Carlson Young (born October 29, 1990) is an American actress and director.^[1][2] She is known for directing The Blazing World, Upgraded, and for her roles in the American version of Disney Channel's As the Bell Rings,^[3] the film Premature, Comedy Central's Key & Peele, and as Brooke Maddox in the first two seasons of the MTV television series Scream.^[4][5]

Young made her directorial debut in 2018 with The Blazing World, a short film inspired by Young's own dreams^[6] and the titular work by Margaret Cavendish.^[7] In 2020 it was announced that the concept would be turned into a feature-length film, directed by and starring Young,^[8] and soundtracked by Isom Innis. In 2021, The Blazing World premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT category. Young is set to continue the Saturn Returns trilogy with two subsequent films.^[9]

In September 2020, Young directed the music video for "Catch & Release" by Peel (the project of Innis and Sean Cimino).^{[citation needed]}

Young's second film, the rom-com Upgraded, was completed in 2023 and stars Camila Mendes, Marisa Tomei, and Lena Olin. Her next project is the middle school-set fantasy horror film Femina Nox, of which she has written the script and which she may direct. ^[10]

Young is originally from Fort Worth, Texas.^[1][11] She moved to Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California,^[12] where she studied creative writing and enjoyed writing poetry.^[13]

In January 2016, Young became engaged to Foster the People member and producer Isom Innis.^[14] Innis proposed after he and Young were rescued from a mountain in Iceland.^[15][16] They married in Fort Worth on April 29, 2017, at Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church, which Young attended as a child.^[11]