Urban Media Warrior
Productions
Portfolio
Visual Storyteller
Welcome to
Urban Media Warrior (UMW)
Urban Media Warrior seeks to bring diverse ideas, unique voices and cultural expressions to the media marketplace, by merging new with traditional media.
This will be a venue to dialogue about all that is urban; music, fashion, culture, politics, film and tv and place for people to discover and share content from anywhere that has a urban sensibility.
My work primary deals with projects that examine disenfranchised communities. I am interested in producing narratives and documentaries involving communities and individuals that mainstream media usually ignores. As a filmmaker and media activist, I also believe it is important to put the media into the hands of those of us who usually have limited access or no access to these means of expression.
The viewing public needs to critically examine who controls the media and encourage a greater responsiveness to our needs. We can then use this medium to empower ourselves. The challenge for the 21st Century is having people see themselves as vital and important parts of the whole, where the media can be as diverse as the world we live in.
Production Reel
My life’s work and production experience has afforded me the opportunity to teach, produce and distribute new and challenging media. While some of my work has been broadcasted on television (BETJ and PBS), most of my work has been used for community organizing, media literacy, cultural awareness and political activism with non-profit media organizations and grassroots community groups around the country. My work has screened around the country at universities, conferences, community based organization and festivals.
That’s the mission of Urban Media Productions, creative, innovative and revolutionary media for change!
BIO
Cyrille the owner and founder of Urban Media Warrior Productions. She is a writer/director, media educator, videographer and editor based in New York City. She has over twenty-five years of production experience, working on music videos, short films, documentaries, and webisodes over several media platforms and production companies. As a filmmaker, editor, and cameraperson, she has collaborated on projects that have aired on PBS, TNT, and the BBC on important cultural figures such as Muhammad Ali, Mumia Abu Jamal, and Malcolm X. Cyrille has worked for several non-profit media organizations such as Downtown Community Television Center, Paper Tiger Television and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. She also worked as a camera person and video editor for media outlets such as Volume.com, a division of HBO, TVLand.com, Interactive One, Sesame Workshop and the Hispanic Information and Telecommunication Network/HITN.
Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Communication Arts at Marymount Manhattan College. She recently completed the award-winning short film, Mama Duke, a film she wrote, directed, and produced which premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Previously, she wrote, shot and directed the short documentary, Seen But Not Heard: AIDS, Sexual Politics and the Untold War Against Black Women and is now developing a multi-media project and web series addressing gentrification in urban communities, specifically Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Education
Cyrille’s love of movies began at her local movie house in the Bronx. From there she studied acting and performance in high school and transition to filmmaking in college. Her commitment to mastering the art of filmmaking has lead to a life long desire in building her craft evident in her academic accomplishments as well as her ability to translate her knowledge to a variety of students also invested in filmmaking.
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Drama
Syracuse University, Syracuse New York
Concentration: African American Studies
Masters of Arts, Media Studies
The New School, School of Media Studies
Concentration: Media Management and Multimedia Production
Teaches Courses in Videography, Editing, Studio Production, Field Production, Capstone, Social Media Marketing and Distribution as well as Black Film Studies
Membership with Black Documentary Collective, Brown Girl Doc Mafia, and Black TV and FIlm Collective, Alumni of Third World Newsreel Workshop
Body of work
2022
Mama Duke Trailer
Mama Duke, is short film directed by media educator, professor and filmmaker, Cyrille Phipps. Mariam “As a laid off, middle aged and recently divorced mother, she is forced to find alternative streams of income and a creative way to make extra money.
2018
Home
African American man returns to his neighborhood after being away from more than 15 years, returning to his childhood neighborhood that is much different and even isolating. Asking the question, can you go back Home?
2015
A Day in Brooklyn
The Bushwick Collective is known for hosting a rotating roster of street artists from around the world. In an era of gentrification in Brooklyn and the mainstreaming of hip hop and street art, the Bushwick Collective through its Street Art Project & annual block party celebrated graffiti and the artists that create it.
2007
Seen But Not Heard: AIDS, Sexual Politics and the Untold War Against Black Women
Seen, But Not Heard is a short documentary that will explore the historical antecedents, current trends, and emerging activism concerning HIV/AIDS and women of African decent. Through raw and revealing personal accounts and comprehensive investigative journalism, “Seen, But Not Heard” seeks to challenge, inform, and inspire viewers to look past the daunting HIV/AIDS statistics – to see and hear the real stories of women of color whose lives are affected by HIV/AIDS.
Respect is Due Clip: Featuring Dream Hampton
One of my first jobs after college was as a media educator/video instructor teaching in public middle schools and high schools throughout NYC. II was also working on a lot of music videos at the time and had a first hand look in how these videos were made. During that same period, I was in a Video Production workshop at Third World Newsreel where I produced this short mini doc. Here is a short clip featuring dream hampton when she was a writer for the Source Magazine at its heights of music journalism and coverage of hip hop as an art form.
Testimonials
Juline Douglas
Marketing and Media Executive | Brand Strategist | Frmr Viacom, Financial Times/FT.com.
Cyrille created multiple short-form videos for use in online Marketing efforts promoting TV Land's Original shows. She has a great eye for images that work and a work ethic that delivers above and beyond every time. As video editor for our Digital team, Cyrille’s talents were obvious as she worked against tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment. She is a joy to be around and would be a terrific addition to any team.
Devorah Hill
Media Educator, Consultant and Editor
Cyrille Phipps is a consummate media professional, possessing multiple layers of prowess. Her managerial abilities are unprecedented. Working diligently, paying attention to detail while listening to her team members with respect and consideration she leads by example.
The breath and depth of her media production knowledge (technological and managerial) have been seasoned and tempered by almost two decades of high caliber professional endeavor. These qualities alone make Ms. Phipps a valuable asset in any professional environment.
It is her artistic achievement in combination with the aforementioned qualifications that define Cyrille's excellence. Her work has been recognized by such esteemed venues as the Whitney Museum and the Margaret Mead Film Festival.
Michael Gaylord
Chief Creative Officer, Wordsmithie
Cyrille is a skilled video editor and documentarian whose work was a driver of growth in key metrics on tvland.com. She handled an increasingly high workload, multiple projects, and shifting business priorities with flexibility and composure.
Panelist/Moderator
Making Moves in Media
To Deconstruct Colorism
North Manhattan Alumnae Chapter (NMAC)/DST
Black History Month Virtual Discussion
Sat, Feb. 22, 2025
Moderator, NMAC/DST
Discussion
“Making Moves in Media to Deconstruct Colorism” was an engaging panel discussion with incredible industry experts like the Academy Award nominated actress, Danielle Brooks, who dialogued about the challenges and difficulty in finding inclusivity in media representation.
We Keep Us Safe,
Screening & Discussion
Sat, Sept. 28, 2024
MODERATOR, THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL SCREENING/DISCUSSION
"WE KEEP US SAFE" WE KEEP US SAFE is comprised of five documentary short films directed by Shawn Batey. Each film features one of five activists in the NYC Black Lives Matter Movement.
Speaking for Ourselves to Set Our Own Legacy,
Panel Discussion
Thurs, Oct 19 2023
PANELIST, BLACK DOCTORAL NETWORK CONFERENCE
Panel presentation on the implicit anti Blackness and Black Stereotypes in Media contribute to a negative "brawn, not brains" legacy, and a Case Study in Setting a Counter-Stereotypical Legacy through Harlem STEM Up's mentoring program at Black Doctoral Network conference in Atlanta Ga.
Byron Hurt on the Making of the Film HAZING
Virtual Evening Seminar
Wed, Oct 26, 2022
MODERATOR, THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL SCREENING/DISCUSSION
Byron Hurt, is an American activist, lecturer, writer, and award-winning documentary filmmaker, whose films include Soul Food Junkies, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and most recently, Lee and Liza's Family Tree.
MoMA exhibition, titled “Signals: How Video Transformed the World,” Spr. 2023
MUSEUM EXHIBITION
One section of this exhibition is devoted to collectives who welcomed video technology as a means of consciousness-raising such as the video collective that created Not Channel Zero.
Joel Schumacher and Sophia Cranshaw Scholarship, April 2024 & 2022
SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBER
Served as a Scholarship Review Selection Committee member for the Joel Schumacher and Sophia Cranshaw Scholarship, April 2022 & April 2024.
Blerd Conference
July 13, 2019
MODERATOR
Black to the Future: African Americans Marking Moves in Technology.
Black Planet Productions feat. Not Channel Zero
Seen But Not Heard: AIDS, Sexual Politics and the Untold War Against Black Women
Mama Duke
Cyrille Phipps is available for guest speaker opportunities, participate on panels and to moderate discussions. She can be reached at info@umwproductions.com
