We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Esme Auster. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Esme below.

Esme , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

The first paying job I ever had in the film industry was a doozy. I was a sophomore in college and I was hired through the alumni network to be a PA on this random woman’s first film project. The project was a combination of her poetry and other writings with carefully timed videos of her art installations. The professional DP actually quit after the first production meeting so she ended up hiring me and 2 other students at a rate of 10,000 dollars each to completely produce, shoot and edit the project. Being young and dumb we accepted, never anticipating what lay in wait for us.
We shot the project over spring break in the woman’s house, where she also saw her therapy clients (yes she saw clients while we were filming) she would insist on extreme conditions like shooting outside by the lake in early March and then complained that she was cold the whole time. At the end of the shoot she payed us half the money, with the promise of the other half when the edit was finished.
In a shocking turn of events the project turned out terribly, despite is being exactly as she envisioned and she tried to go back on her word. One of my fellow students (who was 6,4 and 350 at least) drove 2 hours to her house to pick up our checks, which she wisely handed over and we never heard from her again. Thankfully.

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’m a screenwriter and director, as well as a DIY film producer. I founded my production company, The Late Night Picture Show in 2020 and have been producing work under that marquee ever since. My work has screened at film festivals around the world, but most recently in my home state of Massachusetts.
This fall my production company is report first episodic project, a reality show set in the western mass DIY music and arts scene.
You can follow us on instagram @latenightpictureshowfilms for more!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Truly the best resource is your network, especially when it comes to a collaborative medium like film. You can’t be coy about putting yourself out there. I think my shyness got in the way a lot when I was starting out, I had a very hard time asking for help. Learning when to bring other people in and how to utilize them correctly is a skill you can only learn by doing

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think a society that meets the basic needs of its people; housing, food, healthcare, education, etc., is a society that supports artists. I think the system we have now where successful artists become the economic elite and most people are too busy trying to survive to become artists is a slippery slope.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Latenightpictureshowfilms.com
• Instagram: @latenightpictureshowfilms
• Youtube: @TheLateNightPictureShow