WARREN ALAN YOUNG     production design

Production designer and Los Angeles native son, Warren A. Young was originally educated and trained as an interior designer and interior architect.  Warren’s eclectic tastes and passion for storytelling quickly led him to the world of filmmaking.  His critical attention to detail and his collaborative ability to capture and render the visions of singular cinematic voices, has led him to create a visually eclectic and stunning body of work.

When creating the design of a film or television show, Mr. Young relishes the research process needed to define a film’s characters and the worlds they occupy.  Giving voice to the sets allows Warren to give flesh to the words of the script as he strives to create a complete canvas on which the director can tell his or her story. Of particular note is Mr. Young’s repeat collaborations with the many directors and producers for whom he has worked.

Many great artists and influences have guided Mr. Young along his artistic path.  At 7 years old, Warren discovered Legos and forever changed his connection to space and form.  Frustrated with other building toys of the time, these plastic, primary-colored building blocks gave Mr. Young the ability to produce the designs of his imagination to much greater detail than other building toys of the time.  As a youngster, the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House in Hollywood began a love affair with Wright’s revolutionary approach to fusing the principles of design with those of Nature.  Warren was further impacted by Gordon Parks, whose photographs ranged from sexy, high-fashion, to the documentation of American poverty.  Park’s signature style translates the visceral nature of his subjects.  In addition to Romare Bearden, Mr. Young admires the innovation and dynamism of Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451, and the silent film classic Metropolis, as well as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Jimmy Hendricks.

Warren’s career highlights span nearly two decades and include Twin Falls Idaho (Directors: the Polish Brothers), The Secret Life of Bees (Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah) for Fox Searchlight and Will Smith’s Overbrook Productions, and Akeelah and The Bee (Lawrence Fishburne, Angela Bassett).  He has collaborated on a variety of projects.  Mr. Young’s eclectic clientele of independent director auteurs have brought a range of projects to his doorstep, from standup comedy concerts, to feature films such as Kasi Lemmons’ Talk To Me (Don Cheedle, Taraji P. Henson), the television pilot Skip Tracer for Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liasons, The Queen), the last two seasons of the episodic, Hawthorne, (Jada Pinkett-Smith) for Sony and Will Smith’s Overbrook Productions, as well as larger-budgeted studio action features such as Waist Deep (Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall).

The year 2014 started with a very exciting bang.  Warren designed the FX series Fargo, based on the highly acclaimed 1996 Coen Brother’s feature film of the same name.  Collaborating with showrunner Noah Hawley, as well as legendary producer Warren Littlefield, and producer John Cameron (who’s own career is intertwined wonderfully with a long string of films by the Coen brothers) Warren was provided with the challenge of upholding the aesthetic the Coen brothers have established in their film Fargo, as well as in many of their other films.  Mr. Young found the experience to be exhilarating, and incredibly rewarding, and an all around amazing experience.

Later in 2014 he is scheduled to design a series of short films for a major home electronics company, as well as feature films covering genres from suspense thriller to romantic drama.  When not consumed with creating the look and feel of a movie, Mr. Young continues to build his creative muscles via photography and furniture design, as well as various residential and commercial design projects.  Ultimately, regardless of the type of project, he believes all involved should not forget to have fun. 

Warren’s numerous experiences on film and television projects have allowed him to spend considerable time in many popular filming regions, and develop good relationships and strong familiarity with those areas.   As it happens he’s also spent quite a bit of personal time in those cities especially the Detroit Metro area (as far away as Ann Arbor), southeast Louisiana, the greater Atlanta region, areas surrounding Wilmington and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, the greater Washington, D.C. area, New York City, Toronto and surrounding regions of Ontario, Canada, as well as Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  In some of these cities Mr. Young is able to work as a local.

Los Angeles    Louisiana    New York    Atlanta  

Detroit    Washington, D.C.    North Carolina