Both her parents were journalists and her mother was also a children's book author.
In 2009 Young directed Veronika Decides to Die in New York City.
The film is based on the novel Veronika Decides to Die written by Paulo Coelho and stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, and David Thewlis.
Young studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh where she was awarded a First Class MA degree.
In 2000 she was awarded a residency in Paris by the Festival de Cannes to develop a feature film of the memoir, 'Once in a House on Fire' by Andrea Ashworth.