We recently had the chance to connect with Filipp Romanychev and have shared our conversation below.
Filipp, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I am proud to make comedy movies even at a small scale for social media. Currently, I am working on a sitcom about a neurotic Russian student who runs from his social media obsessed girlfriend and seeks asylum at his hippie grandfather’s house in the San Fernando Valley. But he doesn’t know what he’s signing up for… It all started as an improv and now we are making an episode per week and post it on Tik Tok and on our YouTube channel @Glampers_sitcom. As an artist I want to bring joy to people and I think the society is in need of good comedies nowadays when every day something horrible happens in the World and people are stressed out. I want to bring people joy and hope that laughter will bring people together. That’s why I am currently crowdfunding for a comedy feature film Villain Victor, which is about a loser actor who ho agrees to play a villain in PR videos for his greedy cousin who runs for the governor of California and makes him participate in cons. You can sign up on our website and receive a free script if you are interested in this project at villainvictormovie.com
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Filipp Romanychev, I am a filmmaker, originally from Russia. Along my 6 year career I made 12 short films, one hour pilot, a mockumentary feature film, worked as the Head of Video Production department and worked on more than 30 sets as a sound mixer and boom operator. I came to Los Angeles in 2022 as a student at New York Film Academy as I received a grant to attend MA Film and Media. For me it was a great experience and although I made movies before, I had a chance to see how the industry works in the US. Currently I am at a pre-launch stage for a crowdfunding campaign for a feature comedy film Villain Victor. The movie is about a loser actor who agrees to play a villain in PR videos for his greedy cousin who runs for the governor of California and makes him participate in cons. But it’s not only about the movie. I am aiming to create a production company where audience will be voting for projects they want to see and movies will be distributed in movie theatres and on Blu-rays. I think it will spot a light on new filmmakers who will bring concept based movies and the audience will be excited for to see them as they were the ones who greenlit it. You can see more information on our website villainvictor.com
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My wife saw that I am an extremely creative person and at some point at my life I realized that there is a disconnect of my perception of myself and what I do in life. I used to be a lawyer and I worked at Brighton Beach as a paralegal. I would come to work one hour earlier so I have time to write a book, which me and my wife outlined during the weekends. Then we had to get back to Russia and it was the hardest time in my life and then we started to make music videos. We used music which I wrote with Fl studio and on my phone years before. When I was editing our 5th music video, I decided that we should make a movie. And we did it. Just me, my wife and three actors at our small vintage apartment in Moscow. I still remember the feeling when we went to bed at 3 am after the shoot and couldn’t sleep. The feeling was magical and I realized that I don’t want to do anything in this World but making movies.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me not to expect anything in return, neither quick results nor praises. I am doing comedy films because I love it and I want people to have fun. When you start expecting something in return, you suffer more. You get depressed, stressed, you think less of yourself. I don’t think about the success anymore because if it happens, then it happens. I live in a country which I love and I want to be, I live with my wife, who is my forever partner no matter what, I do what I love and I have fun with it. I am focusing on positive things rather than feeding negativity which just brings darkness and misery and I wish other people to focus on positivity in their lives.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
The public version which you meet in person – yes. On social media – it depends. It’s hard for me to open up on social media, it’s much easier to play a character, that’s one of the reasons why I feel comfortable acting as a neurotic guy in a sitcom Glampers. On my personal Instagram page you will also see sketches with my wife, where most of the times I flip the situation upside down and act obnoxious on social media. Me and my wife we do it for fun.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days.
It was the year of 2022 when I worked as the Head of Video Production Department for a start-up Rollywood in Moscow, Russia. I would work from 10 am till midnight, but I loved it because the company had potential and I worked on different projects which I loved. I did various jobs such as shooting promo videos for social media and editing, writing scripts and selling them, shooting castings for our feature film. Even when my ideas were rejected, I kept going. I planned to shoot 3 TV shows for $10 000 during the summer, but unfortunately the owner of the company didn’t see any value in it. As it occurred later to all of the workers, he was collecting investor’s money and then he disappeared bankrupting the company. That was one of the reasons why moved to Los Angeles.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://villainvictormovie.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filiannapolis/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/filipp-romanychev-40a583239/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/romanychev.philipp
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Glampers_sitcom
