatted with Samantha about her love of theatre and how she started The Riot Stage.
When did your love of theatre and storytelling begin and what sparked it?
Ever since I was really little, honestly as young as four or five years old, I’ve been drawn to storytelling, acting, writing and performing. I’ve done theater for as long as I can remember, and I still have journals from kindergarten where I was constantly writing stories and ideas. I always knew I wanted to be an actor and a writer because performing and storytelling genuinely makes me feel the most like myself.
A huge turning point for me was middle school, when I started doing Shakespeare through my school’s DTASC (Drama Teachers Association of Southern California) competitions with my teacher Zoey Zimmerman. I completely fell in love with Shakespeare, the emotion, the language, the drama, the humor, the psychology of the characters. I played roles like Juliet and Lady Macbeth, and our team won first place at the DTASC Shakespeare festival two years in a row.
Around that same time, I started wanting to combine my love of acting and writing with filmmaking. I grew up obsessed with movies and storytelling, and eventually I realized that if I was acting in projects and writing them, too, I also wanted to direct them and shape the entire vision. That’s when I started making short films and experimenting with being a writer, director and actor all at once. I recently made a short film called “The Upright Hustle” for which I won the New Talent Award at The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) in Seattle which is widely considered the largest and most prestigious film festival for emerging filmmakers under 25. I also was awarded the Best Young Filmmaker at the Independent Shorts Awards.
How did you create The Riot Stage and get the shows produced?
The Riot Stage started because after seventh grade, when our Shakespeare team had won two consecutive years at DTASC, Zoey retired from her full-time teaching position at Crossroads and the school discontinued participating in that event. I really wanted to continue doing Shakespeare, but when I looked around Los Angeles, I couldn’t find any youth Shakespeare programs. So I had the idea to start my own company.
I approached Zoey about becoming the creative director, and together we started building The Riot Stage when I was 14 years old and in ninth grade. Last year was our inaugural season, and at first it was mostly students I recruited from my own school. Since then, the company has grown quite a bit. We brought in ten new students this year from schools all across L.A., and there’s been a growing excitement and momentum surrounding the company.
This year, I wrote an original play for the company to produce, with Zoey directing. The show is called “The Riot Stage: The Play. The Movie.” It’s an original production that blends live performance and film sequences into a cinematic coming-of-age underdog story. The play also incorporates Shakespeare text throughout, as it’s set around a high school Shakespeare competition (like DTASC), very much in the vein of “School of Rock” meets Shakespeare.
Building the company has been a huge learning experience because I’ve really had to create it from the ground up. Beyond writing and acting, I’ve learned leadership, collaboration, organization, fundraising, producing, budgeting, marketing, scheduling and how to bring together a group of people around a shared creative vision. This season is much more ambitious and on a much bigger scale than last year, so it’s pushed me creatively and personally in a lot of ways.
One thing that’s especially important to me is accessibility and community. This year The Riot Stage gave multiple scholarships to students who otherwise would not have been able to participate. My larger vision is to create a company where young people from different schools and backgrounds can come together through storytelling and Shakespeare and truly have their lives transformed by it.
Are you planning to pursue theatre arts beyond high school?
Definitely. I love theater, filmmaking, writing, acting, and directing, and my dream is to continue doing all of those things professionally. I want to direct movies, act in them, write them, and still stay connected to theater, too. Right now, I’m especially interested in projects that combine live performance and film in new ways. I think younger audiences are really hungry for theater that feels cinematic, emotionally immediate and modern while still being rooted in classic storytelling.
Long term, one of my biggest goals is to adapt this Riot Stage production into a feature film. I’d also love to study Theater, English Literature or Film Studies in college, and some of my dream schools are Yale and UCLA because both have incredible programs in the areas I’m most passionate about. I also really love the creative, academic and social environments at both schools, along with their strong artistic cultures. Yale is especially meaningful to me because my amazing teacher and director Zoey Zimmerman went there, and UCLA is also a personal favorite since my dad went there.
What are some of the challenges you faced as a young artist trying to produce this play/movie?
One challenge is that people sometimes underestimate young artists before they actually see the work. There can be this assumption that because you’re young, the project won’t be serious or professional. But producing something ambitious involves very real responsibilities, organizing rehearsals, raising money, booking theater space, managing schedules, solving technical problems, leading a group and constantly adapting when things go wrong. It’s also required me to really put myself out there, which has definitely helped me grow as a person.
Another huge challenge is balancing school, life, friendships and everything else while trying to create something at a professional level. This is now my second year running The Riot Stage, and as the company gets bigger, my academic responsibilities and personal life also get bigger. Sometimes it can definitely feel overwhelming because at the end of the day, I’m still a teenager balancing a lot at once.
But I’ve learned that producing is really about problem-solving and persistence. I’ve also learned how important organization is. I live by planners, calendars, digital to-do lists, physical notebooks, everything. Having a strong support system has also been incredibly important throughout the process.
What have you learned in this process?
I’ve learned how much I truly love the process itself. While the outcomes are important, it’s the process itself that gives the work meaning for me. I’ve learned that creativity is only one part of bringing a vision to life. Leadership, communication, resilience and collaboration matter just as much. And I’ve learned how important it is to trust other people creatively and to stay open to new ideas that evolve during the process.
I’ve also learned that young people are capable of much more than adults sometimes expect. If teenagers are trusted with real responsibility and given the chance to lead creatively, they can do incredible things.
Most importantly, I’ve learned that creating art can genuinely bring people together. Watching students from different schools and backgrounds become close through Shakespeare and storytelling has been one of the most meaningful parts of this experience for me.
What advice do you have for other young artists in L.A.?
Don’t wait for permission to start creating. A lot of people spend years waiting until they feel experienced enough or qualified enough, but you really learn by making things. Start now, even if it’s small at first.
Also, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, share your work, and let people see your creativity. That can feel vulnerable, but it’s worth it. Los Angeles is full of incredibly creative people, and collaboration is such a huge part of growing as an artist. Find people who inspire you and who genuinely want to build things together.
And don’t be afraid to make projects that feel personal or different. Usually the work that connects most deeply with people is the work that feels the most honest.
What are some of your other passions?
Besides theater and filmmaking, I love baking, interior design, antiquing and thrifting. I think a lot of creative people naturally become interested in many different forms of creativity and expression, and I always encourage people to try creative things even if they’re outside their comfort zone.
I’m also very involved at school and in leadership. I’m the elected secretary of student council, an awarded Model UN delegate, and co-president of Women in Film at my school. I’m also the co-founder of the very first high school pickleball league in California, which began with starting a varsity pickleball team at my school. That experience has taught me a lot about leadership, collaboration and building community around something you care about.
Another thing that’s really important to me is tutoring elementary school students from underserved communities in reading and writing each week. Education and storytelling have had such a huge impact on my life, so being able to help younger students build confidence in themselves is really meaningful to me.
What do you enjoy doing in L.A. with your family and friends?
I love how creative and eclectic Los Angeles is. With my family and friends, I love watching movies at historic theaters around the city, exploring different neighborhoods, trying new restaurants, visiting flea markets and farmers markets, and going to live theater performances whenever I can. I also love going to the beach and spending time outdoors around L.A.
I’m also a huge fan of fun L.A. experiences like Universal Studios and other theme parks. My friends and I spend a lot of time working on creative projects together, too, whether that’s making short films, rehearsing scenes, taking photos or brainstorming ideas.
One thing I love most about L.A. is that there’s inspiration everywhere. It’s such a huge and diverse city that you can constantly discover new places, new people and new creative energy.
