Michael Leoni
MICHAEL LEONI (Director), founder of An 11:11 Experiment, has always committed himself to creating exciting material that reaches beyond the scope of traditional entertainment, challenges an audience’s beliefs, and motivates a movement for positive change in our society.
Starting his career in Boston, Michael directed “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Hair”, “Falsettos”, and wrote and directed, “Wanted”, “City of Dreams”, and “Omerta”. He was then accepted into the Hart Conservatory BFA program on a talent scholarship.
In New York City, he wrote, directed, and produced “Enigma” and “Deviants”. Michael also directed “This is Our Youth” and the Off‐-Broadway run of “LOUD”, an original rock musical, which received local acclaim and gained several nominations at the NYC Fringe Festival.
Michael made the move to Los Angeles and produced “The Playground”, a Rock Music‐infused piece inspired by the lives of homeless kids and teenage runaways. Written and directed by Leoni, The Playground debuted on stage in Los Angeles and continued to run at least once a year for the next five consecutive years to outstanding reviews. He also wrote and directed the short films; “Radford Rd.”, “Deliver Us”, “Spare Some Change” and “Someplace In Between”, an Official Selection in the 2009 LA Shorts Film Festival.
His hit show “ELEVATOR”, which he wrote and directed, ran for 10 months in Los Angeles while garnering a Critics’ Pick from the LA Times, and earning him a Best Director award, with StageSceneLA, as well as receiving the Best New Work award with Broadway World’s Best in LA theatre. He received a total of 11 nominations in the Broadway World Awards.
Michael first directed New York actress, Gloria Rosen in her one-woman show, “Listen, Can you Hear Me Now”, at the Electric Lodge in the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival and is proud to help bring in back to LA in the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Leoni is currently in post‐-production on “The American Street Kid”, a powerful, feature length documentary that takes us onto the streets and into the real lives of America’’s homeless youth. Currently in development, Michael has two feature films, a television series and two stage musicals.
Founder of the organization Spare Some Change, Michael created and launched a Media Campaign/Artistic Mentoring Program which exposes street youth to the arts and motivates them to create change in their lives.
www.sparesomechangethemovement.com.
