Biography
Born in Cleveland, Ohio and based in New York, H Spencer Young is a writer, director, and interdisciplinary artist working across narrative film, documentary, fashion, music video, and fine art, with a recurring focus on how images shape perception and emotion.
Young studied Visual Media and Cinema Studies at The American University, where his 16mm narrative short "Passage," written, directed, and adapted by Young from his own award-winning short story, took first place at the university-wide American Visions Film Festival. As an undergraduate he was sponsored by Czech novelist and screenwriter Arnošt Lustig to study directing at FAMU, the Czech National Film School in Prague, and was one of 13 students selected nationwide by presidential historian Douglas Brinkley for The Majic Bus, a 44-state experiential program on American civil rights history and road literature. The journey put him in direct study with Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Hunter S. Thompson, Arthur Miller, Rita Dove, Allen Ginsberg, Melba Pattillo Beals, Robert Hunter, Steven Soderbergh, and others, often at their homes.
Young's early credits include story consulting and editing on "Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis" (dir. Mary Jordan, prod. Kenneth Peralta, Richard Prince), one of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best Films of 2006, and writing, directing, and producing the feature documentary "Swing State", an inside look at the 2006 Ohio governor's race that held the one-day attendance record at the Cleveland International Film Festival for nearly 20 years, premiering to sold-out, standing-ovation crowds in two adjacent theaters. He is currently in production on his second feature documentary, "Safety Town" which was a finalist for the Rogovy Miller / Packan Documentary Fund.
As a director, Young has shot campaigns and branded films for Hudson's Bay Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nike, Lord & Taylor, Honor, Juice Press, and CBS, with premieres and coverage in W Magazine, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Bloomberg. In 2013 he co-created the founding visual and film language for Juice Press, scaling the brand's imagery from a single store to a national chain of 80. His official music video for Joan as Police Woman's "Warning Bell" was featured by The Atlantic, and he has directed and edited work for Mykki Blanco and Rashid Johnson, including editing and sound design for Johnson's "Samuel in Space" (Ballroom Marfa), now in the Detroit Institute of Arts' permanent collection and exhibited at the Guggenheim, Hauser & Wirth, the National Gallery of Canada, the McNay Art Museum, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.
As a visual artist working in photography, painting, sculpture, and digital media, Young has exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach (Untitled Art and Satellite Art Fair), the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and Carriage Trade Gallery, with work presented by the New York Public Library and in benefit auctions for the Center for Art Law. His work has appeared on the front page of the New York Times Arts section, and his photography is featured in "Simultaneous Soloists" (on the work of Anthony McCall) and in his own essay on Marcel Duchamp published by Pasadena Magazine. His imagery has also been an uncredited visual reference for couture collections at New York Fashion Week and on the Emmys red carpet.
Young continues to mentor emerging filmmakers at his alma mater and teaches art and filmmaking to young people in New York City.
