Kelly Younger

Kelly Younger is a screenwriter, TV writer, playwright, story consultant, and Emmy-nominated producer. He is currently a writer on The Muppet Show, prod. Seth Rogen, dir. by Alex Timbers, and starring Sabrina Carpenter. He wrote the Amazon film Candy Cane Lane, starring Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross, dir. Reginald Hudlin, prod. by Imagine Entertainment. The film became the biggest Amazon MGM Studios–produced title of all time domestically.

Younger co-created and co-executive produced Muppets Now and co-wrote and co-executive produced Muppets Haunted Mansion (winner, PGA Award for Outstanding Children’s Programming and recipient of four Emmy nominations, one win). He also wrote Kermit’s Commencement Address to the University of Maryland.

As a member of the Disney Animation Story Trust, Younger contributed to Ralph Breaks the Internet (story credit), Frozen 2, Moana, and Raya and the Last Dragon. He also participated in the Pixar Brain Trust on Cars 3, Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, Coco, and Onward. He is co-writing a feature film for Skydance Animation with directors Rich Moore (Zootopia) and Jim Reardon (WALL-E), and recently completed a script for a reboot of a legacy franchise for Disney Studios.

Additionally, Younger has developed material for Paramount Animation, Warner Animation Group, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, Apple, Hulu, and Disney Originals. He also developed an animated TV series with Brian Calhoun and musician Dave Matthews.

As a playwright, Younger’s work has been produced Off-Broadway and regionally. His comedy Kalamazoo, co-written with Michelle Kholos Brooks, won the Reva Shiner Comedy Award and is published by Dramatists Play Service. He was commissioned by New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre, and his play Tender (nominated for Best New Play by the IRNE Awards and finalist for the Laurents/Hatcher Award) was developed by Manhattan Theatre Club starring Michael Shannon and dir. by Lynne Meadow. His comedy Mandate won the Samuel French Off-Broadway Festival and is in development as a feature film. Several of his short plays have been produced internationally, from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to Dubai.

Younger is a frequent speaker on fairy tales and story structure, a recurring panelist and judge at the Austin Film Festival, and participates frequently in creative roundtables for Netflix Original Film.