While many of his friends were pursuing careers in rap, Anky Cyriaque was already thinking one step ahead of them. “I knew I didn’t want to become a rapper, and then I figured that rappers needed videos,” he says with a sly smile.
Instead of picking up a mic, Cyriaque picked up a video camera and eventually launched his own production company, Heaven & Jade Films, Inc. The Brooklyn-based lensman admits that society played a role in the company’s name. “I didn’t want to be urban because all of my friends were starting their record labels with names like ‘Thug Production’ and ‘Keepin’ It Real,’ ” he explains. “Color is big in this industry and if they think you’re a ghetto company, they’re only going to give you ghetto work.”
So far, Cyriaque’s theory seems to be working. In addition to churning out several artist-branding commercials for the likes of UGK, Anthony Hamilton, OutKast and The Clipse, Cyriaque has also joined forces with Heavy Metal Magazine. He believes that he is able to fluidly move between genres with ease because of the way he approaches each project. “I try to go based off the person, not the music. So if you meet an artist face-to-face or you meet them through their EPK, it’ll be the same experience,” he says.
Cyriaque admits that he enjoys breaking out of the box that many assume he falls into. “Sometimes when I go to film festivals, most people see me and assume I have an urban project,” he says. “Then once they see some of my stuff, they ask things like, ‘Did you do that?'” -ivory m. jones
