Diane Luby Lane, CEO & Artistic Director

Diane Luby Lane is the founder and executive director of Get Lit–Words Ignite, a Los Angeles-based arts education nonprofit that is transforming the landscape of teen literacy by empowering new generations in literature, self-expression, and performing arts. She is also the founder of the Get Lit Players, an award-winning classic teen poetry troupe that has collaborated with the United Nations, Dove, and Women in the World, and toured at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the White House, and more, igniting communities across the globe with art and social consciousness. Lane is also the founding producer of Get Lit's Classic Slam, the largest youth classic poetry festival in the world. Lane’s Lit Kit, a standards based, in-school curriculum, has been adopted by schools throughout the U.S. and internationally. She is the author (and editor) of Get Lit Rising (Simon & Schuster) and Words of Women (Samuel French) as well as the playwright and star of the critically acclaimed one-woman show Deep Sea Diving (also known as Born Feet First) which toured with iconic Chicano poet and author Jimmy Santiago Baca. Lane is a graduate of the Annenberg Foundation’s Alchemy + Leadership Program, a TedX speaker, a Southern California Leadership Network Fellow, a member of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Poet Laureate Committee, and a recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Service Award. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.

Samuel Curtis, Producer & Head of Productions

Samuel Curtis is responsible for developing the film and digital media program for our content studio, Literary Riot Media. Samuel currently lives Venice Beach, California, where he is directing and producing two feature music documentaries, anticipating completions in the Fall 2020/Spring 2021. He is the Associate Producer of the feature film, Summertime, which premiered Opening Night at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. He has produced web series for VICELAND, and Red Bull and produced digital spots for Ford Motor Company and Post-It’s/3M among others. In addition to directing music videos, he was the host of Get Lit Minute, a weekly poet-themed podcast, and also produced a widely listened-to weekly screenwriting podcast with Final Draft, called Write On. His work has screened on national television on the CMT network and at the Grammy Museum, the Sarasota Opera House, and film festivals across the country. He has a deep passion for roots music, producing and performing at live Americana shows throughout Los Angeles.