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CML Studios

CML Studios

Carlos Leon, 25
www.cmlstudios.net
North Hollywood, Calif.

Carlos Leon is a media mogul in the making. With $25,000 in savings, and no outside financing, he managed to expand the multimedia business he started in a room in his parent's mobile home into a full-service production company with such clients as Warner Bros., VH1, Sirius, and MTV3. Leon, who earned a bachelor's degree in film from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., says the business—which includes a 1,500 square-foot production studio that he built from scratch with help from friends—had about $150,000 in revenue in 2007. He estimates it will bring in $200,000 in 2008. Up next: Leon is starting an online TV channel and a record label.