Sam Auster was born in Chicago. After surviving childhood with his Sicilian/Jewish family, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin and then attended Columbia College Film School. Shortly after, Sam began shooting news for NBC and CNN in Chicago.
Sam has won multiple Echo Awards for his commercial work. He recently directed the national spots "Fairy Godmother" for AARP, "Crystal Ball" for HouseValues.com, and "Celebrate" for myFICO.com. Sam has shot and directed numerous other commercials for companies such as Burger King, Sketchers USA, Trendwest, LowerMyBills.com and Carbite Golf. He also directed "Stick Figure", a spot for FreeCreditReport.com, which aired during the 2003 Super Bowl.
Auster has also written and shot promos for ABC-TV's prime time line-up.
Sam has written and directed two feature films. "Bounty Hunter," a futuristic action-adventure, was released by West Side Studios. His first feature, "Screen Test," a teen sex comedy, was theatrically released by CineTel and shipped a record number of units on home video through RCA/Columbia.
Sam shot and directed second-unit for the opening segment of "Ransom," the Ron Howard feature starring Mel Gibson, and for "Listen Up," a feature documentary on the life and music of Quincy Jones.
On the literary side, Auster has written screenplays for Ed Asner's Quince Productions (a mock-umentary about the life of "legendary" producer Buddy Rose), Edge Films and Mustang Pictures. Another of Sam's screenplays, "Freeway," is currently in development.
Sam wrote and directed sketch comedy at the Robert Hartung Theater in Hollywood and at the Up Front Comedy Club in Santa Monica.