Phillip Youmans
Phillip Youmans (born February 18, 2000)[1] is an American filmmaker. He is the first African-American director to win the Founders Prize at Tribeca Film Festival, which he received for his 2019 directorial debut, Burning Cane.[2]
Early life and education
Youmans was born and raised in New Orleans.[3] He first became interested in film-making when he was 13. Youmans attended two high schools through a dual enrollment program: Benjamin Franklin High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.[4]
He completed his freshman year at New York University in May 2019.[1] In October 2019 he stated he may drop out of the program to focus on his career.[4]
Career
Youmans wrote, shot, directed and edited his first feature-length film, Burning Cane, as a senior in high school, when he was 17.[5][3] The film grew from a short film that Youmans wrote called The Glory.[3] It tells the story of a woman (played by Karen Kaia Livers) in rural Louisiana and her relationships with her alcoholic son and a local preacher.[6] It also stars and was co-produced by Wendell Pierce.[1][7] Raised Baptist, Youmans stated that the goal of Burning Cane was to "touch on [] how rigid religious conviction can be within the rural South, especially under sort of rigid interpretation of Protestantism."[3] Youmans financed the film with $2500 in personal savings, an Indiegogo campaign, and donations from friends and family.[4]
Burning Cane won the Founders Prize and the prize for best cinematography in a U.S. narrative feature film at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Youmans is the first African-American director to receive the Founders Prize; he is also the youngest director to have a film accepted to the Tribeca Film Festival.[5]
Youmans announced that he is currently developing his next feature film, which will focus on "the Black Panther chapter in New Orleans during 1978."[4]
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | American Film Festival | Best Narrative Feature | Burning Cane | Nominated |
Tribeca Film Festival | Best Cinematography | Won | ||
Founders Prize | Won | |||
2020 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding First Screenplay | Nominated | |
Outstanding Independent Feature | Nominated | |||
Independent Spirit Awards | John Cassavetes Award | Nominated | ||
Gotham Awards | Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award | Nominated | ||
Audience Award | Nominated |
References
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External links
- Articles with short description
- Use mdy dates from November 2019
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- 2000 births
- Living people
- African-American film directors
- 21st-century American male actors
- People from New Orleans
- African-American screenwriters
- Male actors from Louisiana
- 21st-century African-American people
- 20th-century African-American people