We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bryson Mustard And Elizaveta Dyachkova a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Bryson Mustard and Elizaveta Dyachkova, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
“It was summer 2025, we had just wrapped filming our first feature film, All You Have, directed by Erika Lynn Jolie. I was one of the producers and Liza was the first assistant director. It was a crazy experience for everyone, as it was twenty days of shooting in the white mountains, hiking every other day to the top of mountains to get the shot, cast and crew living together in one airbnb, but through those challenges, we both realized that if we could show leadership and bring that film to life alongside the other talented and dedicated cast and crew, we could continue to do it, and do it at a larger scale. It was our first feature, but both of us had already had significant experience with short films and music videos. I mostly work as a producer and occasional director, and Liza mostly as the first AD and director as well. I also had prior business experience, where when I was in high school I started a landscaping company with my friend, Nirvana Landscape. What started as two of us riding around with push mowers in the back of my mom’s car, soon turned into a legit company with multiple mowers, trucks, trailers, guys on payroll and hundreds of clients. I figured I could take those managerial strengths, combining with my film producing experience and carry them over into starting a production company.” -Bryson
“Around this time, I had gained employment at a NYC production company startup with some of my peers from NYU, but things weren’t going how I had hoped, and I wasn’t getting to do the work that played to my strengths, so I decided to take the risk and leave and become a creative executive at 5th Sense Creative where I work with Bryson to do everything from script to pitching to writing to assistant directing and directing.” – Elizaveta
“Our major philosophy is Ideas You Can Feel. So when it comes to ideas to execution, there is one constant- creating stories that will emotionally connect with viewers, regardless of if it’s a commercial, music video, short film or feature. With our commercial clients, some come to us with really strong ideas and want us to execute it, others don’t know what they want, but give us the creative freedom to tell a story that will engage and grow their brand or business. We do everything from writing the polished script, to producing and directing it, hiring the post team and delivering the final commercial or film.” -Bryson
“ What I love most about being a creative executive is that I get to be both a creative leader, and a logistical one at the same time. Sometimes I’m doing what I do best, 1st Ad, by leading an efficient and safe set, other times I’m working on planning shots and talking to actors” – Liza
Bryson Mustard and Elizaveta Dyachkova, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
5th Sense Creative is a NYC production company specializing in commercials. We also produce short films, music videos and are currently an “In Association with” production company on the upcoming Massachusetts feature film, The Phone Booth, that Bryson is producing and Liza is first Assistant Director. Bryson Mustard serves as CEO and Creative Executive and Elizaveta Dyachkova is a Creative Executive. The two work together with an extensive list of other nyc film creatives to carry out projects on a specific basis.
Bryson bio: Introducing Bryson Mustard, film producer, founder, and Creative Executive of 5th Sense Creative.A student of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a focus in Film and Television Production, Bryson brings a sharp entrepreneurial instinct and a deep understanding of the industry to the helm of the company. With extensive experience producing commercials, films, and music videos, he’s been behind the scenes of countless projects — guiding them from concept to completion with precision and purpose.Bringing a strong background in entrepreneurial endeavors to 5th Sense Creative, Bryson knows what sells, and he is committed to working closely with each client to deliver the best product possible.
Elizaveta bio: Introducing Elizaveta Dyachkova, filmmaker, and Creative Executive of 5th Sense Creative.Originally from Russia and now based in New York, Elizaveta brings both creative vision and operational leadership to the company. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, her filmmaking blends emotional realism with formal precision, often exploring themes of longing, disconnection, and vulnerability. Her work — including White Nights, a modern adaptation of Dostoevsky’s story, and Prairie, a drama about outsiders on the margins — has been recognized for its poetic visuals and intimate performances.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I would call myself a creative-managerial hybrid. Though I do write/direct and come up with ideas to pitch to clients and bring to the screen, I also work with the team to bring these ideas to the screen in a logistical, producorial sense. And if I had to chose one, well, I couldn’t. The feeling of walking into a clients office, or joining them on zoom and presenting the ideas we have, then seeing their face light up with excitement is what keeps me going. Sometimes I think of myself as Don Draper in Madmen pitching the Kodak Carousel, although maybe not as cool. At the end of the day, everything we do is ridden with emotion, and my job as a creative is to figure out how to reinforce or redirect that driving emotion for a particular brand/business/band, thus creating a story that people can feel. The rewarding part isn’t just pitching the idea, it’s the feeling of the pieces falling into place. The final pass on the script that feels just where it needs to be, casting the actor that has the perfect look, seeing the playback of the shot on set and realizing it’s even better than what I had hoped, getting the right music in the edit, and finally, presenting the finished project to the client and seeing their satisfaction. Some directors are just that, and they don’t have to worry about logistics or practicality of their ideas, but I find being a producer/director combination to actually be more rewarding because I’m in touch with the process at every step of the way. – Bryson
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I grew up in St Petersburg, Russia. During my childhood and early teenage years, I was a two-time European champion in acrobatic Rock’n’Roll. Dancing and discipline was my life, not story boards and scripts. That was, until I sustained a serious injury in practice, a broken leg, leading me to sit at home on the couch. That’s when I stumbled across the movie “Some Like it Hot” and this changed everything for me. It opened by eyes to what cinema can and could be, so I became obsessed with film and photography, and started photographing competitions for my sport. Then at 17, I decided to move to the united states to finish high school and go to film school, all by myself, without knowing anyone. From high school, I went to NYU to study film, where I gained on set experience and furthered my creative and leadership skills, finding my role as an assistant director. The discipline and staying calm under pressure required from my past as a dancer, combined with moving to the united states on my own, had great influence on my creative (writer /director) abilities, as well as my leadership (1st assistant director) skills. – Elizaveta
Contact Info:
- Website: https://5thsensecreative.wixsite.com/5th-sense-creative?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnerktt3K3QMlT5w6CZYWx0baDO8NmLz5rw0X-OwLFJfqdpw22dsfjhqHzLFA_aem_89HeMa9qxZLA0HNbwF4OIA
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5thsensecreative/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/5th-Sense-Creative-LLC-61579385016417/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7369487156647477263
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiMtVMXp-A
- Other: link to our reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXiMtVMXp-A
