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Steven Poster
Steven Poster
Steven Poster
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Steven Barry Poster ASC, CSC (born 1 March 1944) is an American cinematographer[1] and former president of the International Cinematographers Guild.[2][3][4]

Key Information

Early life and education

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Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Poster studied at Southern Illinois University, the ArtCenter College of Design, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.[5][6]

Career

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He began his filmmaking career as a creative assistant at 'The Film Group,' a Chicago-based commercial film production company.

After being promoted to director of photography for his skill at lighting, he met Herschell Gordon Lewis and worked with him in various crew positions on a total of three films.

He founded a production company with director Michael Mann, and served as the cinematographer on numerous industrial and education films.[6] His 1973 short film Another Saturday Night, which he co-directed with Mik Derks, was nominated for the Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. In 1977, he was the second unit cinematographer for Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

In 1980, he relocated to Hollywood and shot his first feature film as cinematographer, Blood Beach. He also worked second unit or additional photography for Blade Runner, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and several John Carpenter films.

Poster joined the American Society of Cinematographers in 1987. The same year, he shot Someone to Watch Over Me for director Ridley Scott, which earned him an ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases

He shot the iconic music video to Madonna's "Like a Prayer", as well as commercials directed by Ridley Scott and Kinka Usher.

In 2006, he was elected as the National President of the International Cinematographers Guild, a position he held until 2019.[2] He is also a former executive board member of the International Documentary Association, and currently sits on the Nicholl Fellowship committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[5]

He is also an adjunct professor at the ArtCenter College of Design.

Filmography

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Feature film

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Year Title Director Notes
1980 Blood Beach Jeffrey Bloom
1981 Dead & Buried Gary Sherman
1983 Spring Break Sean S. Cunningham
Strange Brew Rick Moranis
Dave Thomas
Testament Lynne Littman
1985 The New Kids Sean S. Cunningham
The Heavenly Kid Cary Medoway
1986 Blue City Michelle Manning
The Boy Who Could Fly Nick Castle With Adam Holender
1987 Someone to Watch Over Me Ridley Scott
1988 Aloha Summer Tommy Lee Wallace
Big Top Pee-wee Randal Kleiser
1989 Next of Kin John Irvin
1990 Rocky V John G. Avildsen
Opportunity Knocks Donald Petrie
1991 Life Stinks Mel Brooks
1993 The Cemetery Club Bill Duke
1997 RocketMan Stuart Gillard
1998 Une chance sur deux Patrice Leconte
2001 Donnie Darko Richard Kelly
2002 Stuart Little 2 Rob Minkoff
2003 Daddy Day Care Steve Carr
2006 Southland Tales Richard Kelly
2009 Spread David Mackenzie
The Box Richard Kelly
2010 Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore Brad Peyton
2011 Flypaper Rob Minkoff
2017 Amityville: The Awakening Franck Khalfoun
2024 Scared to Death Paul Boyd

Ref.:[1][7][8][9][8][10]

Television

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Year Title Director Notes
1978 What Really Happened
to the Class of '65? 		James Sheldon Episode "Mr. Potential"
1987 I'll Take Manhattan Richard Michaels
Douglas Hickox 		2 episodes (With Larry Pizer)
1998 American Experience Richard P. Rogers Episode "A Midwife's Tale"[8]
2006 The Loop Betty Thomas Episode "Pilot"
2007-12 Craft in America Carol Sauvion
Daniel Seeger
Nigel Noble
Hilary Birmingham 		8 episodes
2008 Raising the Bar Jesse Bochco Episode "Pilot"
2013 Hemlock Grove Eli Roth Episode "Jellyfish in the Sky"
2020 Cine Chalom Yossi Benavraham Episode "EXTRAIT DU FILM "INCASSABLE" DE M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN... 2000"

TV movies

Year Title Director
1978 The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank Robert Day
1979 The Night Rider Hy Averback
Beggarman, Thief Lawrence Doheny
1981 Coward of the County Dick Lowry
1982 Mysterious Two Gary Sherman
1983 The Cradle Will Fall John Llewellyn Moxey
1986 Courage Jeremy Kagan
1992 The Bat, the Cat and the Penguin Michael Meadows
John Pattyson
1994 Roswell Jeremy Kagan
1995 Present Tense, Past Perfect Richard Dreyfuss
1996 Once You Meet a Stranger Tommy Lee Wallace
1997 Color of Justice Jeremy Kagan
2005 Mrs. Harris Phyllis Nagy
2006 The Danny Comden Project Robert Duncan McNeill
2013 Gutsy Frog Mark A.Z. Dippé

Accolades

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Year Institution Category Title Result
1973 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Palme d'Or Another Saturday Night
(Shared with Mik Derks) 		Nominated
1987 American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Someone to Watch Over Me Nominated
1994 CableACE Award Direction of Photography and/or Lighting Direction Roswell Nominated
2005 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Cinematography Mrs. Harris Nominated

References

[edit]
[edit]
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Steven Poster

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Steven Poster is an American cinematographer known for his distinctive work across a wide range of films, including the cult classic Donnie Darko, the Ridley Scott-directed Someone to Watch Over Me, and major studio releases such as Rocky V and Daddy Day Care. Born and raised in Chicago, he launched his cinematography career at age twenty-one, initially focusing on television commercials, cinéma vérité documentaries, and industrial films before transitioning to feature films. His early contributions included second-unit and additional photography on major productions such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Blade Runner. Poster has collaborated with notable directors across genres, serving as director of photography on Donnie Darko and Southland Tales for Richard Kelly, the comedy Stuart Little 2, and the French-language feature Une Chance sur Deux. He received an ASC nomination for Best Cinematography for Someone to Watch Over Me and shot the acclaimed Madonna music video “Like a Prayer.” A long-time member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 1987, he served as its president from 2002 to 2003 and later as National President of the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) from 2006 to 2019, advocating for camera professionals across the industry. His education at institutions including ArtCenter College of Design and the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology shaped his approach to lighting and visual storytelling, influencing a career that spans both mainstream Hollywood productions and independent projects.

Early life and education

Steven Poster was born on March 1, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Chicago, where he developed an early fascination with photography and filmmaking, beginning with a box Brownie camera as a child. By age twelve he had decided to make capturing images his life's work, and at fourteen he purchased a Rolleiflex camera for $100. A pivotal influence during his youth was a neighbor who worked as a CBS newsreel cameraman; this mentor encouraged him to pursue still photography in college and provided early insights into the cinematic potential of images. Poster began his higher education in 1962 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale as a freshman, participating in a special program conceived by R. Buckminster Fuller and transformed high school underachievers into engaged scholars. He remained there for two years, taking advantage of opportunities in WSIU-TV, theater, design, and photography. He then transferred to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he learned to "see light" and developed professional discipline in visual arts. Returning to Chicago, Poster graduated from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he was strongly influenced by Bauhaus philosophy, particularly the principle that form should follow function.

Career

Early career in Chicago

Steven Poster began his cinematography career in Chicago at the age of twenty-one, working on television commercials, cinéma vérité documentaries, and industrial films. He started as a creative assistant at The Film Group, a Chicago-based commercial film production company, where his aptitude for lighting and visual reproduction quickly led to a promotion to director of photography on commercials. After this promotion, he collaborated with exploitation filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis, serving in various crew roles on several of his films. Poster later co-founded a production company with director Michael Mann and acted as cinematographer on numerous industrial and educational films produced through that venture. In the early 1970s, Poster co-directed the short film Another Saturday Night with Mik Derks, for which he also served as cinematographer. The film was selected for competition in the Short Films category at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or.

Transition to Hollywood

After establishing a solid foundation in Chicago through extensive work in national commercials, corporate videos, and collaborations with director Michael Mann, Steven Poster began transitioning to Hollywood feature filmmaking in the late 1970s by securing second unit cinematography roles on major studio productions. In 1977, recommended by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond ASC, he joined Close Encounters of the Third Kind, initially serving as a standby cinematographer for Chicago sequences before being entrusted with key second unit material, including the memorable scene of household toys coming to life and a large-scale evacuation shot in Bay Minette featuring 1,500 extras, livestock, vehicles, arc lights, and a crane. Around 1980, Poster relocated to Los Angeles and established Posters International Ltd. there, marking his full shift to Hollywood. His first feature as primary cinematographer was Blood Beach (1980). He continued building his reputation through supporting camera roles on high-profile films, including additional photography and second unit work on Blade Runner (1982), where he captured the Spinner landing scene in the 2nd Street Tunnel using improvised lighting from car headlights and available vehicles with a water truck for rain effects, followed by three weeks of additional second unit duties encompassing the Zhora dressing room, beating, window dive, and death sequence. Poster also served as second unit director of photography on Starman (1984), The River (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Unbreakable (2000), and Mission to Mars (2000). These assignments allowed him to gain experience on large-scale studio projects directed by filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, John Carpenter, Mark Rydell, and M. Night Shyamalan while establishing himself as a reliable collaborator in Hollywood's camera departments.

Major feature films and collaborations

Steven Poster has served as director of photography on a range of notable feature films, establishing himself through collaborations with acclaimed directors and contributions to diverse genres from thrillers to family comedies. His work on Ridley Scott's romantic thriller Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) earned him a nomination from the American Society of Cinematographers for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases. He also photographed the sports drama Rocky V (1990). A significant aspect of Poster's career is his recurring collaboration with writer-director Richard Kelly, beginning with the independent cult classic Donnie Darko (2001), where he developed a distinctive visual approach featuring creamy images emerging from dense blacks, achieved through the use of Kodak Vision 800T stock, anamorphic lenses, and Tiffen Pro Mist filtration. Poster and Kelly spent several days in pre-production breaking down the script to define this style, which contributed to the film's atmospheric tone and efficient 23-day shoot. Their partnership continued on Southland Tales (2006) and The Box (2009). Poster further demonstrated his range in family-oriented studio films, including the sequels Stuart Little 2 (2002) and Daddy Day Care (2003). Earlier in his Hollywood career, he contributed to projects such as The Boy Who Could Fly (1986). These works highlight his ability to adapt his cinematography to both intimate character-driven stories and larger-scale productions.

Later career and diverse media

In the 2010s and 2020s, Steven Poster diversified his cinematography work across television, documentaries, and other formats while taking on producing and supervising roles. He served as the main title director of photography for the PBS series Craft in America from 2007 to 2012 and lensed an episode of the Netflix horror series Hemlock Grove in 2013. Poster photographed the feature film Amityville: The Awakening in 2017, a Blumhouse Productions horror project directed by Franck Khalfoun. He contributed to the documentary Tap World in 2015 as a supervising cinematographer. From 2017 to 2019, Poster served as a producer on the International Cinematographer's Guild Heritage Series. In documentary filmmaking, he acted as cinematographer on For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close in 2020 and on two Miles Davis projects in 2021: 'Round Miles: A Miles Davis Documentary and The Miles Davis Documentary. Most recently, Poster returned to feature cinematography with Scared to Death in 2024.

Professional leadership and teaching

Roles in cinematography organizations

Steven Poster has held prominent leadership positions in several key cinematography and film industry organizations. He has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 1987 and served as its President from 2002 to 2003. From 2006 to 2019, Poster served as National President of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, also known as IATSE Local 600). He is a former executive board member of the International Documentary Association. Poster has served on the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Academic involvement

Steven Poster is an adjunct professor in the Film and Graduate Film programs at ArtCenter College of Design, where he teaches cinematography. In ArtCenter's 2025–2026 Graduate Studies Viewbook, he is listed as core faculty for the Master of Fine Arts in Film program. This position connects to his own education, as he previously studied at ArtCenter and developed his foundational understanding of professional lighting discipline there. Beyond ArtCenter, Poster has taught master classes and provided mentoring at several institutions, including USC, UCLA, Brandeis University, Southern Illinois University, Baylor University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Wisconsin, and Southeast Missouri State University. He has served as a ten-time advisor to the Sundance Institute Directors Laboratory and has personally mentored dozens of emerging cinematographers and filmmakers, many of whom have gone on to successful careers in the motion picture industry. His educational efforts reflect a sustained passion for guiding students and young professionals in the craft of cinematography.

Awards and nominations

Major nominations and recognitions

Steven Poster has earned several nominations for his cinematography in film and television, along with significant professional recognitions for his leadership and contributions to the industry. His short film Another Saturday Night (co-directed with Mik Derks) received a nomination for the Short Film Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. He was nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases for Someone to Watch Over Me in 1987. Poster also received a CableACE Award nomination for Best Cinematography for the television movie Roswell in 1994. For his work on the HBO television movie Mrs. Harris, he earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie in 2006. Poster joined the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) as a member in 1987 and later served as its president, during which time he established the organization's Technology Committee (now the ASC Motion Imaging Technology Council). He also served as president of the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) from 2006 to 2019. In further acknowledgment of his service and impact, Poster received the Society of Camera Operators Lifetime Achievement Distinguished Service Award in 2019.
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