Kelly Younger

Kelly Younger is a screenwriter, TV writer, playwright, story consultant, and Emmy- nominated producer. He is the writer of the Amazon feature film CANDY CANE LANE, starring Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross, directed by Reginald Hudlin, and produced by Imagine Entertainment, which premiered in December 2023 and quickly became the biggest Amazon MGM Studios-produced title of all time domestically. He is also writing and developing several projects for The Muppets Studio, having already co-created and co-executive produced MUPPETS NOW, and written and co-executive produced MUPPETS HAUNTED MANSION (4 Emmy nominations with 1 win, and winner of the 2022 PGA Award for Outstanding Children's Programming) both of which are streaming on Disney+ to much acclaim. Younger served as a member of the Disney Animation Story Trust, working on such films as RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (story credit), FROZEN 2, MOANA, and RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON. Additionally, he consulted on the live-action TINKERBELL (Reese Witherspoon, p.) and the live-action ALADDIN (Guy Ritchie, d.), and participated in the Pixar Animation Brain Trust on CARS 3, INCREDIBLES 2, TOY STORY 4, COCO, and ONWARD.

Younger is currently co-writing a feature film for Skydance Animation for directors Rich Moore (ZOOTOPIA) and Jim Reardon (WALL-E). Younger has developed at Amazon, Apple, Hulu, Disney Studios, Paramount Animation, Warner Animation Group, Dreamworks Animation, Disney Originals, and consulted at Skydance Animation and on both SHREK 5 and PUSS IN BOOTS 2 at Illumination. He frequently gives invited studio talks on fairy tales and story structure.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Younger earned an MA in Classics (Mythology, Folktales, and Fairy Tales) at Loyola University Chicago and a PhD in Literature and Drama Studies from University College Dublin in Ireland. He is currently a tenured professor in the Departments of English and Theater at Loyola Marymount University where he leads writing workshops and teaches seminars in fairy tales.