Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Phillip Gladkov. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Phillip, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I feel like every project I work on is meaningful. I am brought onto various interesting projects to collaborate on, and I also have my own projects, both of which have an important place in my work and life.

One of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on recently was “Story of the Sun” (2024). It was an idea I came up with over 7 years ago. Every year, I’d go, ‘This year I should make it’ until finally, in 2022, I decided it was finally time. It took me over 2 years to complete the film and it was an incredible learning journey. “Story of the Sun” was my first animated film and my first time working with stop-motion. It was quite a challenge, and it took so much trial and effort to achieve the styles, movements, looks, and techniques I had envisioned for this story. It was very much worth it, not only for the finished piece that I am so proud of but also for the number of skills I’ve picked up along the process.

Something very personal about “Story of the Sun” is that I could blend two things that have always felt like two distinct and separated aspects of my artistic disciplines: my fine artwork with birch bark and my work as a filmmaker. I always wondered whether these two practices would mesh, and this project was the perfect catalyst for that. This animation tells an original contemporary myth about the first humans discovering fire – so it felt only fitting to use birch bark, which has been used to ignite fires since the Neanderthal era.

The project was also a collaborative effort with some incredibly talented individuals. I was fortunate to work with a gifted voice-over artist, Tsukuru Fors, composer Lionel Cohen, and support from my partner, Carmen Escobar Whitaker, my creative collaborator, Chike Robinson, and my friend and colleague, Berman Fenelus, whose production company, All Area Crew, helped bring the project to life. Their contributions were invaluable—I couldn’t have done it without them, nor would I have wanted to.

I’m really excited that the film is currently making its way through the festival circuit. I’m also working on a children’s book version of the story, which I hope to release alongside the film soon.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I do many things, but I am a storyteller and an artist first and foremost. It is essential for me to make that distinction. As an artist, I create beauty, find creative solutions to problems, and imagine new ways of being. As a storyteller, I make sense of a chaotic world, inspire, and explore the depths of the human mind and soul.

I currently practice filmmaking, animating, creating fine art, and music. Lately, my focus and work have been mainly on filmmaking, animation, and my birch bark work. Through my art, I am constantly exploring the relationship between humanity and nature and how that relationship can be strengthened. I care deeply about the world, and I am always trying to use my work as a conduit for good, whether it is working on documentaries regarding social issues, making animations to teach moral lessons, or creating visual pieces that teach about our ecology and the complicated systems that make up our world. I know art can change hearts and minds because it has done that to me, and I wish to aid in doing so for others.

I’ve been making art since I was a kid, drawing on the walls of our family apartment. When I graduated high school, I pivoted my focus a bit and found my love for cinema and the power of the moving image. I went to film school at the Tisch School of the Arts, and at 23, I finished my first feature documentary, “5.” While working on that film, I spent a lot of time in the forests and mountains of upstate NY. I began exploring my fascination with ecology and mycology. I was also captivated by the abundant, beautiful birch trees. In between filming, I started collecting pieces of bark from the ground, and soon after, I started working with this material in my fine art. I fell in love with this tree and this material immediately. Working with birch has been an extremely meditative practice, from foraging the bark to processing it, touching it, and admiring all the beautiful colors, tones, and textures… I feel like my reverence for this tree and its bark reflects itself in my birch work. Equally, I think that my love and care for humanity shine through in my films and animations.

My work speaks much more for itself than I ever could, and I encourage you to visit my website and explore it for yourself.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My care for humanity and the natural world is the heartbeat of my work, and that’s been true for a long time. When I was younger, my art was more whimsical and carefree. As a teenager, I became more aware of the world’s struggles and wanted to explore and share that pain through my work.

As I’ve grown, my focus has shifted. I still aim to highlight the world’s problems, but I also strive to inspire solutions—creative ways to reimagine ourselves and our future for the better.

Life often feels like it’s beyond our control, but as artists, we have the ability to create our own worlds. Through our stories, aesthetics, and vision, we can inspire humanity to imagine new ways of being. Art reaches a part of us that logic and reason often can’t.

I believe that’s the artist’s responsibility: to better ourselves and the world through the sacred act of creation.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Sometimes, especially with my fine art, the process is the reward. As I said earlier, working with birch bark, for example, is deeply meditative. I think any practice that helps us focus on a goal, engages us, and gives us purpose, even momentarily, is worth doing.

Another deeply gratifying aspect is seeing the impact my work can have on others. I’ll never forget the premiere of the film, 5, in New York. I received so much feedback on how it moved the viewers. One audience member told me it had changed how they viewed a place they’d known their entire life. Moments like that make the countless hours, early mornings, and late nights in the editing room worth it. With “Story of the Sun,” I spent two years creating a seven-minute stop-motion animation. When people ask how many hours it took, I don’t count—for my own sanity! But when I hear an audience laugh, cry, or tell me how the film moved them, I know every second was well spent.

That is one of the greatest rewards to me as a filmmaker: to engage with my audience in a meaningful way and to make them feel something, to share in that very human moment with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://phillipgladkov.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillipgladkov/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@phillipgladkov
• Other: https://storyofthesun.com/

Image Credits

Phillip Gladkov, Carmen Escobar Whitaker