Ezra Lustado Never revealed his full name until I learned his last name on the Uber app when he picked me up one day. Hired for Drone Video Gig and Never Paid Up Caldwell New Jersey

I'm an FAA licensed drone pilot and do video production and photography on a freelance basis. In 2017, I was referred to Ezra through another videographer to shoot aerial videos of a golf event at the Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch Plains, NJ. Ezra never gave me his full name. Not until he picked me up one day through Uber, I saw his full name on the app. Anyway, I was tasked to cover the entire fundraiser program and edit the videos to produce a recap. At the begining, the shoot went well and Ezra was on location to oversee the entire shoot. Until we got to the post production, there were complications. He never paid for the 50% deposit I requested and the extra hours I worked that day. Everything was pretty last minute and again, a friend had worked with him before so I didn’t even think a contract was necessary. Months go by and still no payment. Fortunately, it wasn't a big amount of money, but it was a huge waste of valuable time— time that I could have spent on another shoot or editing. After seeing that another video producer was ripped off by Ezra as reported on this site and his criminal history of fraud, I thought it would be good to file my complaint as well so others can avoid being ripped off. And lesson learned: produce and sign a contract even if it is through a friend’s referral.