Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabel Custer.
Hi Isabel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Miami and loved more art anything. I studied ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, theater, and flamenco. When I wasn’t in a class, I was writing poetry, sketching dresses from every angle, choreographing dances, or convincing my brother and sister to act in whatever play I had just invented. I often ended up by the lights instead of onstage, trying to create “dramatic effects,” which should have been the first indication of where I was headed.
One of my theater teachers once told me I had the makings of a director because I gravitated toward so many artistic disciplines. Writing was one of my earliest loves. I journaled constantly, sometimes even writing on the furniture if I woke up and couldn’t find my journal.
By high school, even though I continued with ballet, theater, classical voice, and guitar, I realized that the thing I wanted most was to make films. At sixteen I created my first short, A Lonely Place Apart, which explored teenage solitude and depression. Soon after, I left Miami for NYU Tisch School of the Arts to major in Film and Television Production.
After graduating, I worked as a production manager on an independent feature titled Terrorists by Jay Martel. Life in New York eventually felt stifling, so I moved to London and later settled in Paris. I worked as a production assistant on documentary and corporate projects. It was not the glamorous start of a career, but it was an incredibly creative time. Unexpectedly, I began writing music and ended up writing around one hundred songs over three years. I also earned a master’s degree in film at La Sorbonne, although the program focused more on the business than the creative side of the industry.
Becoming a mother forced me to re-evaluate my priorities. I moved to Chile for several years, working first in production at an ad agency and later overseeing marketing for the conference division of a major newspaper. That role, interestingly, mirrors much of what I do today as a festival director and programmer. Wanting to reconnect with my own artistic voice, I made a short comedy called Night of the Living Data, which I shot in Los Angeles. Around that time, I conceived the idea for my first feature set in Miami, and I knew I would one day need to return.
In 2020, I moved back to Miami to make that film. Despite delays caused by the pandemic, I completed the project over a five-year period. My first feature, As You Like It Like That, will premiere next year. Along the way, I also wanted to serve my community, so I co-founded the Key Biscayne Film Festival. Now entering its third year, the festival has had a meaningful impact and celebrates uplifting human stories, both narrative and documentary, with a special focus on films about water and our ocean environment.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Filmmaking, like life, requires constant perseverance. More people say “no” than “yes,” and it is easy to feel discouraged. Many people struggle to find work, and the film industry is no exception. There are very few positions that hold true creative decision-making power.
If the job you want does not exist, you have to invent it. You have to create opportunities, bring something of value to your community, and keep reinventing yourself. That idea is actually at the heart of my first feature. It follows a woman who feels creatively unfulfilled where she lives, so she builds the artistic world she longs for.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In the film industry, people usually try to compare your work to something familiar. It has been difficult to find comparisons for my feature, because there are not many films about Latin women navigating their identity and artistic journey.
There are other films about community theater, such as Waiting for Guffman, and films that capture a strong sense of place, like She’s Gotta Have It. There is also Frida, although the tone is very different from the type of film I wanted to make. Many films centered around women focus primarily on romance. I wanted to make a film about self-realization.
I also wanted the film to be authentic to Miami, both visually and linguistically. Miami has its own vernacular. The dialogue is filled with Miami-specific slang that differs from other Hispanic and American dialects. Authenticity is important to me because when I lived abroad, I longed for stories that looked and sounded like home, and they were extremely rare. I often felt that films and television shows did not bother to portray Miamians accurately.
One example that always stayed with me was a TV show in which a Miami Cuban character was played by a New York Dominican. He is a talented actor, but his walk, his mannerisms, and even his Spanish accent did not align with Miami culture. It made me realize how often nuance is overlooked.
My current creative mission is to “see us onscreen” in a way that truly reflects South Florida. Our stories should include Cubans, Haitians, and yes, even a few yentas. That is not my only goal, but it is part of the flavor of the work I want to create. Ultimately, my goal is to delight and entertain. That has always been my driving force.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I have many memories of putting on shows, whether it was making up dances with my best friend or performing for my parents’ friends at dinner parties. But one of my favorite memories is simpler. Every Sunday evening, my family would rent a movie and order a pizza. Sitting on the couch with my siblings and my dad is one of the most vivid images I have of falling in love with movies. I realized later that I was just as fascinated by their reactions to the film as I was by the film itself. That might have been the moment I became a director without knowing it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.abuelacontent.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabelisamused
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/isabelcuster
- Twitter: https://x.com/isabelisamused
- Other: https://www.kbfilmfestival.org
Image Credits
photos by Mark Pulaski, Debbie Gold.
