Rising Stars: Meet Andrew Svistunov of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Svistunov.

Hi Andrew, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My commercial career started in Ukraine, when e-commerce brands were just discovering social media. I built a team of freelance creators and we bid on and delivered projects with a fast turnaround. As the work grew, I began producing materials for political clients as well—including the European Party of Ukraine and embassies in Kyiv.
You can’t stretch small-crew social work into true high-end production forever. That’s why I moved to the United States and enrolled at the University of Southern California, then continued at the American Film Institute in the producing discipline. At AFI I plugged into a network of commercial producers. Together we delivered work for large enterprises, including the pharmaceutical company Ascendis Pharma and the automotive brand Scout Motors.
Today I run Story Atlas, a high-end video production company. We produce commercials, brand films, and corporate video to a broadcast standard—on location nationwide—for companies in markets that don’t have major-market production built in.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The market keeps shifting, and the industry is moving hard toward faster content and generative AI. That is not always easy to answer well. People consume so much media that many businesses reach for AI video to promote a product.
I am a strong proponent of AI for work optimization. For narrative and advertising, I am less convinced the younger audience is fully “buying it” yet. Humans are empathy machines. We watch other people react and feel; we build legends around characters who overcome themselves to do the right thing. Generative AI rarely reaches that depth. One reason is structural: it is built on written text, not on lived perception of the world—an abstraction of an abstraction of an abstraction.
What I expect next is a settling period. After the novelty, we move into a post-AI entertainment era where demand concentrates on human-driven drama—stories directed, performed, and finished by people. That is the work we still show up to do at Story Atlas.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a freelance commercial producer based in Los Angeles. Recent clients include Banner Health, Scout Motors, Grand Canyon University, Washington Trust Bank, and the U.S. Air Force.
I specialize in complex, high-volume campaigns—long deliverable lists, multiple stakeholders, and schedules that have to hold. I trained at the American Film Institute, so I came up on the narrative side and still produce scripted work.
The project I’m proudest of is Scout Motors’ A Short History of America, a campaign for a legacy automotive brand where I worked as line producer.
What sets me apart is that I build my own production tooling. Most producers manage the spreadsheet. Mine manage themselves.
My feature film, Black Oranges, received development sponsorship through the URST grant.

Any big plans?
The next step is to continue building Story Atlas, a video production company—commercials, brand films, and corporate video—working with brands in markets like Phoenix, Billings, Fargo, and Cheyenne. Those cities have real companies and real budgets, and they usually have to import a coastal crew to get national-caliber work. I’d rather bring major-market production to them, on location. Right now I’m heads-down on the brand, the website at storyatlasstudio.com, and the first round of client conversations.

On the narrative side, I’m producing Black Oranges, a dark coming-of-age comedy I’m developing with writer Dana Sideros and director Yana Gladkikh. It started as a stage play, so the material has already been tested in front of an audience. We are now actively seeking funding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://andrewsvistunov.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poceluiev/
• Other: https://storyatlasstudio.com/

Image Credits
Jedidiah Woods, Max Konotopets