Anastasia Filonenko’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Anastasia Filonenko. Check out our conversation below.

Anastasia, 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’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
People crave drama. They watch stories and experience peak emotional moments because their everyday lives are constrained by the expectations of society, ethics, and morality — by the norms they live within. That’s why audiences are drawn to vertical dramas: they allow them to release the built-up tension and safely let off emotional “steam.”

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a showrunner at AMO Pictures, a production company based in Ukraine that creates vertical content for audiences worldwide. We have creative teams in Kyiv, Los Angeles, London, and several other cities across the globe.
Our work spans both original vertical IPs, which we later license, and commissioned vertical series produced for our clients and partners. You may have seen some of our projects on platforms like ReelShorts (Love at the Dangerous Speed – 100M views), DramaBox (My World Ends With You – 60M views), GoodShorts, MyDrama, and others.
My role involves overseeing the entire creative process of a vertical series — transforming a script on paper into a fully realized, distinctive story where every element, from casting and color grading to visual style, serves the narrative.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who taught you the most about work?
The vertical stories we create today are a fascinating hybrid form — not something that can be instantly understood or categorized. They combine IT-driven data insights, storytelling craft, and performance marketing.
Fortunately, I’ve had experience in all three worlds: years in television, where I learned to shape dramatic arcs within unscripted reality formats; and time in IT, where I worked as a creative producer in performance marketing.
That blend of experience helps me truly grasp how this ecosystem functions — and also recognize how much more there is to explore. I deeply believe that real success only comes when you understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
There is a war in my country. We live under constant pressure — mental for some, physical for others — and every one of us carries a sense of ongoing pain.
What does it mean to lose a family member? To lose your home? To have your husband taken prisoner? These are not abstract ideas for us — they are lived experiences.
In the creative industry, we’ve learned to transform this pain into creative insight — to channel it into how we reveal characters, how we express emotion, and how we capture truth on screen.
For many people around the world, such experiences exist only in movies. But for us, they are real. And that reality gives us a deeper understanding of what our characters feel — because, in many ways, we have felt it too.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
A very interesting shift is happening right now in the vertical content scene in Los Angeles. At the beginning of 2024, it was almost impossible to find seasoned professionals willing to work on vertical dramas — and even when they did, many preferred to do so under pseudonyms.
Now, however, the situation has completely changed. Vertical storytelling has become a recognized and in-demand industry.
We should never underestimate the audience’s curiosity — or try to decide for them what they will or won’t enjoy.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I deeply believe in Hryhorii Skovoroda’s philosophy of “srodna pratsia” (“congenial work”) — the idea of finding one’s true calling. A person truly lives life, rather than merely exists, when they do what brings them genuine joy.
Of course, there are always routine tasks and corporate formalities, but when you truly enjoy what you do — or take pride in the product you create — you realize that it all has meaning.
So yes — the industry, data, and market expectations often set the framework for what we do.
But every time a new project I’ve created goes live, I can’t help but feel a deep sense of excitement and fulfillment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amopictures.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aflnnk/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasiafilonenko