His first film, Around the Time, was honored with several awards, including a Student Academy Award for drama and a Wasserman Award as Best Film at NYU where he was a Johnson Scholar and Spike Lee Fellow. His next film, The Sunshine, has screened in numerous festivals and has also won several awards for achievement in documentary. His last film, Outside Looking In, won a Paul Robeson Award for its exploration of transracial adoption among three generations of American families adopting across racial lines since the 1970's. It airs on public television and is a presentation of ITVS. Prior to coming to New York, Phil, who has a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and an M.F.A. in Film from New York University, helped to launch Philadelphia's PBS station WYBE-TV.