Next Gen 2011: Hollywood's Fastest-Rising Stars
As a University of Miami law student, Young, 35, had worked on Al Gore's presidential campaign and was contemplating a career in politics when the 2000 Florida recount occurred. "Living through it, being inundated by it and getting frustrated by it soured me a bit," he says. Switching gears, the Sarasota, Fla., native moved to California, landing a gig in the UTA mailroom in spring 2001. "It's a humbling experience to have a law degree and push a mail cart," says Young with a laugh. Five weeks in, he was moved to the agency's TV lit department; four years later, he jumped to CAA. Since then, the married father of two has grown his portfolio of TV clients to include Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, the co-creators of Fox's midseason drama Alcatraz, and Spartacus showrunner Steven S. DeKnight, for whom he recently struck Starz's first overall deal. During the WGA strike in 2007-08, the self-proclaimed neat freak and scuba diving enthusiast began to build his roster of sports broadcasting clients, working on scripted and unscripted projects as well as speaking engagements and broadcasting deals for talent such as former NBA stars Chris Webber and Kenny Smith. "The writers strike happened and we started to brainstorm about what we aren't doing that we could be doing," Young says. "That's where the sports broadcasting department came from. Since then, we've gone from a handful of clients to about 50."
