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]

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]

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]