Steven Barry Poster, A.S.C, I.C.G. (born 1 March 1944) is an American cinematographer[1] and photographer[2] who is the former President of the International Cinematographers Guild.[3] [4] [5] He is best known for his collaborations with Richard Kelly, including the director's 2001 cult classic Donnie Darko.
Poster began his career as a creative assistant at 'The Film Group,' a commercial film production company based in Chicago, Illinois. After being promoted to director of photography due to his skill at lighting, he met Herschell Gordon Lewis and worked with him in various crew positions on a total of three films.[1] Poster founded a production company with director Michael Mann and served as the cinematographer on numerous industrial and education films.[1] He served as the second-unit director of photography on Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Poster joined the American Society of Cinematographers in 1987, relocating to Hollywood in the process. He shot the iconic music video to Madonna's "Like a Prayer", as well as commercials directed by Ridley Scott and Kinka Usher. In 1988, he was nominated for the ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Releases for his work on Someone to Watch Over Me. Poster served as the President of the ASC between 2002-2003. In 2006, he received an Emmy nomination for Mrs. Harris.[6] That same year, he was elected as the National President of the International Cinematographers Guild, a position he held until 2019.[3]
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Another Saturday Night | Himself Mik Derks | ||
| 1994 | Nunzio's Second Cousin | Tom DeCerchio | Segment of Boys Life 2 | |
| 1995 | Celluloid Heroes | Gary A. Beaird Tony Dow | With Billy Beaird | |
| 2004 | Tap Heat | Dean Hargrove | ||
| 2011 | Xelerate | Bill Duke | ||
| 2018 | The Boor | Jeannie Berlin |
| 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 | ||
| 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 | Brad Peyton | |||
| 2011 | Flypaper | Rob Minkoff | ||
| 2017 | Franck Khalfoun | |||
| TBA | Scared to Death | Paul Boyd |
| 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" |
| 2006 | The Loop | Betty Thomas | Episode "Pilot" |
| 2007-2012 | 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 |
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | The Oscar Legacy | David Haugland | ||
| 2020 | For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close | Heather Ross | With Simon Fanthorpe |
Short film
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Special | John Landis | TV special | |
| 2021 | The Miles Davis Documentary | Christopher Wilkinson | TV movie |
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Cannes Film Festival | Short Film Palme d'Or | Another Saturday Night (Shared with Mik Derks) | ||
| 1987 | American Society of Cinematographers | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography | Someone to Watch Over Me | ||
| 1994 | CableACE Award | Best Cinematography | Roswell | ||
| 2005 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography | Mrs. Harris |