Andrei was born in a republic of the former USSR. He studied film at Columbia College (Chicago) and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. After serving on the Minnesota Film Board for four years, during which time he directed his first film and appeared in three others, he left the U.S. for Europe, where he made a name for himself as a fashion photographer. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA where he's gone back to working on his original love - film.