The company was founded by three screenwriters Mikkel Bondesen, Brad Falchuk, and Andrew Barrett upon learning about cutbacks in funding for creative arts programs in the Los Angeles public schools.
[13] In 2015, the organization received a grant from the $4.5 million given to the Los Angeles arts scene from Michael Bloomberg Philanthropies.
[17] Then, in collaboration with Tongal, an independent creative network, the students’ stories were turned into live action and animated short films.
[17] In February 2018, a group of Young Storytellers students were invited to a special premier of Disney's A Wrinkle in Time and given the opportunity to create and then share stories based on the film.
[18] In October 2020, Young Storytellers partnered with Netflix to have members of the Over the Moon cast host a dramatic reading of a student's story.