Legacy + Innovation
Where Storytelling, Technology
and Culture Converge
Urbanworld is a five-day festival, based in New York City, showcasing narrative and documentary features, short films, web originals, music videos, spotlight screenings and conversations, and live staged screenplay readings.
Our Urbanworld Innovation Summit convenes industry experts sharing insights on the evolving landscape of content creation, financing, distribution, and marketing, all through the lens of Technology and Storytelling with an eye towards the future via a Web3 experience.
Urbanworld Nightlife rounds out the festival, powering premiere and cultural events with a mix of curated DJs and live performances.
Our Legacy
The Urbanworld Film Festival, founded in 1997 by Stacy Spikes, is one of the largest internationally competitive festivals of its kind. Since inception, Hollywood studios, indie film distributors, and established and emerging filmmakers have consistently chosen Urbanworld to premiere box office and award-winning hits.
The Urbanworld Film Festival is an initiative of the Urbanworld Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization that redefines and advances the presence and impact of the multicultural community in cinema and cross-platform media.
Who We Are
Stacy Spikes
Festival Founder
Stacy Spikes
Festival Founder
Stacy Spikes is an award-winning entrepreneur and inventor who USA Today named one of the 21 most influential Black leaders in technology. He holds several technology patents and is the co-founder and CEO of the nation’s first theatrical subscription service, MoviePass. In addition, Spikes is the founder of Urbanworld, the largest international festival dedicated to nurturing Women and BIPOC filmmakers. His memoir, Black Founder, was released in January 2023.
Karen McMullen
Festival Director | Head of Programming
Karen McMullen
Festival Director | Head of Programming
Karen McMullen has been in programming leadership at DOC NYCNew Voices in Black Cinema and TIDE Film Festival and Tribeca Festival. She has been a juror at Pan African, Trinidad + Tobago, Thessaloniki International Documentary, Cleveland International, and Bentonville film festivals, and on the nominating committees for Gotham Awards, Carey Institute, Black Public Media, and Cinema Eye Honors. Karen conducts panels and interviews for HBO, Netflix, Apple, NY African Film Festival, and others. She has editing credits on features and short films, and was a professor of film post-production at Long Island University. Karen graduated from Brown University with concentrations in French Studies and International Relations.
Sharese Bullock-Bailey
Chief Innovation Officer
Sharese Bullock-Bailey
Chief Innovation Officer
Sharese Bullock-Bailey serves as Chief Innovation Officer at Urbanworld. Sharese is the Founder of Overstand Partners, co-presenting The Stand, a pitch style panel at Urbanworld since 2016. She is an Emmy-nominated producer, strategic consultant and leader in social impact storytelling. Sharese has funded, distributed, and curated independent media globally for the past 20 years, leading service and international education programs in over 20 countries, including filmmaking exchanges for emerging and independent producers and partners.
Stephanie Cen
Communications & PA/Volunteer Coordinator | Producer
Stephanie Cen
Communications & PA/Volunteer Coordinator | Producer
Stephanie Cen is currently a multi-hyphenate at Urbanworld Film Festival and assistant editor by day, and at night a writer-director who is passionate about creating films, which can be seen here, that give a voice to marginalized communities. Stephanie is currently collaborating with creatives to finish her thesis film, Ai (Love). It is anticipated that the film will be screened for wide audiences in the near future. Stephanie is also an avid amateur chef and patissiere who loves to eat. Fun fact, Stephanie is Chinese born in Puerto Rico and grew up in a multicultural household speaking Spanish, English, Cantonese!
Samantha Debicki
Screenwriting Program Producer
Samantha Debicki
Screenwriting Program Producer
Samantha Debicki has programmed Urbanworld's screenplay competition and produced its live readings and screenwriter activations for over a decade. She has also produced a number of nonprofit events, including galas, fundraisers, and the Screenwriters Showcase for the "Made in New York" Media Summit. As an actor, she is a member of off-Broadway’s TBTB company. Sam is also a freelance writer with clients in the corporate, yoga/health, and creative spaces. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University, where she majored in English.
Joelle Griffith
Events Producer | Partnerships Coordinator
Joelle Griffith
Events Producer | Partnerships Coordinator
Based in New York, with a specialization in event operations and logistics, she has a decade of experience in conferences, concerts, festivals, hospitality, stage management, corporate meetings, travel planning, and intimate celebratory events, among others! Joelle has produced events for a variety of clients including OVO Management, SiriusXM, Essence, Leaguefits, Washington Nationals, Monumental Sports, Washington Commanders, Atlanta Falcons, NBCUniversal, Archewell, HBO, and XoNecole, to name a few. She has had her digital designs featured on Nordstrom, Madame Noire, and Blushington.
Formerly, Joelle served as Urbanworld's Digital Producer, helping the festival transition to virtual during the height of pandemic. She then transitioned to Ticketing & Box Office lead after our return to in-person. She now spearheads the festival's experiential and events. This is Joelle's fourth year with UWFF.
Eric Iverson
Webmaster
Eric Iverson
Webmaster
Eric Iverson has directed his Digital UX/UI Development & Design team (Extima) for 10+ years launching over 100 websites and apps for customers ranging from custom SaaS solutions to global e-Commerce to event & media organizations.
Candace Jones
Theater Operations Lead
Candace Jones
Theater Operations Lead
Candace Jones (CJ) is a project designer, producer, and DJ. CJ has served on the production team for Urbanworld since 2015 where she mixes her worlds of music and the movies. At BLACK GIRLS ROCK! she has served in the global mission of women's and girls' empowerment with founder DJ Beverly Bond since 2008 and as associate producer for the acclaimed BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Awards on BET. She joined Howard University alumni comrades to create the HU Entertainment Collective, a resource platform for its vast and prominent community in creative fields. She's been a member of the GRAMMY Family since 2003 and previously held positions at The Recording Academy, Universal Music Group, and Creative Works.
Mabasa Mathope
Technical Operations Producer
Mabasa Mathope
Technical Operations Producer
After spending most of his career behind the scenes helping other filmmakers get their projects seen on the film festival circuit, Tony looks to write and create work that pushes the parameters of urban cinema. The former New Yorker has pulled on all of his experiences, which include working as a Post Production Supervisor in Los Angeles as well as his own unique biracial background of growing up Black and Asian. With other projects in the works, Murphy, a former festival director for Urbanworld and current Technical Producer, is researching and writing a psychological thriller set in Bangkok.
Ashley Mui
Filmmaker Liaison | Programmer
Ashley Mui
Filmmaker Liaison | Programmer
Ashley Mui is a Chinese-American multi-medium artist. She combines media, tech, art, and culture to champion impactful community-industry initiatives. As a Producer, Ashley has credits working alongside director and cultural critic, Nelson D. George, on documentary films such as Finding The Funk (vh1); and A Ballerina's Tale (IFC). With over 10 years of experience in film production, Ashley leads Content Development for The Gates Preserve, a multimedia company committed to archiving and repurposing a people's history such that it lasts forever. She has served as a Senior Programmer and Producer for the leading multicultural film festival in the U.S. - Urbanworld. In 2021, she joined Warner Media’s 150 as their first Artist-in-Residence to develop Forbidden, scripted musical drama series that follows the lives of Asian performers in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the golden nightclub era. Check out her work at ashleymui.com.
Tony Murphy
Technical Operations Lead
Tony Murphy
Technical Operations Lead
After spending most of his career behind the scenes helping other filmmakers get their projects seen on the film festival circuit, Tony looks to write and create work that pushes the parameters of urban cinema. The former New Yorker has pulled on all of his experiences, which include working as a Post Production Supervisor in Los Angeles as well as his own unique biracial background of growing up Black and Asian. With other projects in the works, Murphy, a former festival director for Urbanworld and current Technical Producer, is researching and writing a psychological thriller set in Bangkok.
Tambay Obenson
Lead Film Curator
Tambay Obenson
Lead Film Curator
Tambay A. Obenson is a recognized authority on the cinema of Africa and its diaspora. He founded Shadow and Act, a leading online platform for Black film and television coverage, in 2009, and co-founded the New Voices in Black Cinema Festival in Brooklyn, NY, for which he served as a lead programmer and curator. He has shared his expertise on numerous panels, broadcasts, and in college classrooms. He has also contributed to research projects, produced short films, and worked in film distribution. Obenson is currently building a new platform called Akoroko that focuses on mainstreaming coverage of and access to films telling African stories globally.
Sandy Cabada Valenzuela
Community Partnerships Liaison | Programmer
Sandy Cabada Valenzuela
Community Partnerships Liaison | Programmer
Sandy is a producer, programmer for the shorts category and the community partnerships liaison. In addition to seven years of experience with Urbanworld, Sandy has been involved with other top film festivals and has extensive event production experience. Sandy founded Babe, You Don’t Love Me Anymore in 2019, a company through which she uses her creativity and love for visual mediums to promote vintage fashion and sustainable use. Sandy is also active in her community and teaches art to youth. Sandy is a proud Latina, a product of Los Angeles and Mexicali and currently resides in Fort Wayne, IN.
Founding Partner
Industry Partners 2022
Community Partners
